Activists worldwide are bombarding Burmese embassies with emails demanding Burma’s dictatorship allow medical access for Ko Mya Aye, a leading democracy activist in Burma.
Ko Mya Aye, currently serving a 65 year jail term for his role in organising the democracy uprising in 2007, is being denied medical treatment for a serious heart condition.
In the 24 hours since the Burma Campaign UK launched an email action to Burmese embassies, more than 2,600 people have take action, equivalent to almost one email every thirty seconds.
The Burma Campaign UK, Amnesty International and Christian Solidarity Worldwide have all taken action to mobilise their supporters to lobby the dictatorship on behalf of Ko Mya Aye. Burma’s military dictatorship is systematically refusing medical treatment to political prisoners that they have jailed.
“The dictatorship hopes that it can get away with mistreating political prisoners, denying them medical care, and moving them to prisons where families can’t visit them,” said Mark Farmaner, Director of Burma Campaign UK. “We are making it clear to the dictatorship that the world is still watching and paying attention. It is a myth that the dictatorship is isolationalist and doesn’t care what the world thinks of them. They want the world to believe their lies that fake elections will bring change. Denying medical care to people who should not be in jail in the first place is yet more evidence that the fake elections won’t bring real change.”
Ko Mya Aye appears to be suffering from angina which has recently become unstable causing heart failure and requiring urgent medical treatment. He is also suffering from hypertension and gastric problems. He needs proper medical tests that can only be done in Rangoon, and will probably require an angioplasty operation or coronary artery bypass graft. So far there have been none of the required medical tests or operations. Another angina attack without access to emergency medical care would be very serious. Taungyi prison where he is being held is 450 miles away from Rangoon and 16 miles away from Taungyi City. The distance from the main prison entrance to the prison itself is about 4 miles.
Ko Mya Aye is also being held in conditions which are making his health condition much worse. On his arrival in the jail he was put in a cell which is for death row prisoners, and denied any exercise. There is no toilet or running water in the cell and he has to go toilet in an open field by the prison with no privacy.
For more information contact Mark Farmaner on 020 7324 4710