RAKHINE STATE – Family members of detainees visiting Sittwe Prison said they have to pay the guards to deliver care packages.
“We cannot just leave the package like before if we want to send medicine and necessary items to our family members. We have to pay the guards and leave it at the gate. They don’t accept the package nor deliver it if we don’t pay,” said a Sittwe resident who visited the prison.
It is said that all visitors to the prison have to pay the guards from 5,000 to 10,000 Kyats every time they visit their family members.
Mr. Myat Htun, the director of the Association Protecting and Promoting Human Rights in Rakhine said that this action constitutes bribery.
“This is abnormal. Normally, visitors are asked their name and parents’ names then the gate would accept the package and deliver it. Now they are asking for money to deliver the package which is bribery,” said Mr. Myat Htun.
Moreover, people close to Sittwe Prison mentioned that the detainees there have to pay money for meals, in addition to the visitors having to pay money.
People who are not Sittwe locals are constantly getting arrested by the junta council in Sittwe in the recent month and it is said that the detainees have to be placed in old prison cells due to there being insufficient space.
