Burma using torture in ordinary criminal cases
Posted on October 29, 2009
Filed Under Burma news | 1 Comment
In Burma torture is not reserved just for political prisoners. According to a statement from the Hong Kong based Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), it is also widely used on poor suspects accused of ordinary criminal offenses.
AHRC found victims range from teenage girls to the elderly. Advanced torture methods are also being used by ordinary police officers in urban police stations.
AHRC cites one case where two young male victims were tortured at a police station in an urban area in September 2009. They were interrogated for several days, during which they were punched and struck with batons. One victim described having something with sharp points under his feet and being made to hold a pose like riding a motorcycle, for about two hours.
AHRC noted this is a technique commonly associated with military intelligence officers or with troops in outlying areas.
The wife of one of the victims paid a US$100 bribe, equivalent to more than a couple of month’s wages for poor people in Burma, to police so that they would not torture him.
AHRC said the victims are “typical of the overwhelming majority of victims throughout Asia: poor people accused of ordinary crimes, for which the purpose of the torture is both to extract confessions and/or to obtain money.”
AHRC cites the lack of an independent judiciary or an open media, in which cases can be publicised for contributing to the widespread use of torture in Burma.
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One Response to “Burma using torture in ordinary criminal cases”
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Mae Sot weather
No justification to torture ever!