The latest union member to be sentenced is 50-year-old Khin Maung Cho (also known as Pho Tote). Arrested in September 2008 along with two other trade unionists, Kan Mint and Nyunt Win, from the A21 soap factory, he was condemned in December, at the end of an unfair trial, to 24 years in prison. He later received an additional eight years for protesting whilst in detention. His colleagues were condemned to ten years’ imprisonment. All three of them were tried on a number of charges including links with exiled groups and sedition, but, as the FTUB explains, they are simply trade union activists. Pho Tote, who had received trade union training in Thailand, had assisted in the formation of unions in industrial zones near Rangoon. In 2007, he also took part in demonstrations against the rise in food prices. Pho Tote was tortured prior to being condemned, being forced to stand tiptoe on sharp objects. Many trade unionists risk losing their job if their activities are discovered.
The former prisoner, now a member of the FTUB, also denounced the extortion faced by prisoners: "The prison guards only earn 30,000 kyats (27 dollars) a month, which is by no means enough to give their families a decent life. As a result, they try to extract money from the prisoners, who are beaten if they do not pay. The prison doctors are quite competent, but they are also paid a pittance. As the conditions are better in the medical ward than in the cells at Insein prison, the doctors agree to prescribe more or less long stays there in return for money. Only the better-off prisoners can afford this type of stay in the medical wing." "Even animals are treated better than prisoners in Burma. During Cyclone Nargis, a group of prisoners at Insein set fire to part of the prison and had almost managed to escape when they came face to face with brutal repression. Numerous gunshots were fired and two people were killed. Around a hundred prisoners considered to be the leaders were tortured for two weeks. The guards even refused to give them anything to drink during this period; they would drink water from small puddles on the floor."
Foced labour. Duties such as carrying equipment for the army, tending plantations belonging to the authorities, building roads, barracks, etc., are among the long list of tasks imposed on tens of thousands of Burmese citizens every day. The order often comes from soldiers, sometimes from the local authorities. It is rarely written (to avoid being submitted as proof to the international community), but usually consists in demanding the attendance of one person per household. They have to take their own tools and their own food, and have to work for one or several days without pay, usually under the supervision of soldiers or representatives of the local authorities. The only way of escaping these forced duties is to pay a fine, but those able to afford it are rare, as it usually amounts to several days’ wages. If none of the adults in the family are able to go, a child has to be sent
Poverty and the repressiveness of the military junta have forced two to three million Burmese citizens to migrate to Thailand. They provide a source of cheap labour, widely exploited by the local employers.