Blog Elements – Page 430

(Paletwa Township, Chin State – 22^nd Jan 2020)
Ma Khin Lone, a woman from Nga Shar village in Paletwa Township is undergoing treatment for injuries she sustained after stepping on a landmine on 17^th Jan. The incident took place just 10 days after her mother, Daw Hawih Tin received similar injuries from a landmine explosion.

Ma Khin Lone (22) stepped on the landmine while tending to crops at her farm on the morning of 17^th Jan. She suffered a broken leg in the explosion. A daughter of U Aung Win from Nga Shar Village, located some 29 miles away from Paletwa Town, Ma Khin Lone was immediately taken to Paletwa Civil Hospital.

In a separate incident, ten days earlier on 7^th Jan, the victim’s mother, Daw Hawih Tin sustained an injury to her right leg and face when a landmine exploded under her feet while searching for food in the forest close to her village. She was taken to Paletwa Hospital but was later transferred to a civil hospital in Sittwe, Rakhine State, as her injuries were too serious to be treated at the hospital in Paletwa.

“The family is facing serious financial difficulty since they rely on subsistence farming for their livelihood. The mother’s treatment and hospital costs were supported by funds raised from private donations,” said a Paletwa Town resident who agreed to speak to CHRO.

CHRO News

(Paletwa Township, Chin State – 22^nd Jan 2020)

On 8^th Jan 2020 members of the Arakan Army (AA) tortured three members of a Chin family, including two women from Kyee Lay village in Paletwa Township, having accused the family of providing information to the Tatmadaw.

The AA soldiers entered the village of Kyee Lay at approx. 3 p.m. and arrested two sisters, Ma Kyawk Sein (25) and Ma Khin Toe (22). They tied the two women to a tree in the middle of the village and began beating them with bamboo.

Their father, U Maung Kyi (47) had been accused by the AA of supplying information to the Tatmadaw. Having been made aware of this accusation, U Maung Kyi had fled the village in order to hide. In his absence, the AA arrested his two daughters at their home. According to eyewitnesses the AA tied the girls’ necks and hands to a tree in the middle of the village and began beating them with bamboo sticks.

Upon hearing the news U Maung Kyi came back to the village and gave himself up to the AA soldiers. Ma Kyawk Sein and Ma Khin Toe were released at approx. 6 p.m. U Aung Kyi was subjected to the same treatment, kicked and beaten with bamboo until approx. 8 p.m. During the beating U Maung Kyi urinated himself.

On 12^th Jan, U Maung Kyi and family members snuck out of the village to seek medical care in Paletwa Town. The AA had recently imposed a ban on villagers going in and out of the village as they had established a temporary outpost, about one mile away from the village. Kee Lay villagers, therefore, had been prevented from farming under suspicion they may inform Tatmadaw of their location.

According to sources, the AA had also tortured three other villagers on a previous occasion, having suspected them of providing information to the Tatmadaw. U Muang Kyi is now in Paletwa receiving treatment for injuries sustained during the ordeal. It is reported he fainted three times after being tortured. Once he felt strong enough the family made the decision to flee the village.

Sources informed CHRO that the AA had forced one person per family to carry supplies from the dock at the bank of the Kaladan River such as rice, cooking oil and beer up to the village and then to their temporary camp nearby.

Kyee Lay village which has approx. 240 households is located on the bank of Kaladan River approx. two hours boat ride north of Paletwa Town.

CHRO