Terrifying news from Myanmar: The military is said to be extremely brutal in the fight against insurgents and not shy away from the cruelest methods of torture and mass murder.
The military in Myanmar reportedly committed a series of massacres and torture, including against civilians, after taking power in February. At least 40 men were murdered in the mass killings of civilians in July, reports the British broadcaster BBC citing our own research. According to eyewitnesses and survivors, soldiers, some of whom were only 17 years old, rounded up villagers before isolating and killing the men.
According to the BBC, the massacres took place in Kani community, an opposition stronghold in Sagaing district in central Myanmar. Video recordings and pictures of the four separate incidents seem to show that most of those killed were initially tortured and later buried in shallow graves. The station said it spoke to eleven witnesses in Kani and compared their reports with cell phone recordings and photos collected by Myanmar Witness, a UK-based non-governmental organization that investigates human rights violations in the Southeast Asian state.
“We begged them not to”
The Myanmar military took control of the country in a coup in February and overthrew the democratically elected government led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. The seizure of power was initially answered with non-violent street protests, but after police and soldiers cracked down on it brutally – according to the United Nations, more than 1,300 unarmed people have been killed and more than 10,000 arrested – opponents of military rule took up arms.
According to the BBC, the largest massacre occurred in the village of Yin, where at least 14 men were tortured or beaten to death and their bodies were thrown into a wooded ravine. The witnesses there reported that the victims were tied with ropes and beaten and then killed. “We couldn’t watch it, so we kept our heads down and cried,” the broadcaster quotes a woman whose brother, nephew and brother-in-law were killed. “We begged them not to do it. But they didn’t care. They asked the women, ‘Are your husbands among them? If so, perform the final unction’.”
A man who said he escaped the massacre told the BBC that the soldiers mistreated the men for hours before they died. “They were handcuffed, beaten with stones and rifle butts, and tortured all day,” said the survivor. “Some of the soldiers looked young, maybe 17 or 18, but some were really old. There was a woman with them too.”
Also in the nearby village of Zee Bin Dwin, according to the report, 12 mutilated bodies were found in shallow mass graves in late July, including a small body, possibly a child, and the body of a disabled person. Some were mutilated. The body of a man in his sixties was found tied to a plum tree nearby. Footage of his body viewed by the BBC showed clear signs of torture. The dead man’s family reported that his son and grandson fled when the military entered the village, but that he stayed because he believed his age would save him from harm.
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According to the broadcaster, the murders were allegedly a collective punishment for attacks on the military by civilian militias who are demanding the restoration of democracy. In the months leading up to the mass killings, fighting between the military and rebels in the area intensified.
From the visual evidence and testimony collected by the BBC, it is clear that men were targeted, a pattern seen across Myanmar in recent months as male villagers over clashes between the People’s Defense Forces and the military were collectively punished.
UN deeply concerned about the situation in Myanmar
Also the Associated Press News Agency (AP) reported in the past few weeks on massacre and torture in Myanmar: Government troops rounded up, handcuffed and slaughtered villagers, AP wrote almost two weeks ago, citing an eyewitness and other reports. An opposition spokesman said the civilians were burned alive. A video of the consequences of the attack showed the charred corpses of eleven people lying in a circle in the middle of the remains of a hut.
According to the opposition spokesman, the village was attacked after a military convoy attempting to raid settlements in the northwest of the country hit a roadside bomb. In retaliation, the troops first shot at the village of Done Taw and then rounded up all the people they could take prisoner there. “They were tied together, tortured and eventually burned alive,” the spokesman said, adding that the victims were between 14 and 40 years old.
United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric expressed deep concern over the events in Done Taw. “Credible reports suggest that five children were among those killed,” Dujarric said, condemning the violence in the strongest possible terms. He reminded the Myanmar government of its obligation under international law to ensure the safety and protection of civilians and called for those responsible for “this heinous act” to be held accountable.
The military junta, however, denied that there were any troops in the area.
The BBC confronted Myanmar’s Deputy Minister of Information and Military Spokesman General Zaw Min Tun on allegations of mass murder and torture. “I do not deny that incidents like this can happen,” Zaw Min Tun told the broadcaster. “That can happen, that can happen.” Myanmar’s armed forces obeyed their rules for war zones and operations, the general said. “If they treat us as enemies and shoot us, we have the right to defend ourselves.”
Sources: BBC, Associated Press