Arakan State parliament probe into Kyauktan villagers’ case

Seven villagers died and eight others were injured in Kyauktan village due to gunfire while the Tatmadaw detained a total of 275 men for questioning, accusing them of having connections with the Arakan Army.

By Min Tun 09 May 2019

(Injured detained villagers were brought to Sittwe hospital after they got injured during gunfire while the Tatmadaw was interrogating more than 200 people in Kyauktan village/ Photo - Thet Naing)

Min Tun/DMG

May 9, Sittwe

Arakan State Hluttaw assigned its Security and Rule of Law Committee to conduct documented examinations regarding cases that occurred at Kyauktan village in Rathedaung Township on April 29.

Seven villagers died and eight others were injured in Kyauktan village due to gunfire while the Tatmadaw detained a total of 275 men for questioning, accusing them of having connections with the Arakan Army.

The team is tasked with investigating the situation in Kyauktan village because there are discrepancies between information covered by media and remarks made by villagers about the incident in the village, said U Mya Than, deputy speaker of the Arakan State Hluttaw.

“Their main duty is to know what exactly what happened in the village. When MPs visited the village, we found that the comments of victim’s family members in the village, remarks of injured people in Sittwe hospital and information covered in media are different. That’s why the team is assigned to discover the truth,” he said.

U Zaw Zaw Myint, chairperson of the Security and Rule of Law Committee, will be the head of the team that comprises 11 members.

The government and Tatmadaw have also established investigation committees to receive factual information about the incident in Kyauktan village.

“The speaker told me the state parliament should also assign an investigation committee to investigate the incident in Kyauktan village. So, I assigned the Security and Rule of Law Committee to probe into the incident,” U Mya Than said.

The committee will report its findings to the Arakan State parliament within 30 days since it’s inception.

The report will be submitted to the Arakan State government after it endorsement by MPs in parliament session.

 

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