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Shan armed group ‘investigating’ members after viral video depicts torture of civilian

May 12, 2023/in News

A video shared widely on social media shows a man suspended by rope from a tree while SSPP soldiers watch him squirm to avoid being burnt by a fire on the ground below The Shan State Progress Party/Shan State Army (SSPP/SSA) is carrying out an internal investigation after a video shared widely on social media […]

Myanmar junta forces commit more atrocities, burn 19 civilians to death

May 12, 2023/in News

The death toll could rise because the area is ‘now like a battlefield,’ ethnic armed group says. Myanmar troops burned alive 19 civilians, including eight minors, on Wednesday, relatives of the dead, witnesses and a spokesman for the shadow government said, in the latest atrocity committed by junta soldiers in the country’s civil war. The […]

Shan armed group ‘investigating’ members after viral video depicts torture of civilian

May 12, 2023/in News

Myanmar junta forces commit more atrocities, burn 19 civilians to death

May 12, 2023/in News

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Shan armed group ‘investigating’ members after viral video depicts torture of civilian

May 12, 2023/in News

A video shared widely on social media shows a man suspended by rope from a tree while SSPP soldiers watch him squirm to avoid being burnt by a fire on the ground below

The Shan State Progress Party/Shan State Army (SSPP/SSA) is carrying out an internal investigation after a video shared widely on social media this week showed its members torturing a man, a spokesperson for the ethnic armed organisation said.

The footage showed a man—identified as a civilian—hanging from a tree by rope with his hands tied behind his back, dangling over a fire on the ground and writhing mid-air to avoid being burnt. The act was reportedly part of an SSPP interrogation, and took place at a location between Mong Kung and Laikha townships in southern Shan State in early May.

“It is the nature of interrogations to get intense at times. However, this was considered crossing the line, and we need to investigate the matter,” SSPP spokesperson Sai Phone Harn said, adding that “action would be taken” against the members responsible.

A “trial” in an SSPP-controlled court regarding the incident was ongoing, he told Myanmar Now.

“Because this was done by our troops, it is our responsibility to deal with the consequences. Our command centre is trying to prevent this from happening again.”

Sai Phone Harn claimed that the victim pictured in the video was an informant for a rival armed organisation, the Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan State Army (RCSS/SSA), and alleged that he had been involved in several explosive attacks targeting SSPP convoys.

The man was still in SSPP custody at the time of reporting, with the armed group maintaining that he retained no injuries during the incident in question.

Frequent battles have broken out between the RCSS and SSPP in Mong Kung and Laikha, with area civilians often taken in by the armed groups for questioning. Thousands of people have been displaced for more than one month by the clashes, seeking refuge in local monasteries, the Shan Herald Agency for News reported on Monday.

Representatives of both the RCSS and SSPP attended so-called “peace talks” in the junta capital of Naypyitaw earlier this year.

The RCSS was signatory to the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement with the government and military in 2015. The SSPP opted not to sign, and is a member of the Federal Political Negotiation and Consultative Committee, a negotiating body of ethnic armed organisations that includes the powerful United Wa State Army.

Myanmar Now News

Myanmar junta forces commit more atrocities, burn 19 civilians to death

May 12, 2023/in News

The death toll could rise because the area is ‘now like a battlefield,’ ethnic armed group says.

Myanmar troops burned alive 19 civilians, including eight minors, on Wednesday, relatives of the dead, witnesses and a spokesman for the shadow government said, in the latest atrocity committed by junta soldiers in the country’s civil war.

The attack came in the south-central Bago region, where junta troops were fighting ethnic Karen rebels and members of the People’s Defense Force, a loose group of ordinary people who have taken up arms since the February 2021 military coup.

The slaughter came hours after remote mine attacks by rebels. Junta forces arrested people living in Nyaung Pin Thar village in Htantabin township and burned them to death around 5 p.m. on May 10, residents said.

