There are days as a journalist when you realise you're not telling people the whole story. I have lots of days like that in regard to Burma. Who really knows what is going on in this secretive, isolated country?
Because foreign journalists are all but banned and the local media utterly suppressed, the picture we get from outside is patchy, inconclusive and often confused. Even when you're there, the best you can do is look and listen, try and discreetly speak to as people as possible and make an informed judgement.
I was thinking about this after last week's flurry of sentences handed down to the 88 Students Generation Group, a brave and dedicated group of activists who were involved in the 1988 democracy campaign and demonstrated again last summer, only to be seized by the authorities. Among them is Min Ko Naing, whose taken name means "conqueror of kings".
Anyway, having sentenced up to 60 activists with terms of 65 years, reports suggest that the regime has now begun moving the prisoners to jails outside of Rangoon, presumably in order to make it harder for their families to visit. Who can imagine how these activists must be thinking now, sentenced to spend the rest of their lives in jail, simply for speaking out against the government?
While thinking about this, I remembered James Mawdlesy, the young British activist who was arrested in Burma on three ocassions and sentenced to 17 years in jail back in 1998. As it was, he spent more than 400 days as a prisoner in Keng Tung jail, in Shan state.
I spoke to James when he was released in 2000 and even then his thoughts were about the other prisoners still inside. He eventually wrote a book about his experiences. Over the weekend I emailed James and asked if he could share some insights about life in Burma's jails.
He kindly replied, writing:
"Burmese prisons are predominantly about the exploitation of the vulnerable. Prisoners become slaves who are robbed of everything. Unless a prisoner is willing to become an exploiter himself, he will suffer without respite. Conditions are worse for political prisoners. If they are not broken by beatings then they will be isolated indefinitely.
I've seen prisoners whose skin was falling off due to vitamin deficiencies. When I raised this with a visiting doctor he merely laughed. I've seen prisoners whose eyes have died, prisoners with blood pouring down their faces, prisoners who have almost forgotten that they are human.
Despite all the suffering of Burmese prisoners, many endure with great resilience and courage, and they showed me compassion, generosity and even humour. I am convinced that Burma will become free, but the cost to get there is incalculable."
Thanks, Andrew - it's beyond value to get these vignettes of what is going on in "Myanmar"... sadly they hint at being the tip of a grim iceberg :(
And where's Britain's Foreign Secretary, who was "calling for action" during the Saffron Revolution? Sitting down to tea with the Junta's best friends in Beijing :(
Posted by: Neil McGowan | Monday, 17 November 2008 at 11:21 AM
The bravery of those people raises the hairs on the back of my neck as does the incalculable depth of the regime's inhumanity. But it cannot last - the despot's run of fortune has gone on for much too long.
They must be worried more than most about the recent global economic down-turn and there are unseen/untold tensions below the flinty gleem of their ediface.
We should not despair - we should stand together and raise our collective voices for the cause. We should encourage others to join us and bring pressure to bear where it's needed.
More than 50 million people need our help more than ever; including all the political prisoners, the cyclone victims, the ethnic minorities in the border areas in fear of the junta's bomb and bullet as well as the general population wondering when their woe will end.
Posted by: Julian Pieniazek | Monday, 17 November 2008 at 02:12 PM
Unfortunately, Julian is wrong when he says "this cannot last" - remember that the first encounters between Burma and the Britsh Raj were Burmese incursions to regain fleeing slaves. This unfortunate aspect of Burmese society, that people can be treated as property or much, much worse, has already been around for a very, very long time.
The one country that might have leverage is China - but we have done so little to challenge China's human rights performance, as we (US) are now almost entirely (literally) in their debt, we are just flies to be brushed away.
Ideally, pipeline rights could have been leveraged for human rights. Much more likely? The prisoners will be digging the trenches.
Posted by: Tony Scott | Wednesday, 19 November 2008 at 06:56 PM