Parliamentarians and lawyers say relatives of the deceased had the human rights transgressed

By Khaing Roe La 27 Aug 2019

Khaing Roe La | DMG
August 27, Sittwe

Parliamentarians and lawyers say the rights of families with members who died in Tatmadaw custody in Arakan State have been violated because they were not given the chance to retrieve the bodies of their relatives.

Humanitarian groups announced that up to 15 people had died while being questioned by the Tatmadaw since the fighting broke out in December 2018.

In one case, the Tatmadaw arrested 27 villagers from Lekar village in Mrauk-U Township on April 10 this year and three died during questioning. Their family members didn’t have the chance to see the dead bodies before the police disposed of them.

Major-General Aung Thu, the Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, said that the authorities contacted family members to transfer the dead bodies.

He added they opened a postmortem case according to the law and tried to inform the family members by phone and letters via proper protocol. But he said that because they didn’t get any response from the relatives of the deceased they disposed of the bodies according to Buddhist customs.

U Tun Thar Sein, the Pyithu Hlutaw representative for Mrauk-U Township, said that not letting relatives retrieve the bodies of the deceased was a violation of their rights.

“We aren’t satisfied with this issue. The family members cannot see the body of the deceased and bury it themselves. It violates the humanitarian rights of the family members,” he said.

The Tatmadaw said the three Lekar villagers who died during questioning are Zaw Myo Tun, 25, Than Tun Sein, 41 and Maung Than Nu, 45 attributed the deaths to breathing problems, a suicidal hanging and drug withdrawals.

But Daw Than Khin Kyi, wife of the deceased Maung Than Nu, said that her husband didn’t even drink alcohol, smoke cigarettes or chew betel nut, let alone consume illicit or illegal drugs. The relatives of the two other deceased men have also rejected the Tatmadaw’s explanations for their deaths.
“When the families aren’t able to see the dead bodies, they find it suspicious that their son is said to have died from a heart attack or was said to have committed suicide,” U Tun Thar Sein said.

U Zaw Zaw Min, a senior lawyer from the Arakan Human Rights Protection Group, agreed that the families of the deceased had their human rights infringed because they weren’t allowed to retrieve the bodies.

“The relatives have the right to sue the Tatmadaw according to the law. They can open a legal case and ask for the truth but it can be hard because of the political situation,” he said.

Of the 15 people who have died during detention and questioning after being arrested in Arakan State under suspicion of links to the AA, eight were from Kyauk Tan village in Rathedaung township, three were from Lekar village, two were from Pauktaw Pyin village in Mrauk-U township, one was from Pan Myaung village in Minbya township and one was from Minthar Taung village in Kyauktaw township.