[ad_1]
(Reuters) – Myanmar security forces punched a U.S. journalist, slapped him and beat him and kept his eyes covered for a week after questioning, he said after being detained for three months after being deported to the United States.
Nathan Maung, 44, editor-in-chief of the news platform Kamayut Media, was arrested on March 9 in a raid and released on June 15. His colleague Hanthar Nyein, who remains in custody, said they have been subjected to harsher torture. he met them in prison like other people.
A spokesman for the junta has not responded to Nathan Maung’s request for comment on the matter, echoing the thousands of others who have been arrested since the army ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1.
The board said the detainees are being treated in accordance with the law.
“The first three or four days were the worst,” Nathan Maung told Reuters in a phone interview in Virginia on Friday.
“They punched me several times. Despite saying that, they beat me. They used both hands to slap the eardrums many times. They touched my cheeks on both sides. They touched my shoulders. They stood up. My legs were swollen. I couldn’t move anymore,” he said.
Nathan Maung, who was born in Myanmar and fled to the United States as a fugitive in the 1990s, said he was arrested at the Kamayut Media office and taken away for questioning about his publication, his role and operation there.
“They handed me handcuffs on my back, tied my eyes with a cloth and covered them with another cloth,” he said.
“They wouldn’t let me sleep for about three or four days. Without questioning. There was no time to sleep,” he said. On the fourth day, he said beatings were reduced after learning he was a U.S. citizen.
“On the eighth day, a colonel came in and removed the covered cloth from me,” Nathan Maung said.
SOME “EXPERIENCED BAD TORTURE”
After his release, Nathan Maung met with U.S. officials and helped them and their families, the U.S. embassy said.
American journalist Danny Fenster, who was arrested more than a month ago, was arrested and his brother said he was allowed to speak to the U.S. embassy for the first time last week.
Nathan Maung said the colonel has recorded his testimony and asked if he should make a statement as the editor has a lawyer to respect his human rights and defend him against any charges.
The colonel told him he had not been charged with any crime and would be released when the situation calmed down, Nathan Maung said.
While in custody, Nathan Maung said he met other people who had been abused and heard people shouting, begging and screaming from other buildings.
“Some of them suffered worse torture than we did. He was with me in a room for two days. His body was covered in bruises and wounds. He put his handcuffs on the table and hit his hand.
“The bones were not broken, but he was badly injured and his skin was ripped off.”
Kamayut Media stopped publishing after his arrest, but Nathan Maung said he intended to resume his work.
The activist group of the Association of Political Prisoners Support says 5,200 people remain in prison after being arrested since the coup. He says security forces have killed at least 881 people since then. The board discusses the figure.
[ad_2]
Source link
