The Arakan Army (AA) has warned that Myanmars regime is risking an armed conflict in Rakhine State by violating a ceasefire agreement.

The military and AA engaged in fierce fighting from late 2018 to November 2020. After approximately 18 months of relative calm, the two sides clashed again from August to November last year before declaring an unofficial truce after mediation by Yohei Sasakawa, Japans special envoy to Myanmar.

The ceasefire came after the junta blockaded main roads and waterways in northern Rakhine for more than two months, blocking food and medicine supplies.

Farmers also could not harvest rice in parts of the state because of indiscriminate junta shelling.

The ceasefire was agreed on humanitarian grounds and the regime agreed to stop arrests, release innocent civilians and lift travel restrictions, AA spokesman Khaing Thukha told The Irrawaddy.

The regime has violated the agreement. It has imprisoned civilians on terrorism charges, he said.

The regime has detainees charged under Unlawful Association Act or Counterterrorism Law over alleged ties to the AA.

A senior clerk from Thandwe District General Administration Department was given a two-year sentence on July 7 for sedition. He was detained in November last year and charged under the Unlawful Association Act.

Six Taungup Township residents were sentenced by the junta-controlled Thandwe District Court on July 11 to four years in prison under the Counterterrorism Law.

Buthidaung Township Court last week charged two village administrators under the Unlawful Association Act over alleged ties to the AA.

They were detained last September.

We constantly ask for their release. It is totally unacceptable that they are jailing them despite our requests. The regime must stop this, otherwise it might lead to armed conflict, he told The Irrawaddy.

The regime continues to restrict the delivery of goods by roads and waterways in the state with approval needed from the juntas security and border affairs minister to bring goods into Rakhine State.

Tensions rose when junta troops attempted to enter AA territory in Rathedaung and Kyauktaw townships on the pretext of delivering aid after Cyclone Mocha, said residents. The majority of victims have received little humanitarian aid since the storm in May.

Rakhine politician U Pe Than said: Myanmars military is seeking to survey AA areas on the pretext of helping the victims of Cyclone Mocha. They were trying to survey the area for military reasons.

But they dont really want to fight the AA. There are checkpoints manned by the AA on public roads and the regime could attack them if it wants a fight.

Observers say fighting is possible at any time with no concrete political agreement.

During the latest fighting in Rakhine, the regime has prosecuted around 100 people with most verdicts still pending amid complaints of une...

A teacher who ran an online school opposed to military rule was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Monday by a Myanmar junta court at Obo Prison in Mandalay, according to lawyers.

Daw Ei Shwe Sin Myint was head of the Federal School of Aung Myay Thar Zan in Aungmyaythazan Township, Mandalay Region, in cooperation with the civilian National Unity Government (NUG).

She was charged with terrorism at Aungmyaythazan District Court and tried by a special court in the prison. She was given 20 years. There are also co-defendants. I dont know their sentences, a lawyer told The Irrawaddy on condition of anonymity.

The school was opened in February 2022, a year after the coup, for families that rejected education under the junta with classes from primary to lower-secondary levels.

Four teachers, including Daw Ei Shwe Sin Myint, were arrested on March 22 last year. The school was subsequently closed.

Junta newspapers in April last year reported that 15 teachers, aged 20 to 40, were arrested for unlawfully teaching at the instruction of the NUG.

The reports warned that those who financed the school, collaborated with it and the parents would also face prosecution.

The schools were not NUG-run but rather community schools emerging from cooperation between teachers who joined the civil disobedience movement (CDM), children and parents, said a striking high-school teacher.

Community schools were opened to provide education for all and set up a federal education system to challenge the military dictatorship and its education. But people who have forcibly seized power with weapons say the schools are unlawful, she said.

While some schools are online, in some parts of Sagaing Region and ethnic-minority areas where resistance forces have replaced junta administration, children can study in community schools.

The regime makes sure striking teachers do not work at private schools.

A striking lecturer from Yadanabon University: It is quite ugly to arrest and imprison those teaching children. It is against the law. Teachers have been officially dismissed for joining the CDM. And it is extrajudicial bullying to arrest them for teaching outside public schools.

Veteran democracy activist Ko Mya Aye, a former 88 Generation student leader and now a leader of the political organization Federal Democratic Force, was among the first people to have their homes surrounded and to be detained at gunpoint during the military coup on Feb. 1, 2021. He was jailed by the junta and only released in a mass amnesty in November 2022. The democracy activist had already been jailed on two earlier occasions by former military juntas for his political activism after the 1988 uprising.

