An inspection tour of prisons in Yangon Region has found no evidence of human rights violations, the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission (MNHRC) announced on its website last week.
The MNHRC inspectors visited the Yangon Region Correctional Department, the Minkon prison camp, the Hlayhlawin vocational training camp and the Hlegu Township court, jail and police station on February 23. They then visited the couts and police stations in Thingangyun, Thuwanna and South Okkalapa on February 27.
Though they reportedly discovered no human rights violations in the correctional facilities, the inspectors did recommend repairs to the facilities and higher staff numbers, Eleven reported yesterday.
“The toilet and corridor adjacent to the cell of the Hlegu Myoma police station should be repaired because of a water leakage. Necessary staff should be employed at the Minkon agriculture, livestock and vocational training camp. Dormitories should be expanded. Sewage works should be systematically carried out. The entrance to the Hlegu Township court should be widened. The holding cell at the Thingangyun Township court should be expanded because of the crowding of prisoners. The cells at the South Okkalapa police station should be repaired,” the MNHRC report said.
Yangon Region is home to 100 police station cells, 45 cells at courthouses, four cells at the Yangon General Hospital and seven prisons and prison camps.
MNHRC are now continuing their tour of prisons and camps in the region.
The Commission for the Assessment of Legal Affairs and Special Issues announced the inspection tour in late January, citing the inability of prisons in the region to serve as rehabilitation centers.
UN Human Rights Rapporteur Yanghee Lee mentioned Yangon Region’s prisons in a January 20 report following a 12-day visit to Myanmar.
She said: “I also visited Insein prison in Yangon, and Buthidaung and Sittwe prisons in Rakhine State. In these prisons, I met prisoners and detainees who were charged (and convicted) for criticizing high-level government or military officials, for raising human rights issues, for filing court cases against the government and for not meeting the rules for peaceful assembly in attempts to express their concerns for the government’s attention.”
Furthermore, a recent Myanmar Now report uncovered evidence that several prison camps in southeastern Myanmar force inmates to produce constructions materials without pay, while prison authorities collect the profits by selling the materials to construction companies.
Reader Interactions