Back from the hell-hole of four prisons

by Ye Yint Aung (New Delhi)
Wednesday, 16 December 2009 18:29 (Commentary)

The door slammed shut violently behind me and it seemed to cut me into pieces. I was in a totally strange place among strangers suffering from a sense of inferiority complex. I had to walk slowly and carefully into the 'Pone Zan' room. I dared not face their glaring eyes as they were approaching me with cold-blooded faces. My heart was in my mouth. I was trembling with fear as if I was possessed. I have never had such an experience before. The hell angels in the cage stared at me.

"Hey! Guy. Walk on your legs and hands" the convict prison officer yelled at me. I walked on the floor as he said in this 30' long room back and forth. And then I knelt down and had to report to the most powerful persons in this room, 'Tan Zee' (Head convict prison officer in this room) and 'Si Kan Htane' (disciplinary convict prison officer), like a slave. They gave order 'Pone Zan Htaing' (sit in prescribed position) to me. The series of punches and blows fell on my whole body until I fell down on the floor as I didn't know this 'pone zan' sitting position.

This is the usual and regular lesson given to the new arrivals by teaching them how to sit, how to stand, how to behave among other things by these powerful convict prison officers. From now on, I had to kowtow to these convict officers every time they were present before me like a lamb before the lion. Answer all their questions humbly; obey all their orders without questions for this is the rule in the prison.

"Whatever you are outside before entering this prison, son of a minister or mayor, you must leave your outside life at the entry gate of the prison", they told me. (I later realized this was a farce, just trying to milk the new arrivals). I am just an ordinary person, having no pedigree or family background. I arrived here after committing an illegal drug trafficking case due to my abject poverty having no other choice. After being registered at the prison office at the main entry gate, giving my name, address and case, I was given a prisoner's registration number and sent to this 'Pone Zan' room.

There were many convicts and under-trials in this ward. We had to pay entry fees to get a proper place and comfortable work in this ward. If you don't want to do night-sentry work, if you don't want to polish the floors, if you don't want to carry the sewage tanks or if you want to work in the kitchen vegetable farming, if you want to work at the kitchen, there is a fixed price for each - do want and don't want. Don't try to bargain on the prices. It's impossible. All the protection money and greasing money will be eventually divided among themselves on a prescribed ratio. If you don't agree to pay this money, you would be given lessons by these convict prison officials in accordance to their jurisdiction in this ward.

Verbal pledge to pay money as they asked was not yet enough. I was not allowed yet to greet my two friends who had already been there. I must make another pledge to give these officials coffee mix, foodstuffs, sugar, cheroot etc from my food parcel which would be sent by my family besides agreeing to pay for brooms, water pot, cup and stationery to be used in this ward, otherwise I have to sit alone at the corner of the room under strict restriction. I agreed to all their demands out of fear of their strongly built bodies, cruelty and brutality and grim faces. I had no ability to resist them at that time of the first ever prison experience with a first offence.

I got experienced eventually as I stayed in prison and got to know how to explore opportunities for me and how to grease their palms.

Main Jail! This is the special place where we had to work for the prison officials like slaves. But this place is good for us with very special opportunities. So I bribed the jail superintendent and jailor to get work at this place. Then I had a right to access every place in the prison, every ward and every place. This is my freedom inside the place surrounded by four walls. Moreover I got some chance to earn some handsome money here.

When the prisoners met their family members in prison interviews, we could control their meeting time according to the payment they made to us. We could check and supervise their food parcels, inspect the prison to prevent jailbreaks. We could provide our service when these prisoners wanted to buy something outside with some service money. There will be no take without any give.

I was accustomed to answering 'present Sir' smartly in a proper tone and proper facial expression whenever the prison security staff called me and realized how to appease and flatter them. I brought the prison interview list and informed the prisoners concerned for prison interviews. I ordered them to be in prison dress and to sit in 'pone zan'. Then I checked them and escorted them to the prison interview room and told them to take their appropriate seats. If they wanted more time in meeting their family, I negotiated with the police. If they agreed, pay money they got more time. I got service money from them too.

If 'Paracetamol' (common cold drug) provided by prison hospital is not enough for your sickness, you can get the medicine you want from your family along with the right to read in the prison. No problem! We can serve your every need. We can inform your family of what you need. When these parcels arrive in prison, they can reach you without any hassles from the police and inspection staff. All the money will be divided in a pre-arranged ratio. The only thing you need to do is giving service money to us.