The Irrawaddy recently talked with him to get his views on the current situation in the country more than two years after the coup attempt, as well as on federalism and the juntas use of jailed leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to conduct hostage diplomacy.

What do you think of the junta-arranged meeting between Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and Thai Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai? Do you see it as the juntas attempt to reduce the pressure on it, both internal and external?

There has been much debate over Daw Aung San Suu Kyis words [at the meeting] and this has had a great impact. But I think it is still difficult to know whether this statement [Dons statement claiming that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi called for negotiations with the junta] is true [truly reflects her words] or not. Politics depends on principles and the stands that we take. It cant depend solel...

Three resistance fighters were killed and two more were injured on Wednesday when Magwe Region resistance groups attacked a pro-junta village in southern Pauk Township.

Fierce fighting began at about 5am when several resistance groups jointly attacked Tat Kone Villagethe base of a pro-junta Pyu Saw Htee militia and a military unit.

We were attacked first by the regime forces while we were approaching the village. Three resistance members were killed by a junta explosive, Ko Nay Lone, a leader of Pakokku District Peoples Defense Force, told the Irrawaddy on Friday.

Two other resistance members were injured.

Two regime forces were also killed in the clash and at least 11 others were injured.

The Irrawaddy could not independently confirm casualty figures.

The junta also conducted a 45-minute airstrike on resistance forces with a Mi-35 attack helicopter, but no resistance fighters were injured in the airstrike, said the Chauk Guerilla Force, which joined the resistance raid.  One of its members suffered a leg injury. The resistance group said they were unable to enter the village.

Local resistance groups said that at least 23 villages in southern Pauk Township have been looted and incinerated by regime forces and Pyu Saw Htee militia groups based in pro-junta villages, including Tat Kone.

On July 11, a combined force of resistance groups raided the pro-junta villages of Tat Kone and Ywar Thit, torching junta bases and the houses of militia leaders.

At least 10 regime forces and militia members were killed in the raid in which the junta also used a Mi-35 helicopter in an attempt to repel resistance forces.

Five civilians, including a child, were killed and seven injured in indiscriminate junta shelling in Khin-U Township in the resistance stronghold of Sagaing Region over five days.

Two villagers died on the spot and three sustained injuries when a shell hit Mu Thar village on Thursday morning, according to a volunteer.

A woman in her 20s and a man in his 40s were killed by the junta bombardment, a volunteer said.

Thousands of residents are taking shelter in monasteries and schools amid frequent raids, arson attacks and artillery strikes by junta forces.

We dont dare to stay in our homes at night. We only return to get food during the daytime, a villager said.

Schools have been shut for a week and at least 5,000 residents from seven villages had fled their homes in western Khin-U by Thursday.

On Wednesday, shelling targeted civilian targets in western Khin-U, killing two residents, including a six-year-old, in Thet Pay village, according to a villager.

A boy and his uncle died on the spot. His mother and another two relatives were injured when their house was shelled, he said.

A junta base in Ye-U Township has been shelling Khin-U since Sunday when a junta infantry unit passed through the area, heading towards Ye-U.

The Irrawaddy could not independently verify the reports.

On July 16, a displaced villager was killed and one injured in Inn Pat village during a bombardment.

There has been no fighting reported with resistance forces in Khin-U Township during the past week.

Around 5,500 houses from 75 villages have reportedly been incinerated by junta infantry in the township since the 2021 coup.

The European Union has imposed sanctions on six more Myanmar junta officials and one junta-controlled entity, citing the escalation in violence and grave human rights violations since the 2021 military coup.

The fresh sanctions announced on Thursday target the ministers for immigration and population, labor, and health and sports, two members of the State Administration Council (SAC), the Quartermaster General, and the No. 2 Mining Enterprise (ME 2), a state-owned enterprise controlled by and generating revenue for the Myanmar Armed Forces.

The targets are subject to an asset freeze and travel ban that prevents them from entering or transiting through EU territory, said the EU announcement.

In addition, EU persons and entities are prohibited to make funds available to those listed, it added.

The EU imposed sanctions on junta health and sports minister, Dr. Thet Khaing Win, under whose authority hundreds of doctors have been fired for political reasons and had their licenses revoked, while private hospitals were urged not to hire doctors who refused to work in public hospitals under the military regime. He also rebuffed UN Humanitarian Office (UNOCHA) requests for aid access during the pandemic, it said.

Junta labor minister Pwint San was also targeted in Thursdays sanctions since under his authority, the rights of workers especially those affiliated with the opposition movement are being systematically violated, it said.

