The junta has covered up the deaths of 70 inmates, of whom 49 were political prisoners, during the 28 March 2025 earthquake in Mandalay Prison, also known as Obo Prison.
The deaths at the prison, which is in Aungmyethazan Township, Mandalay Region, were never revealed by the junta and were only made public by the Political Prisoners Network – Myanmar (PPNM) following its own research.
According to PPNM, 70 prisoners, both male and female, were killed when Obo Prison was hit by the 7.7-magnitude earthquake that had its epicentre under Sagaing Region only a few miles away from Mandalay City. It said that of those 70 prisoners, 49 were political prisoners, 31 men and 18 women aged between 22 and 54 years of age.
Ma Yaung Ni Lin, a member of the PPNM steering committee said: “Through our networks inside Obo Prison, we've received a list of those who died. We can now confirm that 49 political prisoners died, so we’re making this information public. We’ve also identified each of them by name.”
The junta has maintained a strict news blackout on details of casualties in Obo Prison resulting from the earthquake.
Explaining what happened at Obo Prison Ma Yaung Ni Lin said: “The inmates were trapped inside a weak building when the earthquake struck. As the shaking started, all the prison staff fled, leaving the helpless inmates with no chance of escape. The junta then imposed an information blackout to stop people from finding out the truth that prisoners died because of the authorities’ irresponsible act. It hid this information because it knew it would be blamed if the public found out.”
The junta’s cover up of the deaths has left the families of the dead prisoners without any accurate information about them, unaware of their deaths and unable to carry out traditional funeral rites for them.
“Some families still don’t know that their loved ones died in the earthquake. They believe they’re still being held at Obo Prison,” said Ma Yaung Ni Lin.
PPNM has called on organisations advocating for human rights and justice to step up their efforts to support inmates at Obo Prison, including political prisoners, who are currently in urgent need of help and assistance.
