Maj-Gen Sao Hso Ten, a leader of the Shan State Peace Council who is serving a 106-year prison term, has been transferred to three different prisons within one week, according to his family. Hso Ten, 74, was first moved from remote Hkamti Prison in Sagaing Division to Mandalay Prison, then to Insein Prison in Rangoon and finally to Sittwe Prison in Arakan State. The length of the journey, for which the form of transportation is unknown, was approximately 1,100 miles. Maj-Gen Sao Hso Ten Hso Ten has been in prison since 2005, and his daughter, Nan Kham Pong, told The Irrawaddy that his health is deteriorating. He injured his hand in a fall, needs an emergency eye operation and is suffering from a heart problem and diabetes, she said. Bo Kyi, the joint-secretary of the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners-Burma (AAPP), told The Irrawaddy that "His[Hso Ten's] health is not in good condition, and being sent to Sittwe prison is like moving him into the mouth of death." Hso Ten's family lives in Lashio, Shan State, which is 96 miles from Mandalay. They had last seen Hso Ten in early June, so when he was transferred to Mandalay Prison on Aug. 2, a Monday, they came to meet him. Prison authorities told the family that visits for political prisoners are only on Saturday. But when Hso Ten's family returned to Mandalay prison on Saturday, the authorities said that Hso Ten had been transferred to Insein prison in Rangoon on Thursday and would not give an official reason for the transfer. The family proceeded to Insein prison in Rangoon, arriving on Sunday, but prison authorities said Hso Ten had been transferred to Sittwe prison in Arakan State on Saturday. "We could not catch him in Rangoon. I rang to Sittwe prison and they said that the family can visit, but they refused to tell me the date my father arrived," Nan Kham Pong told The Irrawaddy on Monday Hso Ten's family will proceed to Sittwe prison on Tuesday, Nan Kham Pong said. "We were shown a document signed by one of the head officials from Insein prison as evidence that they transferred my father to Sitttwe prison. I'm worried about his health because we haven't seen him for so long," she said. It is believed that the junta sentences political prisoners to remote prisons, far away from their family, as a form of torture. When being transported by Burmese authorities, a prisoner is shackled and not allowed to stand up or walk. Hso Ten was one of several Shan leaders arrested after attending a meeting of opposition and ethnic groups in Shan State on February 7, 2005. They were accused of high treason. Three leaders of the Shan National League for Democracy (SNLD), which won a landslide victory across Shan State in the 1990 election, were among those sentenced. Hkun Htun Oo, the chairman of the SNLD, was sentenced to 93 years imprisonment and is currently serving his sentence in Putao Prison in Kachin State. Sai Nyunt Lwin was sentenced to 85 years and is confined in Kalay Prison. Sai Hla Aung was sentenced to 75 years and is being held in Kyaukpyu Prison in Arakan State. More than 200 Burmese dissidents were given prison sentences by Burmese courts in November 2008, about 136 of whom were transferred to prisons in isolated areas around Burma. According to the AAPP, there are 2,171 political prisoners in Burma, 207 of them from ethnic communities.