Around 400 villagers from Yangon Region’s Kawhmu Township were released from junta custody on Sunday after being forced to sign a pledge agreeing to provide information about resistance groups active in the area.
“They were released, but they were explicitly told that they could be arrested again at any time and were warned not to try to escape,” a local resident told Myanmar Now.
Regime forces rounded up the residents of several villages, including Than Kyo, Nyaung Htauk, Yedashae, and Nghat Aw San, after a junta convoy came under attack on the Magyikan- Kyaikhtaw road at around 3pm on May 3.
A number of army officers were reportedly killed in the incident, including one captain.
When the authorities failed to track down the perpetrators—believed to be members of a local People’s Defence Force (PDF) group—they targeted the villagers, sources familiar with the situation said.
One source who is close to a number of the detained villagers said that some of them were physically assaulted, while others were subjected to different forms of torture.
“More than 30 of them were beaten during their questioning. The others were forced to sit in the hot sun for hours while everyone was interrogated one by one,” the source said.
At least one person was taken from every household, he added. Family members were required to supply food.
“In some cases, the entire family was abducted. Those people had to live off of scraps provided by other prisoners,” he said.
“There was one family that had only one member left behind—a deaf and blind old lady. She didn’t even have anyone to cook food for her,” the source added.
Residents of the area said that the detained villagers were also forced to weed both sides of the road connecting the villages of Phayar Ni and Nghat Aw San, which is more than 3km long.
Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of Myanmar’s ousted ruling party, the National League for Democracy, was first elected to represent Kahhmu in parliament during a by-election in 2012.
She continued to hold the seat until she was deposed as state counsellor by last year’s coup.
Late last year, an attack by a Kawhmu-based PDF group left two junta soldiers seriously injured.