The labor minister has facilitated imports of oil and other goods necessary to sustain the regimes power, while his ministry is aggravating disruption of supplies within the country by imposing import controls and restricting the transfer of remittances, it added.

Meanwhile, junta minister for immigration and population Myint Kyaing is supporting repressive regime policies, including restrictions on citizens travel within the country and ongoing human rights violations against ethnic-minority Rohingya, the EU said. He has also participated in preparations for the planned election aimed at legitimizing the militarys illegal coup of February 2021, it added.

Lieutenant General Kyaw Swar Linn, the Quartermaster General the sixth most-senior post in the military is involved in procuring weapons and other military equipment for the Myanmar Armed Forces, it stated.

Kyaw Swar Lin also runs the Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC), which is one of two major conglomerates operated by and generating revenue for the military, it added.

The two SAC members included on the new sanctions list are Porel Aung Thein, who is also a member of the militarys proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party, and Aung Kyaw Min, the former chief minister of Rakhine State.

EU sanctions currently apply to a total of 99 individuals and 19 entities in Myanmar.

The EU has also imposed an embargo on exports of arms and military equipment, as well as item...

The soft launch of Spring Development Bank (SDB) will begin on Saturday as part of the National Unity Government (NUG)s effort to fund the revolution and block financial flows to the junta, Myanmars shadow government announced on Thursday.

Its Ministry of Planning, Finance, and Investment (MOPFI) and the interim central bank have been preparing for seven months to establish the bank, which will become Myanmars first financial institution to run entirely on crypto and blockchain.

Plans are underway to open SDB branches or agency access points in major liberated areas, said Minister of Planning, Finance, and Investment U Tin Tun Naing.

The soft launch will focus on user acceptance testing, said U Tin Tun Naing, who is also governor of the interim central bank.

He said that the junta had been making threats about peoples bank accounts and violating public privacy despite banking rules prohibiting this.

MOPFI is also responsible for protecting the financial security and privacy of people. Therefore, this is also our purpose in establishing a banking system and an independent financial mechanism, he explained.

SDB is licensed and regulated by the Interim Central Bank of Myanmar and it will operate with an agency banking network at the initial stage. It will use blockchain technology on a polygon network, according to the MOPFI.

When services commence, customers will be able to use four currencies: Myanmars kyat, US and Singaporean dollars, and the Thai baht. MOPFI has planned to deliver the services of the bank in three phases.

In Phase 1, the bank will start providing services including currency exchange and Swap services, account transfers, cross-country remittances, digital gold savings, and purchases of the NUGs End of Dictatorship products.

In Phase 2, the bank will add more currencies, including the British pound, the euro, the Korean won and the Japanese yen. SDB will also expand services and products to include merchant payments, digital debit cards, SWIFT links and corresponding accounts, individual loans to the revolution, and swap NUG bonds.

SDP CEO Calvin T. said that the ministry prioritizes the security and privacy of customers using the banking system, but that SDB will still comply with know your customer standards.

Bank staff will not ask for unnecessary personal information, he said, explaining that only very basic information will be required for customers to use the bank. SDPs CEO Calvin T. said users of the bank can remain anonymous.

In December 2021, the NUG declare Tether USDT (a US dollar-pegged stable coin) as an official currency for local use and a legal tender in a bid to speed up international trade. In June 2022, the MOPFI launched its own digital currency, DMMK, as well as the NUGPay application. DMMKs val...

At least 31 Myanmar junta forces including pro-junta militia members as well as three resistance fighters were killed in four days of clashes as Peoples Defense Forces (PDFs) continued to attack regime targets across the country.

Incidents were reported in Kachin and Chin states and Sagaing, Magwe, Mandalay and Bago regions.

The Irrawaddy has rounded up the following reports of significant attacks from PDFs.

Some military casualties could not be independently verified.

Military unit ambushed with land mines in Kachin

At least 10 junta troops were killed and 15 others seriously injured in Shwegu Township, Kachin State on Thursday when Myohla PDF group triggered improvised land mines to ambush a military unit of 100 troops raiding villages along the bank of the Irrawaddy River, the PDF group said.

After the ambush, injured soldiers and the bodies of killed soldiers were transported to a junta base in Shwegu town on motorboats.

Pro-junta militia members killed in Bago

...

Junta troops killed four civilians during a raid in western Madaya Township, Mandalay Region, last week.

