They kicked and beat my face after every question. They were wearing army boots. At that time, I knew only to contemplate the teachings of the Buddha, to concentrate on them because I could not bear any more. I knew I was dying because if they did this repeatedly, I would die soon,' says monk Ashin Panna Siri.
He pauses, remembering how he was arrested for helping to organise Myanmar's 2007 mass pro-democracy uprisings. The protests, led by the Buddhist monks, were brutally put down by the military regime in a clampdown that began two years ago yesterday.
After the crackdown he went into hiding, but was caught and tortured in a police interrogation centre in the Myanmese city of Monywa the following month. Officers from Myanmar's military intelligence unit, who wanted him to admit being involved in the protests, demanded he disrobe. He refused to buckle, but a confession mattered little to the regime.
The 28-year-old was convicted of illegally possessing foreign currency and sentenced to three years' imprisonment with hard labour in January last year. After serving seven months in Monywa jail, he was moved to Kale prison before finally being transferred to Lin Dan hard labour camp near Myanmar's western border with India. He was beaten, starved, chained and forced to work repairing a highway. Meals were meagre. Prisoners were fed rice mixed with rat faeces.
Fearing he would not survive, he escaped on foot through mountainous jungle terrain into India a year ago. He was the only leader of the All Burma Monks Alliance (Abma), an underground group that helped mastermind the protests, to escape from detention.
When about 150,000 monks spilled onto the streets of Myanmar's cities and towns to demand the regime ease crushing poverty and political repression, momentum grew and protests soon spread. The generals knew the protests must be halted to save their skins. The ruling State Peace and Development Council imposed martial law and deployed thousands of riot police and soldiers, who opened fire on the peaceful protesters.
