Ex-inmates reveal a special hut was built in 1998 to hold Aung San Suu Kyi inside Yangon's notorious Insein prison Aung San Suu Kyi's view from the tiny house built especially for her in the heart of Insein prison is not a pretty sight - the gallows. How frequently executions are carried out at the notorious prison in northern Yangon is not known, but former prisoners believe that, since she disappeared from public view on May 30, Ms Suu Kyi may have already awoken to see a body swinging from the structure. Although the world's best known political prisoner will not endure the beatings and torture they say they endured, they fear for her well-being in an environment filled with intimidation and fear. Pro-democracy activist Bo Kyi, 38, said he was near the end of a second prison term in Insein in 1997 when construction on the one-storey brick building began near his cell block, between the women's hall and the gallows. Fellow prisoners who helped to build it told him it had three rooms - a bedroom, parlour and bathroom. 'We were told the private house was for Aung San Suu Kyi,' Bo Kyi said yesterday. 'Because of its location, it could only have been for women, not male, prisoners. If Aung San Suu Kyi is in Insein prison, she must be in that building.' That is exactly the claim of Britain's Deputy Foreign Minister Mike O'Brien, who contradicted earlier stories that Ms Suu Kyi was being held by Myanmar's military government in a state-owned guest house under 'protective custody'. The only outsider to have seen Ms Suu Kyi since her detention, UN special envoy Ismail Razali, did not reveal her location when he told the world's media earlier this month that she was unharmed and in good spirits. The hut earmarked for Ms Suu Kyi was completed in early 1998, but apparently remained empty until now. For Bo Kyi, this confirmed the reason given by prison officials for its construction. Before now, however, Ms Suu Kyi had remained under house arrest at her lakeside home in Yangon. The co-ordinator of the Thailand-based activist network Altsean-Burma, Debbie Stothard, said yesterday that rumours of the existence of the special hut began in 1998. 'There was speculation as to whether this really happened or whether it was a deterrent to intimidate Aung San Suu Kyi,' she said. 'Now it's obvious it's been waiting for her for the past five years.' Given Ms Suu Kyi's international profile, she is likely to be given special privileges, although to what extent is unclear. Insein's notorious reputation is based on the harsh conditions prisoners endure. Ex-inmates said they were beaten, tortured and, because of insufficient food and medical facilities, some die in custody. Political prisoners say they also endure brain-washing. Insein was built in 1892 by the British. At any one time it housed up to 10,000 inmates. Of Myanmar's 1,500 political prisoners, between 300 and 400 are thought to be kept at Insein. Former political prisoner Win Naing Oo, in his book Cries From Insein, described the prison complex as being 'laid out in an octagonal design, with the halls located radially, like the spokes of a wheel'. Two rows of brick walls surrounded the prison, the outer one 6.5 metres high, and the inner three metres high. Each prison block had a vegetable garden behind and in front. Bo Kyi, who works for Thailand-based non-government organisation the Assistant Association for Political Prisoners in Burma, spent two terms there - from 1990 to 1993 and a further five year term. In September 1999, he fled to Thailand. Now married and with an eight-month-old son, he works to win freedom for other democracy activists enduring the same hardships he experienced. 'All political prisoners are tortured and beaten and kicked,' he said. 'Some are in solitary confinement. We are treated much differently from other prisoners. It is very difficult.' He said between three and five political prisoners were kept in each 2.5-metre-by-4-metre cell, although the number may be more dependant on circumstances. Prisoners slept on the floor. Inmates were allowed out of the cells for 20 minutes each day for a shower and walk. No visits were allowed from friends or relatives. Prisoners were forced to work long hours in the prison's many workshops. They were fed twice a day, and, due to the poor quality of the food, often became malnourished and fell ill. But few were willing to visit the prison hospital because of the conditions there. Following an outcry from human rights groups and sanctioned visits by the International Committee of the Red Cross, such practices have changed. But conditions remain tough, with little hope of freedom. During his eight years at Insein, Bo Kyi knew of only three prisoners who had escaped. peter.kammerer@scmp.com