Nyaung Oke villagers retrieved three mens bodies from the Myaung River, a tributary of the Irrawaddy, on Tuesday, according to a resistance group.

Four detainees were tortured and killed by junta troops after they were seized in Nyaung Oke on July 14, a resistance fighter said.

The detainees were three carpenters from nearby Nyaung Wun village and a Nyaung Oke villager, according to sources.

On Monday a fisherman discovered two bodies in the Myaung but junta troops stopped him from recovering them, according to a villager.

Villagers retrieved and cremated three bodies on Tuesday after junta troops moved to Madaya town.

An unidentified body was found in a pond near Sa Kyin village on Wednesday.

In eastern Madaya Township, skirmishes between junta troops and resistance forces have increased this week.

Sources said around 500 junta troops have been mobilized as reinforcements after the juntas Air Defense Battalion near In Gyin Myaing village was shelled by Mandalay Peoples Defense Force (PDF) on July 15.

Junta convoys were then ambushed by resistance forces, according to Mandalay PDF.

More than 12 villages in the east of the township have reportedly been raided by junta troops this month, displacing thousands of civilians.

One of Myanmars richest cronies, Serge Pun, is facing a backlash after a leaked video clip shows him saying he feels reassured that armed resistance groups are not fighting in Naypyitaw, and that he believes they have no plan to do so.

Serge Pun, also known as U Theim Wai, chairs the conglomerate Yoma Group, which has interests in a wide range of sectorsfinancial, hotels and tourism, real estate, trade, and food and beveragethrough its two main units: Singapore-listed Yoma Strategic Holdings Co. Ltd. and Yangon-listed First Myanmar Investment Co. Ltd. (FMI).

Yoma Strategic Holdings is also the franchise holder for KFC in Myanmar.

The 40-second-video clip began spreading on social media on July 17. In it, Serge Pun mentions a conversation with a friend at a banquet. He explains that his friend was talking about the armed clashes breaking out across the country after the coup. Serge Pun asks him if he thinks resistance forces are planning to attack and seize Myanmars capital Naypyitaw.

Then he answered me, No they dont [have that plan]! They are not interested in Naypyidaw! Then, I felt assured, Serge Pun says in the video. They will just fight in their respective regions. We will get trouble only if they all have a predilection for [attacking] Naypyidaw, Serge Pun said.

The video clip is from a webinar Serge Pun began making with his eldest son, Melvyn Pun, in March 2020, a month after the COVID-19 pandemic hit Myanmar. Yoma Group released the first talk showVirtual Town Hall Session with Serge Pun / Melven Punon its official YouTube channel and Facebook page but kept subsequent talk shows private.

Melvyn Pun is the CEO of Yoma Strategic Holdings.

The Irrawaddy could not determine the source of the leaked footage, but sources close to Yoma Bank and FMI said the clip was part of an internal webinar for its shareholders made after the coup.

The clip sparked renewed scorn for Serge Pun, who chairs FMIthe first company to be listed on the Yangon Stock Exchangebecause the views he expresses in it are widely considered to reflect the common stance of owners of conglomerates who cooperate with the junta.

They face widespread contempt because it is believed that they want to see the regime keep control of urban areas and Naypyidaw, the capital, where their business interests are focused.

A...

The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) claims to have seized a Myanmar junta outpost in northern Shan State.

During the Kutkai Township raid, junta mortar rounds hit a nearby village, killing a teenage boy and injuring three villagers, residents told The Irrawaddy.

The camp was reportedly held by around 100 troops near Kaung Yar village on the Kutkai-Muse highway.

KIA spokesman Colonel Naw Bu told the media that the junta base was only temporarily seized.

The Irrawaddy could not independently verify the reports and the KIA could not be reached for a comment.

It was a heavy clash when the KIA raided the junta camp. Both sides used explosives, a Kaung Yar villager said.

Infantry Battalion 123, based in nearby Nam Hpat Kar village, used at least ten 120mm rounds to shell the area. A Kaung Yar village house was destroyed by junta shelling.

Two junta shells exploded in nearby Zee Daban village, killing a 16-year-old boy and injuring three others.

A family of three was injured when a shell hit their house. A teacher was also injured, a resident said.

More than 150 Kaung Yar villagers are sheltering in a nearby village. Tensions remain high in the area as the junta on Wednesday deployed around 60 reinforcements to the outpost which was temporarily seized by KIA troops on Tuesday.

On July 16, two clashes between a junta convoy and KIA troops broke out in Kutkai.

This month clashes between the regime and KIA renewed in northern Shan and Kachin states.

