Myanmar - Burma

[Schneemann]

‘I can’t forget her'- Myanmar’s soldiers admit atrocities

Soldiers in the Myanmar military have admitted to killing, torturing and raping civilians in exclusive interviews with the BBC. For the first time they have given detailed accounts of widespread human rights abuses they say they were ordered to conduct. [...]

The testimony of six soldiers, including a corporal, plus some of their victims provides a rare insight of a military desperate to cling to power. All of the Myanmar names in this report have been changed to protect their identities. The soldiers, who recently defected, are under the protection of a local unit of the People's Defence Force (PDF), a loose network of civilian militia groups fighting to restore democracy. [...]

They say the army entered in three separate groups, shooting at men, women and children indiscriminately. "The order was to shoot anything you see," says Corporal Aung from an undisclosed location in a remote part of Myanmar's jungle. He says some people hid in what they thought was a safe place, but as the soldiers closed in they "started to run and we shot at them". Cpl Aung admits his unit shot and buried five men. [...] Cpl Aung set fire to four buildings. Those interviewed say about 60 houses were burnt, leaving much of the village in ashes. [...]

His account of members from his 33rd Division (Light Infantry Division 33) rounding up and shooting people in a monastery matches witness testimonies and disturbing video the BBC obtained from the immediate aftermath of the attack. The video shows nine dead bodies lined up including a woman and a grey-haired man lying next to each other. They are all wearing sarongs and t-shirts. [...] Myanmar Witness - a group of open source researchers tracking human rights abuses - has verified more than 200 reports of villages being burnt in this way over the past 10 months.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-62208882

Schneemann