Mizzima.com-Jan 17
Political prisoners held in the female dormitory of Maupin Prison in Ayeyarwaddy Region are being subjected to humiliating physical searches in corridors, allegedly for ‘security reasons’. The female prisoners are being subjected to strip searches and intimate cavity searches at the dormitory entrance in front of all the other prisoners, when they leave for or return from court appearances, according to a statement by the Political Prisoners Network Myanmar (PPN). Ko Thike Tun Oo from PPN said: “Our team has been monitoring searches of women that constitute sexual harassment by prison staff at Maupin Prison for almost a month now. Such searches had also been going on before [we started monitoring]. Because the situation remains unresolved we have decided to issue a statement.” He added that all women prisoners were being subjected to the humiliating searches, not just the political prisoners. The searches are carried out under the supervision of the women’s dormitory supervisor, Daw May Zin Tun and other female prison staff, according to PPN. The prison claims that the searches are to stop drugs, other illegal substances and clandestine letters from entering the prison, according to Ko Thike Tun Oo. The Prisons Department, under the Ministry of Home Affairs, purchased a body scanner before the coup in the 2019-2020 financial year, according to an anonymous employee of a company that tendered to supply the machine. It can scan body cavities and it was bought to search prisoners for drugs and other contraband. PPN is a human rights monitoring group that advocates for the prosecution in the courts of those who have ordered, carried out or facilitated human rights abuses. Read more t: https://eng.mizzima.com/2024/01/17/6304
