Family still unable to contact detained Taungup social activist

By DMG 16 Dec 2022

DMG Newsroom
16 December 2022, Taungup

Family members say they have not been in contact with a social activist from Arakan State’s Taungup Township since his arrest by the military more than a month ago.

Ko Zeyar Kyaw, 47, was arrested by four junta soldiers in a civilian vehicle near Taungup’s U Ottama Park on November 8 and has not been seen or heard from since, said a source close to the family of the detained man.

“Family members don’t know his whereabouts and have been searching for him. They don’t know where he was taken and is being held. They have yet to receive a phone call about him,” the source added.

Ko Sithu Kyaw Zan aka Ko Michael, the 46-year-old younger brother of Ko Zeyar Kyaw from Kanpaing Ward in Taungup, was detained by police on November 4. Ko Sithu Kyaw Zan was released on November 22, but Ko Zeyar Kyaw remains detained.

“Family members are worried about his safety. His wife is distraught because her husband has been detained for a month. They have two primary school-aged children,” the source told DMG.

DMG was unable to obtain comment from Arakan State Minister for Security and Border Affairs Colonel Kyaw Thura or regime spokesman Major-General Zaw Min Tun regarding the matter.

Scores of people were arrested by the regime on suspicion from mid-2022 until the military and Arakan Army reached an informal ceasefire on November 26, of which more than 60 people have not been released to date, according to a DMG tally.

The detainees were charged under various statutes including the Unlawful Associations Act and incitement under Sections 505(a) and (b) of the Penal Code. Some are still missing, with little to no information as to their whereabouts or status since being detained.