A/HRC/13/48 the requests of prisoners who staged hunger strikes in Insein and in Buthidaung in February 2010 for better food and health care as well as for reading and writing material. 20. There are 44 prisons in Myanmar and at least 50 labour camps. Some do not have a prison hospital, and at least 12 of the prisons do not even have a prison doctor. 21. In this regard the Special Rapporteur would like to draw attention to the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, which provide for, among other things: the services of a qualified medical officer within prisons or detention facilities; the transfer of prisoners and detainees who require specialist treatment to specialized institutions or to civil hospitals; and the provision of sufficiently nutritious food for prisoners. 22. These provisions are still not being met in Myanmar as some of the prison facilities do not have a prison doctor, and prisoners in many cases have to purchase their own medicines beyond basic pain relief pills or pay for outside treatments. The Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment also provides that “medical care and treatment shall be provided whenever necessary” (art. 24). 23. On 16 October 2009 the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar along with the Special Rapporteurs on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, on the situation of human rights defenders and on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, and the Chairperson of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, wrote to the Government regarding the case of Hla Myo Naung, who has been at serious risk of total blindness unless he receives specialist medical treatment. He had already been the subject of a joint urgent appeal addressed on 5 November 2008. Hla Myo Naung had participated in demonstrations against the fuel price hike in August 2007 and was the main spokesperson for the 88 Generation Students. He was arrested on 10 October 2007, sentenced to a prison term of 65 years and 6 months in November 2008, and transferred to the remote Myitkyina prison shortly afterwards. An unsuccessful eye surgery was conducted while he was in detention and led to the loss of vision in one eye. He later began to experience the same symptoms in his functional eye that had led to blindness in the other eye. He is known to be suffering from keratitis and corneal opacity. No reply has been provided by the Government of Myanmar. 24. The Special Rapporteur continues to receive reports on the alarmingly high number of deaths in prison. While official statistics have not been made available, it appears that both prisoners of conscience and regular prisoners are subject to conditions that lead to death. 25. Reports suggest that 143 prisoners of conscience have died in prison since 1988. Reports suggest that some prisoners died in prison from internal injuries that they sustained in interrogation camps and police stations where they were subject to brutal torture-like beating and kicking. Often, the bodies of the prisoners of conscience are cremated before the family can view them. 26. It is reported that in Sittwe Prison authorities register deaths of prisoners in prison as having taken place on the way to Sittwe General Hospital during the transfer process. In November 2009, four prisoners died in Sittwe Prison: Myo Kyaw, Daw Aung Tha Paing, U Sate Taung and Abu Ahlong. 27. Deprivation of food and water as punishment are reported to continue in Myanmar’s prisons. The State has the responsibility to ensure the protection and proper treatment of those put in detention, including providing adequate food and medical care in accordance GE.10-11915 7