Burmese Rights Group Criticizes Government on Prisons

A Burmese human rights group is accusing the Burmese government of allowing torture and corruption in its prison system.

The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners released its 2006 report - The Situation of Prisons in Burma as of 2006 - this week, finding an increase in corruption and malnutrition in Burma's prisons.

The group said many prisoners are forced to work and they must pay their own expenses when transferred from the labor camp to the prison. The report said prisoners must also pay bribes to prison authorities to prevent beatings.

The report said six political prisoners died in jails in 2006.

The group also criticized the government's plan to put prisons on a self-funding basis, saying it will only encourage more abuses.

The Burmese government has not commented on the report.

Burma's military junta has ruled the country with an iron-fist since the 1960's.