The junta last week launched offensives in Waingmaw Township, Kachin State, 9km from the KIAs headquarters in Laiza.

Col Naw Bu recently told the Shan News that junta offensives aim to take control of key Shan and Kachin roads.

Ties between China and the Myanmar junta are getting warmer, and diplomats and observers following the issue recently received a message that suggests the relations between Beijing and Naypyitaw could reach a new milestone soon with a visit to China by regime boss Min Aung Hlaing in September.

Every China-Myanmar relations watcher knows thatif the news is trueit would be really mind-blowing for the junta leader, who has mostly been ostracized by Western democracies for his 2021 coup, and has even been banned from ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) capitals and excluded from their summits. Since then, Russia and China have turned out to be his allies, and Moscow has invited him for several official visits, but Beijing hasnt. Following the coup, Min Aung Hlaing desperately tried to visit China to seek Beijings blessings for his regime. But his attempts were turned down by Chinese officials. Whats significant about the September tripthe message saysis he would be there at Beijings official invitation! But can China handle this hot potato?

The Irrawaddy has not been able to independently verify the message that emerged in June, one month after Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gangs visit to Naypyitaw. Qin is so far the most senior Chinese official to see Min Aung Hlaing in more than two years since the takeover.

...

The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) confirmed that six of the 37 missing political prisoners from Bago Regions Daik-U Prison have been killed by Myanmars regime.

The 37 political prisoners from the prison, also known as Kyaiksakaw, have been missing since June 27 when the junta said it was transferring them.

The AAPP this month reported the death of two of the political prisoners after their families received letters from the prison authorities.

The activist group said six more families had received the same letters.

All the letters said that while transferring prisoners from Insein Prison, a vehicle crashed and the prisoners attempted to escape. They were killed by warning shots fired by security personnel trying to recapture them, the letters said.

An AAPP spokesman told The Irrawaddy that the juntas claims are impossible.

If it actually happened like they claimed there is no way that the accident and shooting of the prisoners would not be reported by residents and the prison would have informed them immediately. But now they concealed it and only informed after a long time. It is totally dishonest.

The families of the remaining 31 prisoners have heard nothing and the prison authorities refuse to reveal their whereabouts.

The other 31 and all political prisoners at the hands of the junta and face alarming risks as the junta is increasingly killing political prisoners using prison transfers as a pretext, he added.

The six confirmed dead on Wednesday were Yar Lay, also known as Zin Myint Tun; Jar Gyi, also known as Wai Yan Lwin; Zin Win Htut, also known as Ba La Gyi; Aung Myo Thu; Bo Bo Win and Nay Aye, also known as Arkar Htet Paing Myo.

Three of four Chinese-backed liquefied natural gas (LNG) power plants in Rakhine States Kyaukphyu Township in western Myanmar have ceased operation.

The three shuttered plants are located near Kyaukphyu deep-sea port project, and operated by VPower, a Hong Kong-listed power generation company.

Two of the plants ceased operation last year, and the third was shut recently after operating at partial capacity due to a limited supply of LNG, former Kyaukphyu Township lawmaker U Poe San told The Irrawaddy.

The third plant had been running on and off since November last year. It has completely cased now. But [VPower] has not yet dismantled the plant. Two other plants have been dismantled and removed by them, the former lawmaker said.

The company, which had a stake in nine power plants across Myanmar, said in September 2021 that it would not be renewing the contracts for power stations in Kyaukphyu Township in Rakhine State and Myingyan Township in Mandalay Region.

The company said the decision came after it faced challenging times amid the turmoil following the February 2021 coup.

The three plants operated by VPower in Kyaukphyu had a combined capacity of 150 megawatts. With their cessation, only one power plant is left in the township. The 135MW plant commenced operations in October of last year as a joint venture between Chinese state-owned Power China Resources and Myanmars Supreme Group.

We havent had regular electricity since those plants ceased operations. We have only four to five hours of electricity a day. Small-scale businesses like ice factories and cold storage are facing difficulties. Here, people have to pump water with electrically powered pumps for household use. So, residents have difficulties when there is no electricity, U Poe San said.

While cash shortages caused by the banking crisis following the coup have created huge problems for foreign companies, the electricity ministry is also short of funds to pay electricity suppliers, said a director of an electricity provider in Myanmar.

Electricity production is a long-term business, so it is difficult for foreign investments to endure where there is no political and economic stability, the director said.

The kyats decline against the US dollar has made generating power from LNG unfeasible under the rates agreed in electricity purchase agreements, he added.

