Interview with Family of Two Mon Fishermen Killed by Burma Army

Burma Link | May 12, 2016

In a Mon fishing village Magyi Chaung Wa, Ye Township, everything changed in the early hours of March 9th, 2016. Two fishermen, 23-year-old Chit Soe and his 40-year-old uncle Ah Moe, ran into drunken Burma Army soldiers, including LIB 280 Captain Zaw Myo Thet, who shot both men with no warning. The family heard the screams, but by the time they reached the victims Ah Moe’s life had already been lost.

Chit Soe was still alive and the villagers hurried to find a truck to take him to hospital, hoping that they could still save him. But the soldiers would not allow the villagers to leave, threatening to shoot them if they dared to leave the village. As a result, the young father of two also passed away.

Both victims left behind families who are currently surviving on donations mainly from local groups. The widowed women struggle to find a way to support their families in a village where men traditionally earn a living as fishermen, and women stay at home looking after their families. Chit Soe’s young wife and two children, and Ah Moe’s wife and four children, have not only lost a beloved husband and father, but also means to make a living. In both families, the youngest child is only 11 months old.

Burma Link spoke with two villagers who are both Ah Moe’s brothers and Chit Soe’s uncles. The third interviewee is an eye witness who saw the soldiers beating Chit Soe after he’d been shot and was helplessly lying on the ground. The captain has admitted the killings and expressed regret, but has since disappeared. The family want justice, and the case brougt to a court of law.

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Q: Can you explain what happened?

Family 1 (F1): On the way before arriving at the end of the village, they didn’t notice that Burmese soldiers were around, then they

[soldiers] just shot them without saying word or asking anything. Two of them were lying down in that place. Ah Moe was shot first, then Chit Soe.

On that night, one of my nieces slept at my younger sister’s house and heard a voice. She felt like it was a familiar voice and then she tried to go where the voice was coming from. My sister worried for her and wondered why she tried to go to the creek after hearing the shooting, so she got up and didn’t let her niece go. Then my sister left the house.

My sister [Ah Moe’s younger sister and the interviewee’s sister too] met a [Burmese army] captain on the way who was looking for a man who had lost a leg in the village. The captain asked my sister, “Is there anyone you know who’s lost a leg in the village?”

She replied, “He is my brother.” Then he said that he might have shot the wrong person, so he said to please follow him and check the man and whether he shot the wrong person or not. My sister went with him and saw Ah Moe first and then Chit Soe laying on the ground. So they tried to awaken Ah Moe, but actually he was already dead. Then she started screaming to everyone in the village. Finally, they [the soldiers] knew they definitely shot the wrong person.

After we found the body and called the village chief, we went there and the soldiers were still there. Then the chief asked the captain, “Captain, what did you do to this man? He’s my brother.” He [the captain] kneeled down and apologized to us that they had done wrong. He just apologized and my brother was already dead, so what we could do? That’s why; we took both bodies to our house. We took Ah Moe upstairs and put Chit Soe under the house. On Ah Moe’s face on the left there were shallow incisions done with knife.

Chit Soe was alive, so we called a car or truck to take him to hospital. When we all [the villagers] gathered together, the soldiers left the village. We, five people with three motorbikes, went out of the village to get a truck, and on the way, we met the soldiers walking out of the village near the school. They didn’t allow us to go out of the village and they said, “Don’t follow us, or we will shoot.”

When we went out and met them on the way, they banned us not to go out. During that time of looking for the truck, they shot twice up to the air just to warn us not to follow them.

Because we were frightened, we all stepped back. But we didn’t give up on taking him to the hospital because we all hoped that he would stay alive if we could take him. It took almost two hours and then we attempted to get a truck again. Luckily, they [soldiers] were not around there. We got a truck, but around 15 minutes later after we got a truck, Chit Soe was dead because of the long wait and too much bleeding. That’s why; We wouldn’t take him to the hospital anymore.

Around 1 am, we informed [the incident] to the military 31 [LIB] and explained what happened and how this happened to us, we explained in detail to the battalion. After that in the morning, we went to the police to file a complaint. Then the vice-chief called the captain who shot [the victims], and asked him about it. He said that he knows it was his mistake and would take responsibility for what he did. But until now, we haven’t heard anything yet, we couldn’t trust them as we haven’t seen anything done about this. He just said it. It’s now been for a month.

His name is Zaw Myo Htet, the shooter- captain who has three stars. After the reporting, we haven’t seen anything done for the case and whether the perpetrator will be punished or not. We want to know about that, but we heard nothing about it.

He was taken right away from the village Magyi Chaung Wa to the military base 280. We don’t know and have heard nothing about what’s been happening after that.

Q: How many soldiers were there when the shooting happened?

Three Burmese soldiers. It happened on March 8.

Q: How do you know that is was the captain who shot them?

After the shooting, I had a conversation with him. During the conversation, he told us and admitted that he shot the wrong person. Yes, we’re sure that he is the shooter.

Q: Did he give any reason for why he shot the victims?

