August 18th, 2022
There have been widespread reports that the military council killed four detained civilians from Kyauktaw Township in Rakhine State by shooting them, causing great concern among their families.
Three of the four arrested are U Maung Saw Thar, a 53-year-old motorcycle taxi driver, and two other passengers from Thayettapin village in Kyauktaw Township, who were arrested by military council troops near Kyauktaw Mahamuni Temple on August 1st.
The other missing person, U Kyaw Hein, 39-year-old traditional medicine practitioner from Kawi Yadanar IDP camp in Kyauktaw, was arrested on July 19th.
Daw Ma Aye Khin, the wife of U Maung Saw Thar, said she was particularly concerned about reports that the military council had killed them after their arrest.
“I am very worried about him. People say they killed him. We can’t reach him at all. I am very worried about this rumor,” she said.
Daw Ma Aye Khin said she has not been able to reach her husband since his arrest 20 days ago and has not heard from him.
She said she wants the current government, despite being a junta, to punish her husabnd according to the law.
“I’m very worried because I have heard unpleasant news [that they are dead]. I want to know where my husband is detained now. Right now, the military government is ruling the country, but I only want them to punish my husband according to the law even if he is found guilty,” she said.
“It’s been more than two weeks since he was arrested. If legal action is taken against him, I want them to hand him over to the relevant police station or court as soon as possible,” said a friend of U Maung Saw Thar.
He added that he was particularly concerned about his friend’s health, as he kept having stomach pains.
U Kyaw Hein was also arrested by junta soldiers around 9 p.m. on July 19th while he was on his way to Kawi Yadanar IDP camp to treat a patient, and has since lost contact with his family, said his wife Daw Ma Aye Than.
“I want to get in touch with him. I want to know where he is. I fainted when I learned of his arrest, and I have felt sick ever since. I believe my husband is innocent. My husband was making an honest living,” she said.
U Kyaw Hein is a father of four who fled his original home in Mee Wa village in Kyauktaw to the IDP camp when fighting broke out in 2019.
The four, who have been missing since their arrest, are reportedly being held at the headquarters of Operation Command No.9 in Kyauktaw, but could not be independently verified.
In Rakhine State, those arrested by the military council have long been tortured in military custody, some of them had to be hospitalized and some are missing.
In an earlier case, Ko Kyaw Win Hlaing (32 years old) from Kyaukrikkay ward in Mrauk-U township had to be treated at Yangon General Hospital for serious injuries he sustained in military custody and is still receiving medical treatment there. He was also charged with sedition under Section 505(a).
The current junta in Myanmar claims to rule the country in accordance with the law, but on the other hand, it commits unlawful acts and violates human rights throughout the country, human rights activists point out.
Sent by Khaing Hlu Hla (Yoma Land)