Imprisoned for Helping the Injured: Ye Myat Htut’s Story
Karen State, Burma
22 May 2024
Ye Myat Htut (also known as Ko Ye) is a 32-year-old Buddhist from Yangon, a member of a group called the People’s Rescue Force (PRF), which is similar to FBR. The PRF go to the people impacted by the war and help how they can, whether it’s giving out food or providing medical care to injured resistance soldiers. Ko Ye works as a medic for the PRF and we met him when he attended an FBR medical training to learn more skills to better treat people wounded in the fighting.
Early in the coup, Ko Ye was arrested and imprisoned by the Burma Army. This is his story.
Before the coup, Ko Ye worked in HR for a tech company but also volunteered part-time as a firefighter. When COVID hit Burma, he felt compelled to help. He volunteered with an organization called the Irrawaddy Foundation to provide ambulance services for patients.
Then, in February of 2021, the military seized power in a coup. Burma Army soldiers came to the COVID response center Ko Ye was working at and conscripted everyone there into supporting the regime. For five days, Ko Ye and his ambulance were forced to stop helping COVID patients and instead focus on evacuating and treating soldiers and policemen who were somehow injured while attempting to suppress the people’s protests against the military takeover. From February 5th to the 10th, Ko Ye witnessed the regime’s brutal crackdown tactics. The junta forces beat the protesters with batons and shields, and employed tear gas, hoses, and rubber bullets. Ko Ye felt guilty supporting such violence against his own people.
Ko Ye was determined to escape his conscription. He made up a story for the soldiers who were in charge of him and his fellow health workers, telling them he had a family emergency at home. Once home, he gathered a group of his friends together to help protesters injured by the Burma Army crackdown. He would never passively watch his people suffer again.
Five days later, during a protest, two injured protesters were brought to Ko Ye. They had been shot. This kind of injury was beyond Ko Ye and his group. They needed to get these people to a doctor but the hospitals weren’t safe. Ko Ye sent the injured to his house; they could figure out a next step from there. Once they all arrived at his home they found out that Burma Army soldiers, determined to arrest the injured protesters, had somehow figured out they were at Ko Ye’s house. Quickly, Ko Ye contacted a doctor he knew and sent the two injured civilians there. Not long after, the soldiers surrounded his house and proceeded to arrest everyone there. Ko Ye, one of his friends, his brother, his two cousins, his father, and even his 14-year-old nephew, were all taken into custody.
They were taken to a police station initially, where Burma Army soldiers separated them into individual interrogation rooms. They asked Ko Ye where the injured protesters had gone and who the doctor was who had agreed to help them. Ko Ye, his family members, and his friend all refused to give any information. Even when the interrogation went on for four days. Even when they were beaten for falling asleep, beaten before each round of questions, or beaten just because. Even when their captors threatened to kill the others if the person didn’t talk. Even when they handcuffed them to the ceiling and left them hanging by their wrists for hours until they went unconscious from the pain. None of them broke.
Ko Ye remembers that the only way he knew to keep track of time was that at 8pm every night the city would explode with the sound of banging pots and pans as people showed solidarity with the protesters and their opposition to the dictators. The little bit of sleep he was able to sneak was on a cold hard floor and he would be awakened by beatings and more rounds of questioning. Other prisoners said to just stay awake, walk around in the cell, but there was no real way to escape the torture. He still has the handcuff marks to this day.
Ko Ye, his family, and friend were questioned for four days and then sentenced to prison. His nephew was sent to Juvenile Hall instead of the main prison. The Burma Army tried to make it seem legal by charging them with “Defamation of Country” but they knew that was just a cover. They were being punished for helping the protesters.
During the interrogation, Ko Ye had been isolated in his own cell but in prison he was jailed alongside 60-70 others in a large room. It was actually a relief to no longer be so alone, even if they were strangers. The group welcomed him in, encouraging Ko Ye and making prison a little less bleak. He was no longer the focus of an interrogation, but the wardens would still beat the prisoners for no reason. There was no privacy: the cell had three toilets for the entire group to use out in the open so the guards could still see them. The food was barely sufficient, hard rice and watered-down beans.
Unsurprisingly, one of the prisoners, a monk, got very sick. Ko Ye and the other prisoners petitioned the guards to get the monk medical treatment but their requests were either denied or ignored. It was the monk who helped mobilize them. He challenged the prisoners, saying, “Aren’t you men, don’t you have courage!? Why are you following a woman’s longee? You have to ask for what you want!” Ko Ye remembered feeling fired up and the whole cell broke out in revolutionary songs. It started with just asking for help for the monk but soon they were protesting all the mistreatment. They created a list of demands: one, release the political prisoners; two, provide health care; three, allow for visitation with family; and four, allow for regular visits for prisoner couples who were jailed separately.
When the guards could not get them to stop, soldiers came in and threatened to kill them all. The soldiers were about to open fire when a senior warden stopped them and agreed to negotiate with the prisoners. The Burma Army agreed to everything except the release of political prisoners. The monk was taken to a hospital and cared for. The prisoners were also allowed to designate a group leader to regularly talk to the wardens and work out problems. They had demanded their rights and they had won!
Prison was not all bad for Ko Ye. He met like-minded individuals, others who disagreed with the military takeover. They were able to teach each other things like English and Burmese. Ko Ye came out of prison more able and more motivated to fight for freedom.
After two years in prison, Ko Ye, his family, and his friend were all released together. They were still on probation for another year with the potential for more time to be added but they were a little closer to freedom. They wanted to escape Yangon, one of the major cities in Burma at the center of the military’s control, but were unable to get away. Ko Ye followed his probation, not wanting to risk his family receiving any further abuse. Finally, after 11 months, someone helped them escape the city and Ko Ye felt safe enough to openly support the revolution without fear of reprisals on him or his family.
Ko Ye joined a team of 20 others to form the PRF unit he is a part of to this day. When we spoke with him they were preparing for another relief mission after the training. Also, sadly, one of their team members had just been arrested.
Ko Ye has every right to be angry and to want revenge on the military and its soldiers that abused him and his family. Yet, when we asked him how we could pray for him and Burma, this is what he said: “Pray that this situation will end soon. Without an end, many people can’t go back to Burma. Some Burma Army soldiers don’t want to do what they are doing but are stuck; please pray for them. And pray for people in Burma who are afraid and want to get out but can’t.”
His concern for his people, even those who oppressed him, is proof of his integrity and heart, qualities that the junta imprisoned him for and yet could not beat out of him. Ko Ye also has been thinking and praying about accepting Jesus as his Savior and being baptized. We thank God for Ko Ye, that his life was saved, for his courage, and the way he inspires us; we pray that he and his country will soon see the freedom and the victory they have sacrificed and risked so much for.
God bless you,
The Free Burma Rangers