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Kachin Relative of Slain IDPs Flees After Tatmadaw Opens Case Against Her

April 26, 2018/in News

By LAWI WENG 25 April 2018 A Kachin woman has gone into hiding after accusing the Myanmar Army (or Tatmadaw) of killing two of her family members, apparently fearing detention by the military, according to local sources in Kachin State. Kaw Awng, 45, is already the subject of legal action by the Tatmadaw. She has been charged […]

The Nightmare Returns: Karen hopes for peace and stability dashed by Burma Army’s actions

April 26, 2018/in News

Kachin Relative of Slain IDPs Flees After Tatmadaw Opens Case Against Her

April 26, 2018/in News

The Nightmare Returns: Karen hopes for peace and stability dashed by Burma Army’s actions

April 26, 2018/in News

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Kachin Relative of Slain IDPs Flees After Tatmadaw Opens Case Against Her

April 26, 2018/in News

By LAWI WENG 25 April 2018

A Kachin woman has gone into hiding after accusing the Myanmar Army (or Tatmadaw) of killing two of her family members, apparently fearing detention by the military, according to local sources in Kachin State.

Kaw Awng, 45, is already the subject of legal action by the Tatmadaw. She has been charged by the Army with violating section 17 (1) of the law against unlawful association for allegedly concealing information that the slain IDPs were members of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA). The charge was brought by Military Operation Command 21 based in Bamaw Township.

According to an IDP camp leader based in Mai Khaung, Mansi Township, who asked to be identified as “David”, Myanmar Army personnel have made several trips to Kaw Awng’s home intending to arrest her. It was Kachin IDP camp leaders who urged her to hide at a different location, David said. He requested the use of a pseudonym out of fear for his security, as there is a Myanmar military base near his IDP camp.

“Every time they come back to her home [in the camp] they ask us when she will be returning. The police have also come two times,” David said.

The two IDPs, Hpaugan Yaw, 65, and Nhkum Naw San, 35, from Mai Khaung camp disappeared in January. After their bodies were found in March, the victims’ family accused the Tatmadaw of killing the two men.

Not knowing which Army unit is responsible for the killings, the family asked police to investigate. According to David, the family claims the police investigation has been dropped now that the Army is taking action against it, however.

Police Major Myo Thant told The Irrawaddy that the police were no longer investigating the IDPs’ deaths, adding that in fact the police wanted to speak with Kaw Awng to conduct their own investigation into whether she violated the unlawful association law as alleged by the Army.

According to David, the Army told the victims’ family during a meeting at the township authority office in Mansi that it killed the two men, but claimed the killings were justified as they were KIA members, in the Army’s view.

David Baulk, a Myanmar specialist for the rights group Fortify Rights, which has been following the case, told The Irrawaddy, “The families of Hpaugan Yaw and Nhkum Naw San are demanding justice for their killings, and the Myanmar military is targeting them as a result. … The reality is that in Myanmar today demanding accountability for crimes involving the military will likely result in a prison stretch.”

David said that “Getting authorities to investigate and take action is difficult; they made up the story, but those two IDP were really civilians. They were not members of the KIA. We are still considering how to proceed.”

The doctor who conducted the autopsies on the two men has refused to provide the family with a report, despite repeated requests by the family and IDP camp leaders. The doctor told the family that he could only release the information in a court proceeding.

Three other IDPs from Mansi camp were killed by the Tatmadaw in a separate case last year. In that case, however, camp leaders received cooperation from and were shown evidence by medical and police officials.

In January this year, six Army personnel were sentenced to prison terms for the killings.

“They may not want more Army personnel to go to prison. Therefore, we believe that they are playing games and preventing the family of the victims from taking action against them,” David said.

Irrawaddy News

The Nightmare Returns: Karen hopes for peace and stability dashed by Burma Army’s actions

April 26, 2018/in News

On March 4th, the Burma Army began the largest and most coordinated deployment of troops into Karen State’s Mutraw (Hpapun) district since 2008. More than 1,500 Burma Army troops have now crossed into Karen National Union (KNU) controlled areas of Mutraw’s Luthaw township, breaching the terms of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) and provoking multiple clashes with the Karen National Liberation Army’s (KNLA) 5th Brigade. Troops serving under the Burma Army’s Southern Command have indiscriminately targeted civilians while more than 2,400 villagers have been forced to flee their land and homes. The majority of those displaced by the Burma Army’s current operations had only recently returned to rebuild their villages, farms, and livelihoods following decades of widespread armed conflict.

The KNU and Burma Army are both signatories to the 2015 NCA, which prohibits the expansion of military infrastructure and troop reinforcements in ceasefire areas. However, since March 4, at least eight Burma Army battalions have entered Luthaw, without prior agreement3 from the KNLA, and begun constructing a military operations road to connect their military bases at Ler Mu Plaw and Kay Pu. If the road is built, Indigenous Karen villagers may be permanently displaced from their homes and ancestral village territories.

The 2012 bilateral ceasefire and 2015 NCA gave people a sense of hope that, perhaps, peace was at hand. The Burma Army’s renewed attacks and road construction activities have shattered this hope by once again forcing people from their land and into hiding in the forests. On April 5th, Burma Army troops shot and killed 42-yr-old Saw O Moo in the Ler Mu Plaw area of northwestern Luthaw. Saw O Moo was a local villager and Indigenous Karen leader. At the time of his death he was travelling home from a community meeting to coordinate humanitarian assistance for villagers displaced by the Burma Army’s military operations.

KPSN’s findings show that the Burma Army has repeatedly breached the terms of the 2012 and 2015 ceasefire agreements in Mutraw District. The Burma Army is again taking advantage of the ceasefire to accomplish what it was unable to do during earlier periods of widespread armed conflict: expand and upgrade its military infrastructure and capability to seize and control Indigenous Karen people’s lands. The Burma Army’s actions undermine local people’s efforts to build genuine lasting peace, protect their natural and cultural heritage, and facilitate the return of refugees and IDPs to their ancestral lands.

Karen Peace Support Network KPSN

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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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