According to the electricity purchase agreements it signed with the suppliers, the electricity ministry agreed to pay for a certain percentage of purchased units in US dollars, but it can now only pay in the Myanmars currency, sources said.

VPower entered the Myanmar market in 2015. Joint ventures with VPower won tenders for four projects when the now-ousted civilia...

BANGKOKThailands caretaker Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha called for calm Thursday after a popular progressive candidates bid to succeed him was thwarted by military and pro-royalist lawmakers.

Pita Limjaroenrats party won the most seats in May elections, but on Wednesday he was dramatically suspended from parliament, which then refused to grant him a second vote to become the kingdoms next premier.

About 1,000 people gathered for a protest that night to express their anger over the Harvard-educated liberal leaders foiled bid for power, before dispersing peacefully.

Thailand is no stranger to political unrest, and Prayutwho took power in a 2014 coupunderstood the frustration of Pitas supporters, his office said.

But he also implored the public to move Thailand forward in a democratic way alongside the monarchy, spokesperson Rachada Dhnadirek said.

The expressions of opinion and political activities need to be peaceful, without violence, and without destroying the economy, trade and investment.

Pitas Move Forward Party (MFP) has ridden high on the support of young and urban Thais frustrated by nearly a decade of army-backed rule, but Thailands establishment vehemently opposes its agenda.

The party has refused to compromise on its pledge to revise the kingdoms strict royal defamation law, which can allow convicted critics of the monarchy to be jailed for up to 15 years.

Its reformist platform also poses a threat to family-owned business monopolies that play an outsized role in the kingdoms economy.

Pita was suspended from parliament by the Constitutional Court when it decided to proceed with a case that could see him disqualified as an MP altogether for owning shares in a media company.

Lawmakers are forbidden from doing so under Thailands charter, though the television station in question has not broadcast since 2007.

Until we meet again

Pita was defiant as he left parliament on Wednesday, raising his fist to supporters and bidding farewell until we meet again.

But he has also vowed to step aside to make way for another party to form a government now that his second attempt at the premiership has failed, after falling short by dozens of votes last week.

The coalition backing him could fall in line behind property tycoon Srettha Thavisin, potentially relegating the MFP to serve in opposition.

The votes yesterday were disappointing, but we have to go forward, Srettha told reporters after his Pheu Thai party met on Thursday.

Pheu Thai is seen as a vehicle for the Shinawatra political clan, whose members include two former prime ministers ousted by military coups in 2006 and 2014.

Prawit Wongsuwan, 77, a former army chief who served as Prayuts number two after 2014, has als...

Fears are growing for nine political detainees who suffered severe beatings at Yangons Insein Prison on Sunday, according to sources close to the prison. The nine are reportedly being transferred to Thayawady Prison in Bago Region but their whereabouts were unknown as of press time.

Activist Ko Tin Htut Paing and eight other political detainees from Insein Prison Ward 2 were beaten and tortured by prison officers, prison staff and criminal inmates as punishment for discussing politics, according to U Tun Kyi, a former political prisoner.

They were severely beaten and tortured. They were then shackled and placed in solitary confinement, U Tun Kyi told The Irrawaddy, citing information from family members of the victims.

On Tuesday, they were transferred to Thayawady Prison but not allowed to take clothes or other belongings, he added.

A representative of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) confirmed that Ko Tin Htut Paing and two other political inmates were hospitalized after being beaten and tortured by prison officials.

We heard that they were sent to Thayawady Prison but we are not sure yet. Their family members are going to Thayawady Prison, the AAPP representative told The Irrawaddy.

Ko Tin Htut Paing was arrested by junta authorities in Hlaing Township, Yangon Region on July 18, 2021 and charged with possessing weapons. While searching for him, authorities had detained his 64-year-old mother Daw Mi Nag in May 2021 and sentenced her to three years in jail for incitement.

U Tun Kyi told The Irrawaddy he was really worried that the political prisoners will be tortured again at Thayawady Prison as bad old habits return in Myanmar prisons.

I have to say that the deliberate and systematic torture and killing of political prisoners in Myanmar prisons is now at its worst, he added.

Prisons under successive military regimes have been notorious for the worst forms of human rights violations against political detainees. Currently, political prisoners are not only being beaten and tortured but also face the threat of extrajudicial killing.

AAPP reported that 37 political prisoners from Daik-U Prison also known as Kyaiksakaw in Bago Region have been missing since June 27 after supposed transfers. Prison officials have since informed the families of eight prisoners that they had died.