Police question three eyewitnesses including 100-household head over missing Tinma villagers

By Hnin Nwe 01 Jan 2021

Hnin Nwe | DMG
1 January 2021, Sittwe 

Mrauk-U District police have questioned three eyewitnesses who were released after being taken to the Taung Shay mountain area along with 18 missing residents of Tinma Gyi and Tinma (new) villages in Kyauktaw Township, Arakan State. 

The three eyewitnesses are U Maung Tun Myint, a 100-household head, and U Kyaw Aye and U Kyaw Thein, who are town elders. 

Police questioned them on December 29 because they spoke with Tatmadaw personnel when troops entered the village and began making arrests in March, U Maung Tun Myint told DMG. 

“We were taken to Taung Shay along with 10 missing villagers from Tinma Gyi. A captain gave a phone number and told us they would call at 8 a.m. the following day and we could take our villagers. They released us. But they did not phone us,” he said. 

The head of the Mrauk-U District police asked the three men what Tatmadaw troops did when they reached the Tinma villages, he added. 

“On that day, the village administrator was not at the village. So, they called me and I went and met them. I saw about 30 villagers had their hands tied behind their backs at a house. Then, they checked other villagers and arrested them if they did not like someone. 

I gave the police these accounts. The head of the district police said he will try to get to the truth,” U Maung Tun Myint said. 

Mrauk-U District police recently told local lawmakers that they will investigate the case of the missing Tinma villagers, with police also questioning the families of those missing on December 29.  

Arakan State lawmaker U Maung Maung of Kyauktaw Township told DMG he did not want the missing villagers’ situation to be left unresolved, as he said was the case when a World Health Organization worker was shot dead in Minbya Township in April.  

“In Myanmar, there are many cases that disappear after an investigation. If an investigation commission is formed, the commission shall publicise what they are doing,” he said.  

“It is difficult to uphold justice in war-affected areas and the government is responsible for upholding justice there,” he added. 

A military column entered Tinma Gyi and Tinma (new) villages on March 13 and 16, detaining and interrogating dozens of villagers, family members and residents said. 

Some villagers were later released but 18 are still missing and their whereabouts and status remain unknown more than nine months later.