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Political Prisoner Profile

AAPP

ASE

0004

AME OF

OLITICAL

RISONER

Ko Ko Gyi

ENDER

Male

THNICITY

Burmese

ATE OF

IRTH

18 December 1961

48 in 2009

ELIGION

Buddhist

ARENTS

AME

U Thaung Tun

DUCATION

Final Year Student, International Relations, University of Rangoon (1988)

CCUPATION

Leader of 88 Generation Students Group

AST

DDRESS

Thingangyun Township, Rangoon Division

RREST

ATE

August 21, 2007

HOTO

ATE

April 2008

ECTION OF

Penal Code, Sections 130(b), 228, and 505(b); Endangering National Convention LawNo. 5/96, Section 4; Printers and Publishers Registration Law, Sections 17 and 20;Electronic Transactions Law No. 5/2004, Section 33(a); Unlawful Association Act of 1908, Section 17(1); Law Amending the Control of Money, Section 24(1); Televisionand Video Law No. 8/96, Sections 32(b) and 36; and Forming of Organizations LawNo. 6/88, Section 6

ENTENCING

ISTORY

65 years and 6 months (6 months for contempt of court on 29 October 2008 and 65years on 11 November 2008)

OURT

EARING

Insein Prison Special Court and Ma-ubin District Court

AME OF

RISON

Monghsat Prison, Shan State

ELEASE

ATE

MMEDIATE

EALTH CONCERNS

In December 2007 Ko Ko Gyi

was reported to be suffering from serious backache after accidentally slippingand colliding with a cement water container just as he was recovering from dengue fever. (

Irrawaddy

)On 9 July 2008 Democratic Voice of Burma reported that Ko Ko Gyi was suffering from a weak digestivesystem and had only been able to eat boiled rice for the past three months. His brother, Aung Htun, reportedthat his liver was also getting weak again, noting that Ko Ko Gyi had previously suffered from liver stonesand Hepatitis B.On 21 November 2008 Mizzima reported that Ko Ko Gyi’s

brother, Aung Htun, had recently met with thedetained student leaders and said that his brother and others are suffering from various illnesses due to theirconstant detention and lack of medical treatment. "They have already suffered various diseases during theirprevious lengthy prison terms before being arrested again last year. My elder brother's major complaint isindigestion. He is trying his best to prevent his disease from worsening. He's having only gruel in prisoninstead of rice," Aung Htun said. A few months earlier, his brother had already reported to the media that KoKo Gyi had been suffering from a weak digestive system and had only been able to eat boiled rice and othereasily digestible things like noodles for a few months. Ko Ko Gyi’s liver is reportedly also weak. Ko Ko Gyihas previously also suffered from liver stones.In May 2009 it was reported by Radio Free Asia that Ko Ko Gyi was once again suffering from Hepatitis B,and that his general health condition was deteriorating. (RFA Burmese 06May2009)

URRENT

TATUS

UMMARY

Ko Ko Gyi is a 48-year-old man and former political prisoner who is now serving a 65½ -year prisonsentence at Monghsat Prison for his involvement in the 2007 Saffron Revolution protests against the militaryregime.

(See “Arrest Details” below.)

Prison Transfer History:

•

Ko Ko Gyi was originally held at

Insein Prison

in Rangoon Division for over one year. On 25 April

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2008

Ko Ko Gyi’s brother reported to DVB that Ko Ko Gyi

was being held in isolation and had beendenied the right to exercise for the past month.

•

On 31 October 2008 he was transferred to

Ma-ubin Prison

in Irrawaddy Division with eight of hisco-defendants to complete the trial that was underway.

•

On 15 November 2008, after receiving 65-year prison sentences, Ko Ko Gyi and his eight co-defendants were transferred back to

Insein Prison

•

The next day, on Sunday 16 November 2008, Ko Ko Gyi was transferred to

Kengtung Prison

inShan State.

•

Two days later, on 18 November 2008, Ko Ko Gyi was transferred to

Mai Sot Prison

in Shan State.

•

Less than a month later, on 9 December 2008, Ko Ko Gyi was transferred yet again to

MonghsatPrison

in Shan State, without any notification to his family. Ko Ko Gyi’s brother, Aung Tun, wentto visit him but had not been told of his recent transfer. “I went to Shan State to find out whichprison my brother is being held in. He’s been [at Monghsat Prison] since 9 December 2008. FinallyI found out where he is being held. It’s so tiring to visit him. I spent 1,000,000 kyats (US$ 1,000)and it’s so cold there.” (RFA Burmese 17Dec2008)Monghsat Prison, where Ko Ko Gyi is currently incarcerated, is in eastern Burma and has a cool climate. Theprison is approximately 1,086 kilometers (675 miles) from his family in Rangoon. Transferring politicalprisoners to distant prisons is one of the tactics used by the regime to further punish prisoners and increase theburden on their families and friends who provide necessary medicines, food, and other support.In October 2008, the 88 Generation Students, including Ko Ko Gyi, who were detained in Insein prison, wereawarded “

2008 President’s International Democracy Award

” from the American Federation of Teachers(with more than 1.4 million members) in the United States.

