Freed US editor tells horror stories of torture in Myanmar

A US journalist has alleged that he was punched, slapped and beaten by Myanmar security forces.

Nathan Maung, 44, is the editor-in-chief of the online news platform Kamayut Media, who was detained during a raid on March 9 and after spending over three months in detention he was deported to the US on June 15.

Maung alleges that he was kept in a blindfold for more than a week of interrogation and that a colleague Hanthar Nyein who is still in detention, along with many other people have been subjected to harsher torture methods.

Spokesmen of the Junta are yet to comment on Nathan Maung’s account. Muang’s account is similar to many others who have been detained by the Junta since its February 1 coup overthrowing the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.

Earlier the junta had said that all of the detainees are being treated as per the law.

Speaking to Reuters, Nathan Maung said that, "The first threetofour days were the worst," and that he was “punched and slappedseveral times”.

“No matter what I said, they just beat me. They used both their hands to slap my eardrums many times. They punched my cheekbones onbothsides. They punched my shoulders. I was not allowed to stand up. My legswere swollen.Icould notmove anymore," he added.

Myanmar born Nathan Maung fled to the United States as a refugee in the 1990s.

As per his narrative, he was seized at KamayutMedia's office and from there he was taken for questioning about his publication, his role there and how it operates.

"They handcuffed my hands behind my back, tied my eyes with a cloth and coveredthat with another cloth," he said.

"They did not allow me to sleep for about three or four days.Nonstop interrogation.There was no time to sleep,".

Maung says that on the fourth day, after they discovered he was a US citizen, the beatings diminished, and "On the eighth day, a colonel came, he removed the cloth blindfolding me,".

Some 'experienced worse torture'

"Some people experienced worse torture than us. There was someone together with me in a room for two days. His body was covered in bruises and injuries. They put his handcuffed hands on the table and beat his hand.

"The bones were not broken, but he was badly injured and his skin was ripped off."

Narrating this harrowing tale, Nathan Maung says that during his detention, he had met other people who had been mistreated much worse than him. He would hear people shouting, begging and screaming from other buildings.

The US embassy said that after his release Nathan Maung was met by US officials who assisted him and his family.

US remains concerned over the detention of another journalist, Danny Fenster, who has been in detention for more than a month and was only just allowed to speak to the US embassy last week for the first time.

According to the activist group, Assistance Association for Political Prisoners since the February 1 coup, nearly 5,200 people remain incarcerated. It also says that since the beginning of the coup, at least 881 people have been killed by the security forces. The junta disputes the figure.

(With inputs from agencies)