Five members of the same family, including a 6-year-old, were killed, said a relative.

“The military junta forces just killed them like that,” another villager said.

The initial count was 18 dead, but on Friday, the Karen National Union, the political wing of the Karen National Liberation Army, announced that another resident had been burned to death in Nyaung Pin Thar village of Htantabin township.

Junta forces are still near the village and the death toll could be higher because the area is now like a battlefield, the KNU’s statement said.

The junta’s military’s 44th Battalion and units of 73rd, 599, 590 and 48 Light Infantry Divisions are operating the region and fighting with the KNU and its affiliate armed groups, according to the statement.

Another atrocity

The shadow National Unity Government, or NUG, and witnesses told Radio Free Asia that the victims ranged in age from 5 to 70 years old.

“They killed a total of 18 innocent villagers, 10 women and eight men,” NUG spokesman Nay Phone Latt said, adding that most of the adults killed were over 50.

“This is yet another massacre committed by the military council,” he said, referring to the junta which has ruled Myanmar with an iron fist since seizing power in a February 2021 coup.

The troops killed the villagers after a battle broke out between them and joint forces from the Karen National Liberation Army and the anti-junta People’s Defense Force near Nyaung Pin Thar village, said a local militia member.

“We detonated landmines about 15 times and about 30 junta soldiers were killed,” he said. “After that, the junta troops advanced to Nyaung Pin Thar village. More battles broke out there too.”

“We only found out last night, after the battles ended, that they had killed the villagers,” said a member of the local People’s Defense Force, a loose grouping of ordinary people who have taken up arms to fight the military. “We found the bodies only this morning.”

The 73rd and 36th infantry battalions based in Htantabin township raided other nearby villages including Nyaung Pin Thar and killed local villagers, he said.

He also said that during the battle, anti-regime forces killed about 20 junta soldiers and captured three officers.

RFA could not reach Bago region military junta spokesman Tin Oo or junta spokesman Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun for comment.

Junta troops have conducted 64 mass killings across Myanmar between the Feb. 1, 2021 coup and mid-march 2023, resulting in the deaths of 766 people, according to the NUG’s Ministry of Human Rights.

RFA News

Spring Revolution

Human Rights Situation weekly update (September 8 to 14, 2024)September 20, 2024 - 2:30 pm
Human Rights Violations took place in States and Regions from Sep 8 to 14, 2024 Military Junta Troop launched airstrikes and dropped bombs in the Magway Region, Shan State, Kachin State, and Rakhine State from September 8th to 14th. Military Junta arrested the civilians as human shields from Mindon Township, Magway Region, and Salingyi Township, […]
Human Rights Situation weekly update (September 1 to 7, 2024)September 13, 2024 - 5:08 pm
Human Rights Violations took place in States and Regions from Sep 1 to 7, 2024 Military Junta Troop launched airstrikes and dropped bombs in the Sagaing Region, Mandalay Region, Magway Region, and Shan State from September 1st to 7th. The Military Junta threatened that they would launch airstrikes on the townships which they lost. The […]
Human Rights Situation weekly update (Aug 22 to 31, 2024)September 7, 2024 - 4:09 pm
Human Rights Violations took place in States and Regions from Aug 22 to 31, 2024 Military Junta Troop launched airstrikes and dropped bombs in the Sagaing Region, Magway Region, Bago Region, Mandalay Region, Tanintharyi Region, and Shan State from August 22nd to 31st. Head of Prison which works under Military Junta, tortured and blackmailed the […]

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ND Burma

ND-Burma formed in 2004 in order to provide a way for Burma human rights organizations to collaborate on the human rights documentation process. The 13 ND-Burma member organizations seek to collectively use the truth of what communities in Burma have endured to advocate for justice for victims. ND-Burma trains local organizations in human rights documentation; coordinates members’ input into a common database using Martus, a secure open-source software; and engages in joint-advocacy campaigns.

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