CHRO

For Immediate Release
1 May 2021

Burma/Myanmar Junta: Cease Systematic Use of Torture Practices in Military Interrogation Centers

The Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO) is deeply horrified and gravely concerned by allegations of systematic and widespread use of torture at military interrogation centers against activists and civilians arrested and detained by the military junta in Chin State.

Surviving victims of torture and eyewitnesses have described the practice of torture as almost ‘automatic’ once detainees are taken to the military interrogation and detention center at the headquarters of Tactical Operations Command No.1 under the Tatmadaw’s Northwestern Regional Command at Mount Rung in Hakha, Chin State.
Systematic torture practices are used by Burmese soldiers to extract information or forced confessions from people arrested for exercising their right to peaceful protest or other anti-junta activities, including for participation with the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM):

“Once inside the interrogation center, we are made to kneel down, hands tied behind our backs, blindfolded and forced to lie on our belly on the ground. That’s when the interrogation and beatings begin. Depending on how quickly the soldiers obtain the information they want, detainees are caned with up to 40 lashes, some detainees are made to dig holes in the ground to make them think that they are about to be killed and they are digging their own grave,” testified one former detainee who requested anonymity.

Torture is a prohibited act under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). Moreover, under Article 7 (1) (f) of the Rome Statute, torture can be considered a crime against humanity “when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack, with knowledge thereof, directed against any civilian population.”

As of May 1, more than 200 Chin civilians have been arrested by the junta, of which over 80 remain detained. The vast majority of those who have been released after their initial period of detention at the Tatmadaw base allege severe torture and other forms of degrading and inhuman treatment by the soldiers.

“The systematic use of torture was common practice under the previous military regime and well documented by CHRO. We condemn the use of torture against Chin civilians and call on the junta to stop the practice immediately,” said Salai Za Uk Ling, Deputy Executive Director of CHRO.

For more information please contact:

[email protected]
Tel: +91 873 104 6827

For Immediate Release
29 April 2021

CHRO Demands Accountability for Killing of Youth

The Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO) condemns the shooting and death of Felix Thang Muan Lian by the Tatmadaw and demands accountability for the soldiers responsible for the death of the 22-year-old university student from Tedim Township.

On 27 April at approx. 10 p.m. Felix was riding his motorbike on his way to a local gas station where he worked as an attendant when Burmese soldiers from Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 269 based in Teddim, opened fire without warning:

“This is a shameful act of cowardice by the soldiers involved, committed with the full knowledge and confidence that they can act with impunity. There was no standing order such as a curfew prohibiting the public to be travelling at the time in question, which would have explained but not condoned the actions of the soldiers in question. This shows a clear and premeditated intent to kill and we demand full accountability,” said Salai Za Uk Ling, Deputy Executive Director of CHRO.

Since the February 1 coup d’etat,  there has been at least 28 Chin civilians killed by Tatmadaw soldiers.

For more information please contact:
Email: [email protected]
Tel: +91 873 104 6827

Download PDF available here: PR_29April2021

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
17 APRIL 2021

CHRO WELCOMES FORMATION OF NATIONAL UNITY GOVERNMENT (NUG) OF BURMA/MYANMAR

The Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO) today welcomes the formation of the National Unity Government (NUG) by the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH) – a representative body made up of parliamentarians duly elected from the 2020 elections. The formation of NUG represents a historic milestone in the struggle for freedom, human rights, equality and democracy for all the peoples of Burma/Myanmar.

CHRO wishes to take this opportunity to congratulate all the duly elected members of the NUG and send our best wishes as they strive to provide new direction of leadership for a wounded nation that still finds itself in the midst of chaos, bloodshed and immense grief. All the peoples of Burma/Myanmar regardless of ethnicity, religion or political affiliations, should now stand united firmly behind the NUG and boldly move together to confront the junta leaders to deny them the legitimacy and capability they need to gain effective control of the rein of government through illegal and violent means.

The peoples of Burma/Myanmar have never come closer to realizing their aspirations for federalism and democracy in nearly the last three quarters of a century than this momentous time. And the formation of the NUG at this particularly significant time provides vitally important impetus towards political self-determination, peace, prosperity and democracy. The NUG must now seize this historic opportunity to learn from past mistakes of successive governments, civilian or military, to focus on addressing the root causes of structural injustices in order to forge a truly united front that can chart a new course towards ethnic political equality under a federal political framework.

“With the NUG having now emerged to provide a credible and brighter alternative to the ever darker and destabilizing prospects presented by the junta, the international community has a unique opportunity and obligation to collectively recognize the NUG as the only legitimate government of Burma/Myanmar,” says Salai Bawi Lian Mang, Executive Director of CHRO.

