Myanmar Spring Chronicle – May 04 Scenes
MoeMaKa, May 05 2023
7 people including minors were killed in Chaung-U Township
The incident of the unjustly killing and burying of 7 people, including minors and girls, after raping by the members of PaKaHpa in a village of Chaung-U Township in August last year has become public according to the disclosure of some members of PaKaHpa in the news media 8 months after that.
A total of 7 people, including 3 boys and 4 girls, of whom one is native to Pekuto Village in Sagaing Township, were handed over to the Village People’s Defense Force (PaKaHpa) after they were accused of stealing iron tools used for plowing agricultural equipment in the village. Soon after that, some members of PaKaHpa raped the girls and then, killed all 7 of them. Regarding this incident, the NUG received the complaint on January 26 this year, 4 months after the incident, according to a press release issued by the NUG yesterday.
According to the statement, since the incident occurred on August 31, 2022, action has been taken against the village PaKaHpa in-charge and relevant members who committed the killings by the township PaKaHpa. However, according to some of the PDF members in the region who informed the Myaelatt Athan News Agency, the perpetrating PaKaHpa members, including the village PaKaHpa in-charge, are carrying out their activities such as keeping watch with arms and moving around like other PaKaHpa.
In conclusion, the above 7 youths were arrested by the village PaKaHpa on August 8, and about 22 days later, those detained youths were killed by the village PaKaHpa on August 30. Regarding this incident, the next day, it is believed that the local PaKaHpa took action against the village PaKaHpa, detained them, and examined the bodies of the 7 victims after exhumation. After that, no further action was taken against those who were detained, so in January of this year, a complaint was filed with the NUG government. Some PaKaHpa members disclosed this matter to the news media in early April, as they hadn’t seen any investigation regarding that complaint.
In a statement dated May 4, NUG stated that the township PaKaHpa knew about the incident the next day after the killing. And, it was also stated that the Ministry of Women, Youth, and Children Affairs of the National Unity Government has received a complaint about the incident since last January and has contacted other ministries to investigate. However, there was no detailed mention of cooperation between NUG’s ministries from January 26 to early April. Because of this situation, it is understood that after 8 months, they have started taking action after some other members of the PaKaHpa disclosed it to the media.
The fact that the Ministry of NUG issued a statement after the matter became public shows the weak enforcement system of the code of conducts and the prevention of illegal killings and rapes taking place at the bottom, like this incident.
There is a need to have a complaint system to take action against armed organizations that use force against unarmed civilians, distort money, rape women, kill, etc. More importantly, there is a need to have a system that can take effective action against illegal assaults, killings, and rapes.
After establishing armed forces to revolute against the military council, there is an urgent need to have a disciplined and ethical monitoring system to enforce a code of conducts for these groups.
Some may argue that the revolution is not just about beautiful daydreaming like writing a poem or a wreath, but is associating with killings and violence. There may be excuses and arguments that only the overthrow of the military dictators is important, and the rest will be solved after they come to power.
However, the people are wishing for an armed force that respects human rights, a fair system, with full federal essence to emerge, as they do not like the military dictatorship’s violations of human rights and unlawful killings. Therefore, it is urgently needed to take action precisely against the perpetrators when they violate human rights and commit abusive killing by holding arms.
Before the incident, in the incident of killing over 10 people including members of fire force and PDF from the other village by the Thapyay Aye Village PDF in Yinmarbin Township which occurred early last year, it is still not clear to the public how the perpetrators were punished. It is important to be able to accurately deal with the incidents that happened in Thapyay Aye Village and Chaung-U Township, and only if we can take such action, we can prevent future illegal offenses.