Assistance Association for Political Prisoners

Assistance Association of Political Prisoners (Burma) (Burmese: နိုင်ငံရေးအကျဉ်းသားများကူညီစောင့်ရှောက်ရေးအသင်း; abbreviated AAPP or AAPPB) is an independent non-profit organisation founded by Burmese former political prisoners living in exile. Mainly staffed by ex-political prisoners, its main aims are to provide assistance for other Burmese political prisoners (those in prison and those who have been released), and to document news related to them.

Its stated aims are “collecting information about political prisoners and prison conditions” and “giving assistance to political prisoners and their families, for example by providing food and medicines, or financial help to enable families to visit their loved ones in prison”.

AAPP was founded in the Thai-Burma border town of Mae Sot by on 23 March 2000, the anniversary of the arrest of 1988 student leader Min Ko Naing.

Freedom of expression is heavily curtailed with the arbitrary use of laws such as the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act and high treason.

There were 2,203 political prisoners in jails across Burma, including monks, students, elected members of parliament and lawyers during SPDC regime. Many had been convicted for expressing views different from the government or for taking part in protests peacefully. As of April 2013, there are currently 176 political prisoners.

Democracy activists have reported undergoing torture, including electric shocks, rape, iron rods rubbed on their shins until the flesh rubs off, severe beatings and solitary confinement.

In 2007, AAPP reported how prison hospitals become distribution centres for HIV/AIDS as prison patients were made to share needles and syringes for injections.

Even after political prisoners are released, they continue to face ill treatment. The military intimidates and harasses ex-political prisoners in order to prevent them from participating political activities.

Such activities are intensified closer to or on politically sensitive occasions, such as the anniversary of the 8888 Popular Uprising, where former political prisoners are arrested, interrogated and detained without reason.

The military regime also attempts to isolate ex-political prisoners from society, for example by denying them economic and educational opportunities.

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Wikipedia