25 Byaing Phyu villagers admitted to hospital with signs of torture in military custody

By Admin 21 Jun 2024

DMG Newsroom
21 June 2024, Sittwe

Twenty-five residents of Byaing Phyu Village in Arakan State’s Sittwe Township are receiving treatment at Sittwe Hospital for injuries they sustained while in military custody, according to sources close to the hospital.

The patients are men in their 20s and 30s. Junta soldiers took them to the hospital last week, sources told DMG.

“Some of them are in critical condition. They were beaten all over their bodies. Some were vomiting blood,” said a source.

Relatives and friends are taking care of the patients, and some cannot afford to buy medicines or pay for X-rays, said sources.

Two men from Byaing Phyu Village died at Sittwe Hospital on June 11 while receiving treatment for injuries they had sustained during military interrogation.

One Byaing Phyu resident said: “We are worried for the safety of people who remain under detention. There is no guarantee for their safety as long as they are in the hands of the regime.”

More than 170 junta soldiers raided Byaing Phyu Village on May 29, massacring 76 villagers, raping some women and detaining many others, according to surviving residents and the Arakkha Army (AA).

The regime abducted over 300 villagers to Infantry Battalion 20 and Regional Operations Command based in Sittwe. Two weeks later, 50 were released, and 50 others were handed over to the police.

The regime filed lawsuits against eight of the 50 transferred to the police under Section 17(a) of the Unlawful Associations Act, and against 30 others under Section 188 of the Penal Code. More than 100 Byaing Phyu villagers remain in junta detention.

At least 20 civilians were tortured to death during military interrogation during the first round of fighting between the military and AA in Arakan State from late 2018 to November 2020