Burma/Myanmar’s future now hangs in the balance. The country’s peaceful democratic future is woven into the need to promote and strengthen the ideals of federalism, civilian supremacy, the rule of law and respect for human rights and the rights of minorities It is high time to reject in its totality the Tatmadaw’s unrelenting quest for eternal domination over Burmese/Myanmar politics and to seek a new beginning with a new and rebuilt military as a truly respected and professional institution whose sole mission is to defend and protect all the peoples of Burma/Myanmar. Towards this end, it is high time for those in the military and members of the uniform services to break ranks and shift their allegiance to a more hopeful future provided by the NUG than that promised by leaders of the junta, whose sole interests lies in entrenching their oligarchy and enriching their immediate family members.#

For more information please contact:

Email: [email protected],
Tel: +91 9362 297958

PDF Download Available here: For Immediate Release_17 April_2021

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
14 APRIL 2021

Junta Escalates Gross Rights Violations in Campaign to Exert Control in Western Burma/Myanmar

New documentation of human rights violations published today by CHRO finds that since the February 1 coup, as many as 21 Chin civilians have lost their lives, including a mother and her teenaged daughter who were gang-raped and killed by Burmese soldiers in Kalay Township, Sagaing Region while at least 179 have been arbitrarily arrested by the junta security forces to date. As many as 67 people are still being detained and are facing various criminal charges, including under Section 505 (a) of the Penal Code.

A total of 30 activists and campaigners, including nationally famous celebrities, are facing outstanding criminal warrants for their arrests with shoot-on-sight orders issued against many of them. The whereabouts of seven police personnel who were arrested and detained on charges of desertion remain unknown. They are feared to have been severely tortured while in military custody.

Torture practices used in military detention and documented by CHRO include the routine use of caning, resulting in severe wounds. Many detainees who are now awaiting trials or have now been released reported that they were caned as many as 40 times with wooden sticks during their initial period of detention at Tactical Operations Command military base on Mount Rung, in Hakha.

“We are gravely concerned by the junta’s increasing use of terror tactics to intimidate the Chin public. This has included taking hostages in an attempt to coerce family members wanted by security forces for their peaceful protest activities to come out of hiding,” says Salai Bawi Lian Mang, Executive Director of CHRO.

On 7 April, the Burmese military arrested and detained Rev. Bual Sang and his son Pastor Cung Lian Thawng in attempts to force Salai Robinson, the former’s son-in-law, to turn himself in to the police in connection with his alleged involvement in helping to ship goods containing self-protection gears meant for protesters to use during protest marches.

In a separate incident in Tedim on 11 April, Rev. Khup Khen Pau and his wife were detained by junta’s security forces in a similar attempt to coerce their son Do Suan Pau, a civil servant who participated in the Civil Disobedience Movement, to come out of hiding. In both instances, the police and military soldiers raided the homes of the Christian religious clergymen.

For more information please contact:

Email: [email protected]
Tel: +91 9362 297958

PDF Download Available here: Press Release_14 April 2021

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2 APRIL 2021

Junta Arrests 171 Chins since Coup As Crackdown Intensifies

Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO) today published an updated list of ethnic Chin individuals who have been arrested and arbitrarily detained over the last two months since the coup de’tat on 1 February 2021. The list is a compilation of reported cases of arrest ─ both within and outside of Chin State – which CHRO has been able to confirm, and contains the status and whereabouts of detainees.

The updated list shows that as of 2 April 2021, a total of 171 Chin people have been arrested at various points and in different places, of which 112 have been released with or without charges. Of these numbers, 11 have been put on trial while 48 are awaiting charges. Half of those who have been put on trial have been charged with Section 505 (a) of the Penal Code.

“We remain extremely concerned about the arbitrary nature of the ongoing arrests and detention, which are now accelerating quickly with security forces now operating as if they have no bounds and arresting anyone they see on the streets,” said Salai Bawi Lian Mang, Executive Director of Chin Human Rights Organization.

CHRO is particularly concerned by the alleged use of torture and ill-treatment of detainees, especially during their initial stage of detention before they are transferred to police custody from the army base. CHRO is calling on the junta to immediately release all those it has detained since 1 February and to refrain from any further arrests and detention.

BACKGROUND

Chin Human Rights Organization continues to condemn the Burmese military junta’s systematic use of arbitrary arrest and detention of civilians as part of a broader campaign to intimidate the public and silence dissent. Since the coup de’tat on 1 February, the self-styled State Administration Council (SAC) military junta has made scores of arrests beginning with government leaders and members of the Election Commission. As public protests widen, the junta resorted to targeted arrests and illegal raids on private homes, as well as indiscriminate and arbitrary arrests and detention of ordinary civilians on the streets.

For more information please contact:

Email: [email protected]
Mobile: +91 9362 297 958

PDF Download Available here: For Immediate Release_2 April 2021