Bo Kyi speaks English in a soft voice. He learned it the hard way, unable to see his teacher. They were political prisoners in adjoining cells in Myanmar's Thayawaddy Prison . His teacher whispered to him while the guards were away. Then Bo Kyi used a piece of brick to write out new words on his cell wall.
If the ethnic question represents one side of Myanmar's profound social failure, the lack of political consensus is the other. Freedom of expression does not exist. To call or campaign for political rights often means jail. At least 2,500 political prisoners are currently in some 20 prisons throughout Myanmar.
Bo Kyi, a student political activist, was first arrested in Yangon on March 16, 1990 and sentenced to three years with hard labor. After his release, he was rearrested on July 17, 1994 and given the same sentence. He served his sentences at three prisons: Insein, Mandalay and Thayawaddy. After the second release, military intelligence officers visited his home at least once a week to discuss his "opinions" and often threatened him with rearrest. When they came to his house to do just that on Aug. 28, 1999, luckily he was away.