US embassy cable - 04RANGOON1499

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 RANGOON 001499 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/BCLTV; PACOM FOR FPA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/22/2014 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, PREL, KDEM, BM, Human Rights 
SUBJECT: FIFTEEN YEARS IN THE BURMESE GULAG 
 
REF: A. RANGOON 1491 
     B. RANGOON 1488 AND PREVIOUS 
 
Classified By: COM Carmen Martinez for Reasons 1.4 (b,d) 
 
1. (C) Summary: One of Burma's best-known dissidents, Min Ko 
Naing (aka Paw Oo Tun), freed on November 19 after 15 years 
spent in Burmese prisons, met with Emboffs and discussed his 
long, isolated, and arduous stint in the military regime's 
gulag.  The 42 year-old former Rangoon University zoology 
major, arrested in 1989 for his leadership role in the 
student-led pro-democracy movement, was confident and in 
remarkably good spirits, though he showed some signs that 
difficult prison life had taken a certain mental and physical 
toll.  He expressed deep gratitude for support from the 
United States and enjoyed the opportunity to get briefed on 
political developments that have taken place over the 
intervening years.  This courageous man--who made enormous 
personal sacrifice in pursuit of a peaceful transition to 
democracy in Burma and improved human rights for his fellow 
citizens--strikes us as a stirring example of what U.S. Burma 
policy is all about.  End Summary. 
 
"Thank you, America" 
-------------------- 
 
3. (C) During our November 22 meeting with Min Ko Naing at a 
U.S. mission residence, the recently released activist 
expressed deep gratitude for support from the United States 
during, and prior to, his incarceration.  As if emerging from 
a deep freeze after 15 years of virtual isolation, he was 
amazed to learn about political and technological 
developments since his 1989 arrest.  For example, he 
expressed disbelief over a digital camera and our ability to 
e-mail his photo that night to friends and supporters outside 
of the country and surprise that Senator John Kerry had 
visited Burma in 1999.  He was also delighted to learn about 
U.S. sanctions and other forms of pressure applied on the 
regime over the past decade. 
 
4. (SBU) Min Ko Naing inquired about U.S. Embassy staff and 
friends with whom contact was severed in 1989, most notably 
the last U.S. Ambassador to Burma, Burton Levin (1987-1990). 
He asked for information on supporters from Congress, 
including former U.S. representatives Stephen Solarz (whom he 
had met in 1988) and Bill Richardson (who visited Min Ko 
Naing at Insein Prison twice during the early 1990s).  He 
also inquired about the late Daniel Patrick Moynihan, and was 
saddened to learn that the former Senator had passed away in 
2003. 
 
The Conqueror of Kings 
---------------------- 
 
5. (SBU) Min Ko Naing ("Conqueror of Kings," a nickname 
earned during 1988 student marches) demonstrated a remarkable 
memory and recalled that the Burmese regime (the then-SLORC) 
had arrested him on March 23, 1989 and sentenced him in 1991 
to 15 years in prison.  In 1993, as part of a broader amnesty 
for political prisoners, the regime reduced his sentence to 
10 years.  On the basis of provisions in the existing penal 
code, he should have been released for good behavior on July 
20, 1999.  However, prison authorities cruelly informed him 
when that date arrived that he was subject to security 
provisions of the law and would be held indefinitely. 
 
6. (SBU) On November 16, 2004, Min Ko Naing learned from the 
Sittwe prison director that his imminent release was a 
distinct possibility.  The director, who rarely visited the 
political ward, told Min Ko Naing on that day that there had 
been significant changes in the Burmese government:  "We are 
at a turning point and the current situation is good for 
you."  However, the political activist had learned the hard 
way about dashed hopes and refused to believe the prison 
director until November 19, when he was whisked from the 
Sittwe prison for a one-hour flight to Rangoon and freedom. 
 
7. (SBU) Min Ko Naing--who spoke to us primarily in Burmese, 
apologizing that he had had no opportunity in prison to 
practice his English--said that prison authorities has issued 
him an "unconditional release."  Unlike other releases of 
political prisoners in the past, the GOB did not require him 
to sign a confession or agree to limits on his movements or 
activities.  "I cannot explain why they released me," he 
said, "nor do I know how they will treat me from this point 
on."  He added that o/a November 19 the Sittwe prison 
released a total of about 30 "regular" prisoners who had 
already completed their sentences, but freed none of the 
other handful of political detainees. 
 
Ten Years of Solitude 
--------------------- 
 
8. (C) Min Ko Naing said he spent the first nine years of his 
imprisonment at Rangoon's infamous Insein Prison.  He 
described these years as the most difficult of his long 
sojourn in the gulag, as he spent most of his time in 
solitary confinement within a so-called "special ward" for 
political prisoners.  Military intelligence agents, disguised 
in prison guard uniforms, were assigned to monitor the 
special ward where they prohibited the political prisoners 
from doing anything without MI permission - including 
talking, reading, and writing. 
 
