teacircleoxford // Justice in Burma: Wounds on the Wall – Tea Circle

23.5.18

Justice in Burma: Wounds on the Wall – Tea Circle: The museum is run by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), a member of ND-Burma, a local organisation documenting human rights abuses in the country.

The mere fact that the museum is permitted to operate shows that Burma is freer than it used to be. Before 2011, when General Thein Sein initiated a series of reforms, anyone caught documenting or disseminating information about government ruthlessness would have faced certain arrest, perhaps torture and possibly death.

The rest of the museum, however, shows how fragile Burmese democracy still is. Among the pictures of current political prisoners are Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, two Reuters reporters arrested last December while researching allegations of grave human rights violations in Rakhine State. They are awaiting their trial in the notorious Insein prison, where thousands deemed enemies of the state have served time.