Moreover the food is another important thing inside the prison. The family members can give whatever they want, fried beef, fried fish paste, tomato, cabbage, anything. All these foodstuffs will reach the prisoners concerned after passing many tables. But you must agree to your food parcel raked in by the prison staff. Don't show any sign of discontent to them. You will be deprived of such a right in future.

I encountered a visit by an ICRC when I was in the Main Jail. We whitewashed the prison wards and everywhere else before their visit. We replaced all torn prison uniforms with new ones. When the ICRC team arrived in the prison for inspection, the prisoners sat in 'pone zan'. They inspected the hygiene, sanitation, healthcare and food in prison along with the prison officials. They asked some random questions to some prisoners. Every prisoner gave the same answer to the visitors, 'Everything is okay'. If you dare to answer the truth, you might be diagnosed as an insane person by the prison doctor and can be eliminated later. You might be deprived of some of your rights later. Some price must be paid for you daring act. The worst scenario is being sent to prison labour camp to serve as military porter in the frontline. So everybody had to be tight lipped. ICRC had visited the prisons for 6 to 7 years starting from 1999. Now they have stopped visiting the prisons.

Food inside the prison is the same as other things. The best vegetables from the prison kitchen farming must go to the prison officers as a quota for each. Only after they take their portion, the rest will go to the prison kitchen for the prisoners. All of them are put into big aluminum pots and stirred with some ingredients to make the soup as the one and only main dish. Meal with meat will be available only twice a week. The meat ration for each prisoner is 5 ticals (approx. 2.1 oz) so one viss (3.6 lbs) of meat is for 20 prisoners. A fistful of un-husked paddy is mixed in every plate of rice. It's too hard to have as a meal. If you want to sort out this un-husked paddy from your meal, you can do it, but it will take time and laborious work. But the sample of the meal presented to the jailor for his inspection will be of tip-top quality. Then he will give his approval of the meal saying it is fit for consumption. This is how the system works in prison.

When you fall sick, you must make a request to the jailor and jail staff in the humblest way possible for access to the prison hospital. At last, you will get only 'paracetamol' drug. So the food parcel, cash and medicine bought and brought from outside are very important for the prisoners. Criminals who committed the most heinous crimes are also human beings. Those who relied only on these heinous crimes will try to earn this money by every possible means. Sometimes they bribed the officials. Sometimes they flatter the prison officials. For the most downtrodden prisoners, the prison is mother of all hells.

At the same time, there are elitists and the creme de la creme in the prison too. They must be provided all comfortable facilities. But the political prisoners will never get such an opportunity. They are always pinned down by prison officials where every fault is found to justify further repression. They are treated by prison officials as criminals. But the convict prison officers are criminals. Everything is upside down in the prison. The criminals get high positions and the political prisoners suffer most. Some of these elite prisoners, who have a close rapport with the military authorities, are untouchables in prison even by the prison police and convict prison officers. They can visit places outside the prison at their will at any time.

If you get a good position in prison, you can rake in profit from your position. So there are many jailbirds who do not want to be released not to lose their good position inside the prison. These jailbirds commit petty crimes to get back their good positions. To get these good positions, they must do everything good or bad by every possible means. In this way, the prison cannot be a correctional institute which can reform the lives of these prisoners. Though most of the prisoners do not want to come back again to the prison, some are not reluctant to do whatever evil. I believe these people will not practice the survival tactics they learnt from the prison when they are released.

But in the outside world too, it's very hard to earn a decent living. So some of them try to get an upper hand by all possible means and this strong desire pushed them to practice indecent survival tactics they learnt in the outside world. If there cetana (benevolence) exists inside the prison for cleaning all evils in human society, it will be rejoiced by all beings, human beings and spirits. I'd like to say too Sadu, Sadu, Sadu.

(I am obliged to express my grateful thanks to Ko Yaw Han who retold this story. He was twice imprisoned on political cases and in Singapore also he was imprisoned for overstay. So I coined the word 'Returnee of four prisons' for this story)

(I write this article in commemoration of the 61st International Human Rights Day which falls on 10th December, which coincides with the hunger strike being staged by political prisoner Nyi Nyi Aung in protest against the discrimination against prisoners and for justice and prisoners' rights in Insein prison)