Demands for Justice in Extrajudicial Killing of Seven Mrauk-U Men

By Admin 18 Nov 2024

Written by May Gyi Shin

Since Myanmar's 2021 military coup, many people have been arrested and charged with political counts. Those charged with non-bailable offences face their often-prolonged trials from jails and prisons. And while the justice system in post-coup Myanmar is broken to its core, in most cases defendants at least see a form of resolution eventually.

Granted, in the vast majority of cases, the outcome is skewed toward the interests of the military regime. Thousands of people have been unjustly sentenced on politically motivated charges, and each of their cases is a tragedy in its own right, but for seven men in Arakan State's Mrauk-U, there was no such judicial resolution; early this year they were shot dead by the military regime prior to sentencing, in an extrajudicial massacre that still haunts the loved ones they left behind.

Ko Kyaw Zan Wai aka Ko Yin Hsot, 36, Ko Mrat Thu Tun aka Ko Phoe Thiha, a 40-year-old former reporter, Ko Kyaw Win Hlaing, 40, Maung Ko Ko Nyunt, 24, Ko Win Naing, 40, and Ko Pyae Sone Win, 37, were arbitrarily arrested by the regime in Mrauk-U in 2022. The seven men were charged under Section 505(a) of the Penal Code and Section 17(a) of the Unlawful Associations Act.

In January of this year, as the Arakkha Army (AA) was battling for control of Mrauk-U and while the seven men were awaiting sentencing in a Mrauk-U cell, junta soldiers took them to the military's Light Infantry Battalion No. 378, shot them dead and dumped their bodies.

"Some of their bodies were found in the trenches. My husband's body was found outside," said Ma Hla Hla Myint, the widow of Ko Kyaw Win Hlaing, with tears streaming down her face.

She said she never imagined that she would live to see her husband brutally murdered, to say nothing of the way his body was unceremoniously treated in death.

Most of the seven people who were killed were vendors, three-wheel motorbike taxi and sidecar drivers who were supporting their families. They were breadwinners, and with their deaths their widows are struggling to provide for their families.

"Because my husband died, I have been working so hard under the sun. … I wonder who will find and feed my daughter if I die. I am struggling alone, and I have to save everything while the prices of goods are rising," said Ma Hla Hla Myint.

Ko Yin Hsot was taken from his home in Mrauk-U's Taungyat Ward by junta soldiers on September 4, 2022. Ko Yin Hsot was a popular singer who posted humorous videos to social media and was well-known among Arakanese people.

Ko Kyaw Win Hlaing made a living as a three-wheeled motorbike taxi driver in Mrauk-U. On June 22, 2022, he was abducted by junta soldiers on his way to downtown Mrauk-U to buy materials for his wife's bakery business.

"I have never heard of any country brutally killing its own people like the regime. The regime kills people en masse," said Ma Hla Hla Myint.

The AA captured some junta soldiers from the military's LIB No. 378 who participated in the killing of the seven men in Mrauk-U during the battle for control of Mrauk-U.

The AA released a video of Arkar Myint, a captain from the Myanmar military who was held as a prisoner of war, confessing to the ethnic armed group that junta soldiers killed the seven men.

"An order came to me. The order was from the district police office to kill seven prisoners, including Phoe La Pyae, who was transferred to LIB 378," the military captain said in the video clip.

"As soon as I received that order, I also reported to Police Colonel Khin Maung Soe, district police chief, who was at LIB 378," he continued. "I also gave the key to Lance Corporal Than Aung, asking the district police chief to report to the military division commander. Lance Corporal Than Aung asked me where to kill the seven men. The district police head suggested that I kill the seven men at the bomb shelters near the hospital, so I allowed him to do it there."

Junta soldiers also planted hundreds of landmines near the trenches where they dumped the bodies, family members said, adding that the AA had to clear the mines.

Among the dead was Phoe Thiha, who had worked as a reporter for news outlets based in mainland Myanmar and Arakan State. He stopped working as a journalist before the military took power, however, and was arrested at his home on September 20, 2022.

Phoe Thiha's sister, Ma Aye Myat Khin, said that junta soldiers had also put other unexploded and potentially lethal ordnance in the trench along with the dead bodies.

"They were killed and then pushed into the trench. Grenades and various other leftover weapons were also found. If we had cremated the bodies without knowing that, we would have been in trouble," she added.

Some of those arrested were tortured by the regime during interrogation, according to family members.

Human rights advocates say that the killing of the seven men constitutes a war crime and a flagrant violation of human rights. Nearly 10 months later, family members continue to seek justice.

Ko Kyaw Min Thein, the younger brother of Ko Yin Hsot, said: "I would like to demand that those who participated in the process of killing them be equally punished for their crimes."