AREER

ACKGROUND

Ko Ko Gyi has earned a reputation as a gifted strategist within the pro-democracy movement. He is one of the most prominent student activists, said to be second only to the poet-activist Min Ko Naing.In 1988, Ko Ko Gyi was a few months away from his graduation as a final year student of InternationalRelations at the University of Rangoon when popular protests began. On 13 March 1988 a peaceful studentprotest at the Rangoon Institute of Technology (RIT) was brutally crushed by the authorities, and twostudents were shot dead by riot police. Many students from all over the country attended peaceful rallies ontheir school campuses to protest against the heavy-handed treatment by authorities and to demand anindependent investigation into the deaths of the two students. On 15 March 1988 Ko Ko Gyi, together withfellow student leaders, led a peaceful rally on his University of Rangoon campus. The next day, on 16 March1988 he and a group of students were planning a peaceful march to RIT, when they were stopped and beatenby the police on the main street in front of their school. Ko Ko Gyi became highly involved in the 1988Uprising.*

* The 1988 Uprising was a series of pro-democracy marches anddemonstrations initiatedby students in Rangoon on 8 August 1988. The protests spreadthroughout the country. Hundreds of thousands of people including monks, young children, university students, housewives, anddoctors demonstratedagainst the regime. The uprising endedon 18 September 1988, when the State Law andOrder Restoration Council (SLORC) ordereda stop; the militaryopenedfire on protestors andthousands were killedwhile many others were arrestedandsentencedto longimprisonments.

On 28 August 1988 Ko Ko Gyi was elected Vice Chairperson of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions(ABFSU), led by Min Ko Naing as Chairperson. The ABFSU was originally formed in 1936 as the AllBurma Students’ Union, but changed its name in 1951 to the current All Burma Federation of StudentUnions. The ABFSU was forced to operate underground beginning in 1962 when the military governmentkilled hundreds of protesting students and arrested thousands of others. During the 1988 Uprising, theABFSU was publicly re-established, and their pro-democracy efforts gained momentum. ThroughoutBurma’s democratic struggle, the students have taken a leading role in the popular movements. The students’

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commitment to truth, the tenacity of their beliefs, and their sacrifices for those beliefs are known as ‘"studentethics" or "morals of fighting peacock," thus the fighting peacock became a symbol of student unions of Burma.Ko Ko Gyi was arrested on 27 April 1989 and held in detention for 44 days for his political activism.Following his release, Ko Ko Gyi led the ABSFU from July 1989 to December 1991, while his friend andcolleague Min Ko Naing remained in detention for 16 years.Ko Ko Gyi was arrested again on 11 December 1991 for his involvement in a student protest at University of Rangoon, held to honor imprisoned Daw Aung San Suu Kyi for receiving the Nobel Peace Prize. He wasinitially sentenced to 20 years imprisonment with hard labor, which was later reduced to 10 years. When hecompleted his prison term, the authorities continued to detain him under State Protection Act, Section 10(a).He was eventually released in March 2005, after spending more than 13 years in prison. In an interview with

Irrawaddy

magazine following his release, he said, “We paid the price with our families, our youth and oursociety. But we are satisfied with that sacrifice.”On 6 September 2005 Ko Ko Gyi helped found the 88 Generation Students Group, together with otherprominent activists from the 1988 Uprising, including Min Ko Naing. The 88 Generation Students are a pro-democracy group that named themselves after the 1988 Uprising.On 27 September 2006 Ko Ko Gyi was arrested, together with Min Ko Naing, Htay Kywe, Min Zeya, andPyone Cho, by special police forces. They were arrested for their pro-democracy activities, including the“White Sunday” campaign, which began in early 2006. Every Sunday around 100 pro-democracy activistswore white clothing similar to that worn by political prisoners, and went to visit the families of politicalprisoners in an act of solidarity and protest. The activists were all released on 11 January 2007, afterspending 3½ months in prison without being charged. On 11 March 2007 they reinitiated the White SundayCampaign.On 7 August 2007 Ko Ko Gyi wrote an article for

Democratic Voice of Burma

entitled “How are we going tocarry out our ‘duties’?”. In it he criticized the National Convention process unfolding in Burma and madeproposals for how to democratize it. (Seehttp://english.dvb.no/print_news.php?id=316

)

RREST

ETAILS

In August and September 2007 Ko Ko Gyi was deeply involved with 88 Generation Students in leadingprotests for what became known as “The Saffron Revolution.” The Saffron Revolution, named after the colorof the monks’ robes who also led many of the peaceful marches, was a multi-day series of demonstrationsthat spread throughout Burma to protest the military regime’s economic mismanagement and the fallingstandard of living. In August 2007 the regime removed fuel subsidies, causing fuel prices to skyrocketbetween 100% and 500% overnight. This consequently led to a dramatic increase in the price of alltransportation and general commodities. Throughout the protests activists were arrested, and beginning on 26September 2007 the military used force with a violent crackdown on the protestors and the monks to end thedemonstrations.On 19 August 2007, the group led a march of more than 400 people from Rangoon’s Kokine junction toTamwe market in a protest against the high fuel prices. The activists, who had attended a memorial servicefor late National League for Democracy leader U Kyi Maung in Bahan township, walked to Tamwe instead of paying for the bus fares that were pushed higher by increased fuel prices. Ko Ko Gyi

said that by decidingnot to take public transport the group had made a statement about the impact high transport costs would haveon the average Burmese worker. “We couldn’t pay the new bus fares for our large group so the logicalsolution was to walk instead…Most people are facing problems like this now.”

On 21 August 2007 Ko Ko Gyi was arrested in a late-night raid on his home in Thingangyun Township,Rangoon Division by special police forces and military intelligence, without a warrant.