Military arrests six in a day, Ramree and Sittwe locals say

By DMG 04 Nov 2020

Khin Tharaphy Oo, Hnin Nwe | DMG
4 November 2020, Sittwe

Military personnel in Arakan State arrested two residents of Ramree Township and four people from Sittwe Township on November 3, saying they were being detained for further questioning, according to locals.

Two teenagers from Mya Chein village in Kalapon village-tract, Ramree Township, were taken away for questioning by the Tatmadaw on Tuesday evening, their families said.

“A military column with about 30 soldiers came to the village and asked to gather all males above 15 years of age at a school and, after questioning, took away Ko Aung Htay Win, 17, and Ko Nyi Htwe, 19, for more questioning,” according to U Myint Tin, the Kalapone village administrator.

“All the men were told to gather at the school and their phones were checked. And then the two were taken away, saying they needed to be questioned. In the past, there were checks at the houses, but no men were arrested. Now, the villagers are shocked,” he said.

Daw Than Than Htay, the mother of detainee Ko Aung Htay Win, said her son had been searching for crabs together with his father when he was taken into custody. “Now, I can’t get contact with him. I want to know where he has been taken away to,” she said.

Similarly, four residents of Panlinpyin village in Sittwe Township were arrested on November 3, according to the Panlinpyin village administrator and family members.

Those arrested were U Tha Tun Hla, 68, U Tun Kyaw Hlaing, 51, U Maung Thein Chay aka Seit-Taung Chay, 40, and Ko Kyaw Win Chay, 37, according to their family members.

Personnel from three military vehicles arrived at Panlinpyin village on Tuesday afternoon and checked houses, taking away four villagers following their inspections, village administrator U Mya Sein told DMG.

“There were policemen along with them when they entered the village. A major was included. They checked the household registration cards/lists. They not only checked the household registration cards but also entered the houses of those who they took away,” he said.

About 10 military and police personnel entered and searched homes in Panlinpyin village, with the daughter of detainee U Tha Tun Hla recounting the military as saying her father was being detained for additional questioning.

“My father was asked to put on clothes and told to come along with them for a moment for questions, and was taken away,” Ma Than Hlaing said. “I don’t know why he was arrested or where he is being kept.”

“We are worried because there have been instances where the Tatmadaw did not investigate detainees legally and made excessive investigations. So, we are very concerned something bad could happen to him,” Ma Than Hlaing added.

After arresting the four, the military column entered Sittwe Township’s Paikseik village and checked household registration cards, villagers there said.

“Our names have been in their [military] phone list. What they said was they came to arrest us due to the statements from Theintan village. As myself and another are from the [election] polling station, we can’t follow them. We told them we have government employees who had not done advance voting. So, we were released,” said Ko Tun Lin Chay from Panlinpyin village, who was questioned by the military contingent.

Regarding the arrests of locals in Ramree and Sittwe townships, DMG phoned Brigadier-General Ye Yint Aung of the Tatmadaw True News Information Team, but a person who took the call replied that the military spokesperson was busy attending a meeting and could not be reached for comment.

According to data DMG collected from June to the end of October, there were at least 97 people arrested on suspicion in connection with the conflict in Arakan State.