A member of an organization providing counselling and financial assistance to support victims of torture with their medical costs told Amnesty International: “Many former political prisoners face health problems [because of how they were treated in prison]. People who were beaten usually experience ongoing back pain, whereas some people have stomach problems caused by years of eating poor food. Others suffer from eye problems, which comes from straining their eyes trying to read in their dark cells.”155 However, there are no official government programmes providing medical and psychological health services or treatment. There is also no government support for the rehabilitation and reintegration of former prisoners of conscience and other political prisoners while they require material support and assistance in gaining access to education and employment opportunities. Furthermore, acts of torture and other ill-treatment are crimes under international law, and the Myanmar authorities have an obligation to investigate allegations of such acts and prosecute those reasonably suspected of being responsible. These include those with command responsibility who ordered such treatment or who knew, or should have known, that those under their command were committing acts of torture or other illtreatment and did not take all measures in their power to prevent, suppress or report it. Victims of torture and other ill-treatment, and their families, should be granted adequate access to rehabilitation schemes and reparations. THE RIGHT TO AN EFFECTIVE REMEDY Under international human rights law, States are required to ensure that any person whose rights or freedoms are violated has access to redress and an effective remedy. 156 This includes any individual whose rights or freedoms are violated by persons acting in an official capacity. The right to a remedy also includes effective reparations for those whose rights have been violated. Such reparations are to be determined by a competent judicial, administrative or legislative authority, and where they are granted should be enforced by the competent authorities. The right to reparations includes restitution, compensation, rehabilitation, satisfaction and guarantees of non-repetition:157 Restitution: for example release of detainees and prisoners, restoration of legal rights and the return of property and other status; Compensation: including for physical or mental harm, lost opportunities, harm to an individual’s reputation or dignity and legal and medical costs; Rehabilitation: including medical and psychological care, legal and social services, and social reintegration; Satisfaction: including cessation of continued violations, public disclosure of the truth - without causing further harm, an apology for the harm done, and commemoration and memorialization activities; and Guarantees of non-repetition: including ensuring effective civilian control of military and security forces, ensuring trials meet international standards of due process, fairness and impartiality, and strengthening the independence of the judiciary. Amnesty International interview, Yangon, June 2015. UDHR Article 8. See also ICCPR Article 2(3). 157 See, for example, UN Commission on Human Rights, Updated Set of principles for the protection and promotion of human rights through action to combat impunity, UN Doc. E/CN.4/2005/102/Add.1, 8 February 2005. 155 156 NEW EXPRESSION MEETS OLD REPRESSION ENDING THE CYCLE OF POLITICAL ARRESTS AND IMPRISONMENT IN MYANMAR Amnesty International 49