AA denies committing war crimes

By Nay Yaung Min (Sittwe) 29 May 2019

Nay Yaung Min | DMG

May 29, Sittwe

Although Amnesty International (AI) released a new report in which it said that the Myanmar Tatmadaw and the Arakan Army committed war crimes and the situation urgently required to be referred to the International Criminal Court, the AA denied that they committed war crimes and human rights violations.

“We rejected AI’s accusation that was made without having concrete evidence. It is unacceptable,” the AA’s spokesperson Khaing Thukha said.

The report said that the AA abducted ethnic villagers, threatened and intimidated village administrators and businesspeople, conducted military operations near villages and towns that lead to endangering civilians and sent threatening letters accompanied by a bullet.

“I carefully read the report. It said that 54 families were taken to Bangladesh and detained as the Chin Human Rights group previously said. We cannot accept this allegation because we helped them travel to a safe and secure area. We did it with good intentions in mind. We did not detain them. They are now working there to earn their living,” Khaing Thukha said.

He added that the AA publicly arrested some village administrators for security reasons, the AA sent a letter accompanied by a bullet to some civilians and police because they were torturing civilians and it was the harshest warning they could communicate. However, they did not kill them even though they were sent letter of warning.

The report also said that the Tatmadaw committed extrajudicial executions, arbitrary arrests and was responsible for the disappearances of some people.

The DMG tried to contact military spokespersons Brig-Gen Zaw Min Tun and Colonel Win Zaw Oo, but could not reach them for comment regarding AI’s accusation of the Tatmadaw.