Scores of Kyaukphyu residents remain detained by regime

By Admin 21 Jun 2024

DMG Newsroom
21 June 2024, Kyaukphyu

More than 80 residents in Arakan State’s Kyaukphyu Township remain detained by the regime, according to DMG’s reporting.

The regime has detained more than 200 people in Kyaukphyu Township since the latest fighting in Arakan State began in November. Of the detainees, over 100 people were released, but 82 are still being held by the regime.

Among the dozens of detainees are politicians, activists, philanthropists, and other assorted civilians including children.

“He has been detained for about three months,” said a family member of one of the detainees. “The reason for the arrest remains unknown. I don’t know exactly whether he is alive or not. When I inquired about him at the police station, a policeman told me that he was arrested by the military and had no authority to say anything because the case was not related to the police.”

Some detainees were charged under Section 17(1) of the Unlawful Associations Act and for others it is not known what charges they might be facing. 

“My son was arrested when he saw a military column in the forest while searching for vegetables. I don’t know his whereabouts. I can’t go to Kyaukphyu to investigate because we are banned from entering the island town. We are worried about his safety,” said the mother of a detainee from Kulabar Village.

The detained Kyaukphyu residents are reportedly being held at the military’s Light Infantry Battalion Nos. 542, 543, and 34, and they have not been allowed to meet family members.

Since the start of the latest fighting in Arakan State in November, the regime has continued to commit serious human rights violations including targeting local residents, arresting and in numerous cases killing them.

“The families of those arrested must be told why the regime is arresting them. The regime must inform the families under which section they will be prosecuted. The regime is arresting and torturing the people as it wants to arrest them in all kinds of ways, using weapons and doing it extrajudicially,” said a woman activist in Kyaukphyu.

DMG attempted to phone junta spokesman Maj-Gen Zaw Min Tun and U Hla Thein, Arakan State military council spokesperson, for comment regarding the matter, but they could not be reached.

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