6,994 people were detained
in the six months after the military coup on February 1, 2021.
These are their names.
Source: Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP)
Source: Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP)
Detainees are held in jails and army compounds across Myanmar.
101 East tracked down three protesters who claim they were interrogated at a military facility in Shwepyitha township.
They say people were tortured inside a secret facility while they were there.
For safety reasons, their testimony is being read by actors.
This is the army compound and the main entrance.
Forensic Architecture, an investigative research agency at the University of London,
helped us find and recreate the facility with evidence gathered by 101 East.
They say they were held for days and interrogated.
A growing body of evidence, posted online,
suggests that people are being tortured and dying in custody.
Slide to reveal their stories.
When Khin Maung Latt was prepared for burial, large amounts of blood came away from his body.
Witnesses claim they saw suspicious bruises and injuries on his head, waist and ear.
Sithu Maung was elected as an MP for the party that was overthrown in the coup.
101 East spoke to a mother whose daughter was detained in the Shwepyitha interrogation centre.
Her daughter was detained in April after an explosion in her township killed one soldier
and wounded several others.
That evening, authorities searched her daughter’s house
and alleged they found homemade weapons.
A few days later, her battered face was shown on state media.
Speaking anonymously, the mother says she last saw her daughter
before she was taken from a police station.
She is now in Insein Prison.
My daughter turned around and looked at me.
And that's when I saw that her face was really big and swollen.
She needed assistance walking. She was very unstable and slow.
I hope she doesn't have to spend a lot of time in the four walls.
I'm really worried about her wellbeing. I don't think she will get any medication in those places."
Myanmar’s ruling military declined to comment about their conduct during the crackdown.
But some soldiers have defected and are speaking out against the regime.
Lin Htet Aung rose to the rank of captain and served in the military for 13 years.
He says the army is like a cult and soldiers are brainwashed to hate the civilian government.
In Southeast Asia, a region known for political upheaval, Myanmar has a long and troubled history.
Civil unrest hotspots across Southeast Asia between February and July, 2021.
Source: ACLED
After gaining independence from Britain in 1948,
Myanmar was ruled by military regimes for five decades.
Civilian dissent has repeatedly been met with crackdowns.
Hopes for democratic reform rose in 2011,
with the transfer of power to a military-backed civilian government.
Democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi led her party,
the National League for Democracy (NLD), to victory in the 2015 election.
But on February 1, 2021, just three months after the NLD won a second term,
the army seized power again.
They claimed the poll was rigged, a claim dismissed by international observers.
Senior leaders of the deposed government, including Aung San Suu Kyi, were arrested and jailed.
The coup sparked nationwide protests.
Civil servants went on strike.
Hein was one of the young demonstrators who brought the nation to a standstill.
Their bravery was soon met with bullets.
Tear gas billowed through the streets.
The military imposed a state of emergency, shut down the internet
and banned gatherings of more than five people.
But it did not silence the public’s anger.
940 people were killed in the six months after the coup,
according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.
The violence and threat of arrest have forced many into hiding across Myanmar.
Politicians and protesters are among those fleeing the authorities.
Sithu Maung is one of them.
His father was detained by the police soon after his campaign manager Khin Maung Latt
died mysteriously in custody.
With the crackdown showing no signs of abating,
civilians have vowed to keep fighting for democracy, whatever the cost.