Insein Prison ( Burmese : အင်းစိန်ထောင် ) is located in Yangon Division , near Yangon (Rangoon), the old capital of Myanmar (formerly Burma). From 1988 to 2011 it was run by the military junta of Myanmar, named the State Law and Order Restoration Council from 1988 to 2003 and the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) from 2003 to 2011, and was used largely to repress political dissidents .
11-493: The prison is notorious worldwide for its inhumane conditions, corruption, abuse of inmates, and use of mental and physical torture. Colonial British authorities built Insein Prison in 1887 to relieve overcrowding at Rangoon Central Gaol, located on Commissioner's Road (now Bogyoke Aung San Road ) near Downtown Yangon . The prison was built using a circular panopticon design, intended to optimise surveillance of inmates. Following
22-403: A former prisoner's account, in 1991 several prisoners held a hunger strike, demanding proper healthcare and the right to read newspapers. However, their demands were not met, and the prisoners were tortured using the gravel path method. On 3 May 2008, over 100 prisoners were shot by guards at the prison resulting in the deaths of 36 inmates. A further four inmates were later tortured and killed by
33-404: A time, and we were allowed five bowls of water, then soap, then seven more bowls of water. But there were many problems – sometimes there was no water supply, so they wouldn't let us take a bath and we could hardly even get water to drink. There were latrines in two places – outside of the room for the daytime, and in the room at night. The latrines always had guards, and to use them you had to bribe
44-534: Is a major road of southern Yangon , Burma . It crosses the city in a west–east direction, running parallel to Maha Bandula Road . The road contains several hospitals, BEHS 1 Latha (Central High School), BEHS 2 Latha (St. John's Convent School) and Yangon General Hospital is just off the road. This Burmese road, street or road transport-related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Maha Bandula Road Maha Bandula Road ( Burmese : မဟာဗန္ဓုလလမ်း , formerly Dalhousie Road )
55-452: Is a major road of southern Yangon , Burma . It is named in honored of The great King Maha Bandula . It crosses the city in a west–east direction and runs parallel to Bogyoke Aung San Road . It runs past Maha Bandula Park and eventually to Maha Bandula Bridge . 16°46′29″N 96°09′16″E / 16.774676°N 96.154341°E / 16.774676; 96.154341 This Burmese road, street or road transport-related article
66-408: The demolition of Rangoon Central Gaol after World War II , Insein Prison became Yangon's primary correctional facility. At Insein, diseases and injuries usually go untreated. A former prisoner at Insein recalls that "When we had fever they never gave us any medicine. If it gets very bad then they send you to the prison hospital, where many people die. The sick prisoners want to go to the hospital, but
77-403: The guard with two cheroots . The latrine was just a bucket, with no water. You could use paper if you could get some, but we used to beg scraps of cloth from the men who worked in the sewing workshop out in the compound." Prisoners have reportedly been beaten with a rubber pipe filled with sand and chased by dogs, forcing them to crawl on their hands and knees across a gravel path. According to
88-404: The guards never send them there until it's already too late, so many die once they get to the hospital. I got fever but I didn't want to go to their hospital, because I was afraid of their dirty needles and contagious diseases. At the hospital they have doctors, but not enough medicines." The same prisoner continued, "They allowed us to have a bath once a day. We had to line up in rows of five men at
99-579: The prison guards who believed they had been the ringleaders of the initial protest that culminated in the mass shooting. On 24 May 2011, the Myanmar government retaliated against a hunger strike by about 30 political prisoners in the prison by forcing the ringleaders into solitary confinement. The hunger strike began when seven female prisoners protested against a government prisoner amnesty program that failed to include most political detainees. On 23 May, 22 male prisoners, including three Buddhist monks, joined
110-749: The prisoners moved was an editor of The Kantaryawaddy Times , Nyi Nyi Htun. In October 2022, a blast occurred at the prison in which eight persons died, including guards, and 18 visitors were injured. The incident occurred at 9:40 AM Myanmar Standard Time . According to local witnesses, two parcel bombs detonated in the morning. but the cause of explosion is yet unknown Most famous illegally held prisoners in Insein prison from 1988 to 2017: 16°53′34″N 96°05′53″E / 16.892715°N 96.097986°E / 16.892715; 96.097986 Bogyoke Aung San Road Bogyoke Aung San Road ( Burmese : ဗိုလ်ချုပ်အောင်ဆန်းလမ်း , formerly Montgomery Road )
121-501: The protest, demanding better prison living conditions and improved family visiting rights. According to Aung Din, the executive director of the Washington-based U.S. Campaign for Burma , "The latest information we have received is that six of the ‘leaders’ of the strike from the male group have been moved to what is known as the 'dog cell'—a small cell block where they could be tortured and family visits are not allowed." One of
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