By THE IRRAWADDY 2 July 2021
At least four civilians, including a young man and National League for Democracy (NLD) member, have been killed under interrogation by Myanmar’s regime this week.
The families of the four were informed about the deaths on Thursday.
Mg Aung Aung Lwin, 22, from Shwedaung in Pyay District, Bago Region, was detained on Saturday night after an alleged military collaborator, who recently moved near his home, told the authorities that he cursed coup leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.
His sister said their parents knelt and begged for their son when soldiers took him away. The family was told that he would be released on Friday but on Thursday they were informed of his death.
The regime burned the body without the family’s consent and only the ashes were handed back.
“How can we believe this?” his tearful sister told The Irrawaddy. “My mother lost her mind while looking for him. How can they kill a young man for cursing Min Aung Hlaing?”
The regime forces told the family that Mg Aung Aung Lwin died of internal bleeding.
His sister said some residents saw him being heavily beaten by soldiers on the way to a military base in the city.
In the same district, Ko Soe Min, 35, a father of two, was detained at his home in Pyay Township on Tuesday night after a collaborator alleged that he destroyed a public building.
A free funeral service organization helped arrange the funeral of Ko Soe Min on Friday after his body was returned to the family.
The regime did not tell the family where he was being held and on Thursday told them to retrieve his body from Pyay Hospital, according to a resident. She said the whole body had torture marks and bruises while his chest had been stitched together. The regime said he died of an epileptic seizure.
U Soe San, 44, an NLD village tract chair in Wundwin Township, Mandalay Region, was detained on Tuesday. The family was informed on Thursday that he died of COVID-19 and told to attend his funeral.
The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) reported that U Soe San had been beaten by soldiers.
Ko Nge Lay in Monywa, Sagaing Region, was also killed in detention. The father of two was known as an active philanthropist who reportedly died a few hours after being detained under suspicion of involvement in an explosion in an industrial zone in the town.
He was reportedly helping those wounded in the blast when he was detained on Thursday. The family was informed of his death that night.
His family retrieved the body on Friday morning. His head and neck were blood-soaked and his face looked like it had been dragged along a floor, a neighbor told The Irrawaddy.
More than 20 people have allegedly been detained after the explosion following a junta raid.
According to the AAPP, at least 885 have been killed by the regime since the February coup and more than 6,400 have been detained. The activist group said the actual number of fatalities is likely to be much higher.
Source – Irrawaddy News ( Four Myanmar Civilians Tortured to Death in Junta Custody (irrawaddy.com)
