May 11, 2009, 11:44 GMT
Bangkok - Many of Myanmar's political prisoners have already died in jail and at least 127 of them, including opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, are now in poor health requiring immediate medical treatment, a prisoners advocacy group claimed Monday.
According to a report compiled by the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma) entitled 'Burma's prisons and labour camps: Silent killing fields,' Myanmar's myriad political prisoners face new hazards to their health, such as being transferred to remote jails where access to doctors, medicines and family assistance is extremely limited.
'The situation for Burma's political prisoners is dire,' AAPP Joint-Secretary Bo Kyi said. 'Leading activists have been transferred to the most remote prisons, where there are no prison doctors, and they are more likely to contract diseases like malaria and tuberculosis.'
Since October, some 357 political activists have been sentenced to stiff jail terms of up to 104 years. Many of these new prisoners have been transferred to remote areas, where access to medicine and medical care is meagre and they are often cut off from crucial food supplies and money from their families, the AAPP report said.
Junta-ruled Myanmar has more than 2,500 political prisoners in jail, which even the ICRC cannot visit due to objections to the conditions placed on them.
AABB, based in Mae Sot, Thailand, is one of the few advocacy groups keeping up with Myanmar prison conditions, primarily basing its reports on the testimony of relatives of the prisoners.
It's new 22-page report includes detailed information on the health conditions of some of the better known political activists in jail.
At least 127 political prisoners are in poor health and require 'urgent' medical treatment, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, comedian Zarganar, labour activist Su Su Nway and 88 Generation Students leader Min Ko Naing, the report said.
Suu Kyi has been under house detention in Yangon for almost six years. Her personal doctor Tin Myo Win, one of the few people allowed to visit her, was arrested Thursday for interrogation after a US national sneaked in to Suu Kyi's house on Inya Lake by swimming there.
The man, John William Yethaw, 53, was arrested last week while swimming in Inya Lake after spending three nights in Suu Kyi's compound.
Suu Kyi, 63, who has been in jail for 13 of the past 19 years, who reportedly suffering dehydration over the weekend, was not allowed a visit by her doctor, who is still being interrogated by authorities.
On Monday, however, authorities allowed another doctor, Pyon Mo Ei, to visit Suu Kyi. Sources said Suu Kyi was weak and required an intravenous drip.
Most political prisoners have less access to medical treatment than Suu Kyi, the daughter of Burmese independence hero Aung San.
'Many political prisoners have already died in prison. This has to stop,' Bo Kyi said.
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