9. (C) In late May 1998, the regime transferred Min Ko Naing 
from Rangoon to Sittwe, another notorious prison located in 
the capital of Rakhine State, near Burma's western border 
with Bangladesh.  He said that although prison conditions 
were deplorable, authorities treated the political prisoners 
relatively better than at Insein Prison.  Still, he faced 
considerable hardship.  The Sittwe prison is located more 
than 400 miles from Rangoon (at least two days overland) and 
family members were only allowed to travel and visit him 
twice a year.  He again spent significant time in solitary 
confinement (ten out of the combined fifteen years he was 
jailed at Insein and Sittwe).  However, he added that ICRC 
representatives were able to visit him periodically and that 
such visits "always helped improve conditions," as well as 
his morale. 
 
10. (SBU) For the duration of his imprisonment, Min Ko Naing 
said that health care was "essentially non-existent." 
Neither prison medics nor janitors were allowed regular 
access to the "special wards" for political prisoners, and 
during several bouts of illness Min Ko Naing said he was 
confined to his cell where had to sleep among his own vomit 
and feces. 
 
A Little Help From Another Fourth Class Citizen 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
11. (C) Minimally sympathetic prison guards in Sittwe 
assigned a regular prisoner to assist Min Ko Naing in keeping 
his cell clean.  He said that they had purposefully selected 
an ethnic Rohingya prisoner, jailed on immigration charges, 
who did not speak Burmese "in order to keep me isolated from 
outside news."  However, Min Ko Naing said he "fooled" his 
jailers by learning Bengali with the Rohingya prisoner, from 
whom he able to glean an occasional scrap of news about 
Burmese and world events (prison authorities later punished 
his guards for "allowing" him to learn Bengali). 
Nonetheless, he said that the Rohingya prisoner, as well as 
friendly prison personnel, had very little education and as a 
result were not able to pass on accurate political news or 
analysis.  He sporadically received tiny notes smuggled in 
from friends and supporters, but in general he described a 
15-year period mostly devoid of news. 
 
12. (SBU) Min Ko Naing offered that the years of solitude had 
taken a tremendous toll on his mental health.  In his last 
few years at Sittwe, he was allowed to spend half an hour 
daily in a communal bath area and also had occasional access 
to the prison's death row compound (inhabited primarily by 
ethnic Rohingyas).  During these brief encounters with fellow 
prisoners, he said he had significant difficulty 
communicating and making himself understood, causing him to 
doubt his mental capacities.  He further observed that a 
deterioration in his mental health had led to a number of 
physical problems. 
 
13. (C) Min Ko Naing declined to comment whether he had been 
tortured in prison.  However, during our encounter he showed 
signs of some eye damage and hearing loss.  He also revealed 
that preliminary results from a physical exam on November 22 
indicated heart problems that will require drug treatment. 
While he had some difficulty responding to open-ended 
questions, he was quite confident and relaxed and 
demonstrated keen political insight.  He was also disarmingly 
witty, reflecting on several of his darker moments with 
humorous anecdotes.  He noted that when prisoners were 
feeling particularly depressed about conditions or the 
prospects for release, they would declare with bitter irony 
that "All will be better when Razali arrives," observing that 
the U.N. Special Envoy (and his predecessors) were rarely 
allowed to visit Burma and, when they did, were unsuccessful 
in making any progress. 
 
14. (C) As for his future plans, Min Ko Naing said 
understandably that he will take the time necessary to heal 
his physical and mental wounds.  Given uncertainties about 
the SPDC's posture toward recently released political 
prisoners, he said he would keep a low profile for the 
foreseeable future.  However, Min Ko Naing added, he is keen 
to keep in touch with the U.S. Embassy and will soon make a 
return visit to our American Center and its library holdings, 
where he said he gained important information and inspiration 
when he was a university student in the 1980s. 
 
A Profile in Courage 
-------------------- 
 
15. (SBU) Comment: Min Ko Naing once published a poem titled 
"Faith," that read in part: "In this unfinished revolution; 
Should my soul be gripped with fear, be hesitant and lack 
courage; Let your souls enter into mine and steer me along." 
He is clearly grateful for the help and support he received 
from the United States and others over the years, and yet we 
saw no signs that fear had conquered this remarkable man. 
Min Ko Naing's enormous personal sacrifice--in pursuit of a 
peaceful transition to democracy in Burma and improved human 
rights for his fellow citizens--is one of many stirring 
examples of what U.S. Burma policy is all about.  End Comment. 
MARTINEZ