He didn’t explain anything about it. He just said that he made a mistake with their enemy. He shot the wrong person. But he should know their enemy or the villager as it was not so far from where they’re shooting. Ah Moe, the one he shot first, didn’t have a leg, so I want to ask – have you ever seen the enemy [from a splinter armed group] who has one leg? They should know that.

Q: Do you think there was any reason for the Burmese Army to suspect that the victims were part of this splinter group?

They [the soldiers] were drunk. They didn’t inform anything about being around there. He [the captain] didn’t pass inside the village, just went around outside the village that night. It was on the east side of the village.

Q: How do you know they were drunk?

Other people told us in the morning. When he took the group to the village, they went with two motorbikes, three people with two motorbikes. Midnight is our time to go to the creek for fishing. We have to go even if it’s upstream or downstream, we can’t sleep very well. That is normal for us.

Q: Do you know why there was the knife injury?

We know that was the knife injury because we saw the incisions. In the morning, he [the captain] came to Ah Moe’s house and I showed him the injury and asked him if he did it like this after the shooting, after Ah Moe was already dead. We complained to him that it was so cruel. I don’t know if he did it or not as well as he didn’t tell anything about it.

Family 2 (F2): He is an eye witness (EW)- the one who saw how the soldiers kept beating Chit Soe after the shooting. It happened in front of his house.

EW: After he [Chit Soe] got shot, he fell down on the ground. The soldiers picked him up and kicked him like a ball. They tortured him seriously. Even though Chit Soe yelled that he was a villager, they didn’t stop beating him. I saw everything because it was in front of my house. After they got shot, Ah Moe fell down, but Chit Soe walked 23 steps away. Then, he screamed out loud, and the captain went ahead and beat him. At that time, I hadn’t fallen asleep yet and I kept quiet in my house after turning off the lights. Then I heard the shooting. So I tried to listen to it to see whether [they were speaking] Mon or Burmese. When I heard and saw it, I just kept quiet and didn’t dare to go out and say anything. I just watched it from the house.

Q: Do you know why the Burmese Army didn’t allow you to leave the village after the shooting?

We don’t know exactly why they didn’t allow us. Whenever we tried to leave, they waited at the edge of the village and forbade us. They shot [to the air] twice to warn us. They didn’t say, “Don’t follow us” but they said they didn’t let us go out. When we heard the shooting, we were afraid and had to step back.

Q: Did the soldiers know that one of the victims was still alive and needed medical help?

Yes, they knew that, but they didn’t let us go even though we told them that we would go and look for a truck to take the victim to the hospital. They said not to follow them and they didn’t allow us to go out. Otherwise they’d shoot us. After they said that, they shot twice up to the air.

Q: When did you go to report the incident at the LIB?

At 1am on that night urgently. Six of us went there with three motorbikes.

Q: And when did you go to the police?

After we’d done the report to the LIB 31 that night, I asked the vice-chief [at LIB 31] if I should tell the police or not. He said that we should, but that he would go and report it. That’s why; we all went back to the village. But the villagers suggested me to go to the police directly on my own. In the morning at 6 am, I went to the police and reported it.

Q: What did the police say?

When I filed the complaint, the staff told me that it was a good time because the township administrator was at the Khaw Zar police station. They would follow with us and arrived there at 12 pm [midday].

The next morning three soldiers arrived, the captain of LIB 280, the shooter, arrived first with his soldiers. They apologized to me and he said that he had done wrong and regretted the shooting. Then after the 31 infantry arrived, the police arrived. They didn’t arrive there all together.

Q: Has the police done anything since to proceed with the case?

They did nothing about it. I mean all of the groups- the police in Khaw Zar, the police in Ye didn’t do anything. We haven’t heard about it for a month. We want this case to be brought up as it’s submerged now.

Q: In what way do you want justice?

In this case, they made a decision in court martial. We couldn’t know anything about it. We want to make it up at law court. That’s why; we asked them to transfer to a law court, they didn’t allow us because it was their military case. If they just make in the court martial and let us see and understand, they could agree it.

Q: Would you agree for the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission to come and investigate this case?

Of course, I want them to investigate. I think it will be more effective and they could investigate directly. They could ask us the details, then they could seek justice for us because this group is local. The group could help us to seek justice even in court martial. Then they could check the data in the case as a murder or not and other information. Am I right how it could work?

If they could not help us, this case will be lost because we could not do more like them. I want them to stand alongside us – it will be effective and the case will re-emerge.

Q: The victims, how old were they?

Ah Moe was 40 and Chit Soe was 23.

Q: Did they have children / a family?

Ah Moe had 4 children, Chit Soe had 2 children. Ah Moe’s youngest child is 11 months old.

Q: How old are Chit Soe’s children?

One is 5 years old and another is 11 months. The fishing is men’s job, so the women have difficulties…

Q: Has anything like this happened before in your village? Have you had serious security concerns before in your village?

This kind of case had never happened before. It was the first time.

Q: Is there anything else you would still like to say about what happened?

I don’t want this case to disappear, just want this case to be known.