Mandalay Central Prison

Prison in Mandalay, Myanmar

Mandalay Central Prison

Location| Mandalay, Myanmar
Coordinates| 22°01′24″N 96°05′48″E﻿ / ﻿22.023214415739908°N 96.09666512741309°E﻿ / 22.023214415739908; 96.09666512741309
Status| Active
Capacity| 4,833
Opened| 1992; 32 years ago (1992)
Managed by| Ministry of Home Affairs
City| Mandalay
State/province| Mandalay Region
Country| Myanmar

Mandalay Central Prison (Burmese: မန္တလေးဗဟိုအကျဉ်းထောင်), informally known as Obo Prison (အိုးဘိုအကျဉ်းထောင်), is a major prison located in Aungmyethazan Township, Mandalay, Myanmar (formerly Burma).[1] The prison is adjacent to the Obo railway station, and located northeast of the city centre, at the foot of Mandalay Hill.[2] The prison has a capacity of 4,833 inmates.[3][4] Mandalay Central Prison has housed many prominent political prisoners, including Zaw Myint Maung, Ye Lwin, and Win Htein.[2]

## History[edit]

King Mindon founded Mandalay in 1857 as the new royal capital of the Konbaung dynasty. It was Burma's last royal capital before the British Empire annexed the kingdom in 1885.

The picture of the prison was taken in 1903[5] by the Archaeological Survey of India under Lord Curzon, Viceroy of India from 1899 to 1905. In this prison, heavily-guarded Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was brought on 25 January 1925, at midnight and spent almost three years there. Bose considered it as a privilege as Bal Gangadhar Tilak (imprisoned from 1907 to 1913), Lala Lajpat Rai who were imprisoned there once. The jail was located on the banks of the Irrawaddy River shown in the picture in the far background on the right.[6]

A new prison was built in 1992 by the State Law and Order Restoration Council, the ruling military junta, to replace a pre-colonial jail inside Mandalay Palace, amid domestic unrest following the 8888 Uprising.[7] The prison's half-spoke wheel design has been used as a reference model for subsequent prison designs in the country.[7]

In April 2008, 5 inmates at the prison were charged with murder after Kyaw Myo Thu, an inmate was found dead in a jail cell.[8] In the aftermath of the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, Obo Prison has been used to house numerous political prisoners.[9] In August 2022, several prisoners were shot for staging a hunger strike, in response to the high-profile execution of anti-coup political activists, including Kyaw Min Yu and Phyo Zeyar Thaw.[10]

## Notable prisoners[edit]

* Zaw Myint Maung[2]
* Ye Lwin[2]
* Win Htein[2]
* Subhas Chandra Bose[11]
* Bal Gangadhar Tilak
* Lala Lajpat Rai
* Sardar Ajit Singh

## References[edit]

1. ^ "Myanmar junta destroys houses near Mandalay's Obo Prison". Mizzima Myanmar News and Insight. Retrieved 2023-02-12.
2. ^ a b c d e "Surviving more than 600 days as an inmate of Obo Prison". Myanmar NOW. Retrieved 2023-02-12.
3. ^ Phyo Wai Kyaw (2019-03-27). "Mandalay prison filled to overflowing". The Myanmar Times.
4. ^ Zarni Mann (2018-04-23). "5 Charged With Murder Following Fatal Beating of Obo Prison Inmate". The Irrawaddy. Retrieved 2023-02-12.
5. ^ "Mandalay".
6. ^ Jail, Mandalay. "Mandalay Jail". Wikipedia.
7. ^ a b Martin, Tomas Max (October 2021). "The politics of prison air: Breath, smell, and wind in Myanmar prisons". Punishment & Society. 23 (4): 478–496. doi:10.1177/14624745211024339. ISSN 1462-4745.
8. ^ Mike (2018-04-23). "5 Charged With Murder Following Fatal Beating of Obo Prison Inmate". The Irrawaddy. Retrieved 2023-02-12.
9. ^ "Myanmar Junta Transfers Over 120 Political Prisoners from Mandalay's Obo Jail". The Irrawaddy. 2022-10-13. Retrieved 2023-02-12.
10. ^ Nora Aung (2022-08-05). "Political Prisoners Injured in Myanmar Prison Crackdown". The Irrawaddy. Retrieved 2023-02-12.
11. ^ Bose, Subhas Chandra; Bose(Ed.), Sisir k. (2008). In Burmese Prisons: Correspondence May 1923—July 1926. Orient Blackswan. ISBN 9788178242507.