Mandalay teen beaten to death after forced conscription, family says

A young man from Mahaaungmyay Township in Mandalay was beaten to death while in detention at a ward administration office after being forcibly conscripted, according to sources close to his family. A source who requested anonymity, said 26-year-old Aung Min Khant and 17-year-old Phoe Thar, who had been living in a temporary hut in Sein Pan Ward, were seized for conscription on January 26. Both were held at the Than Nauk Ward administration office, where they were beaten during detention. Phoe Thar later died from his injuries, the source said.“Officers conducted an overnight guest registration check just after midnight and took him away,” the source told Myanmar Now. “The next day, his mother was informed that he had already been buried, and she did not get a chance to see his body. She later learned that he had been restrained in stocks and beaten to death.”Phoe Thar lived with his mother, a laundress, in a small bamboo shelter. Ward-level sources said he refused to comply with the conscription order and asked to be released. He was then beaten and died from severe head and back injuries.Another source close to the family told Myanmar Now that his mother and other ward residents were barred from viewing the body, which the ward administration officers reportedly buried quietly.The Than Nauk Ward Administration Office gave the mother 100,000 kyat (US $25) as compensation. She had to hold her son’s funeral quietly, making offerings with only his photograph.Aung Min Khant, who was conscripted alongside Phoe Thar, was sent to a military compound east of Mandalay Hill. Sources say he sustained wounds and bruises from being beaten, and his family has not yet been allowed to contact him. “Aung Min Khant was already on the conscription list,” a friend of Aung Min Khant’s told Myanmar Now. “He has one child, and they took him at night, saying they had something to discuss with him at the ward office.” Junta officials paused conscription in Mandalay in March last year for several months, but the program has reportedly resumed. Since then, many young people have been summoned for service, and residents say some ward officials have accepted bribes to let substitutes take their place.“Young people in the ward who have no means to resist, as well as those out late at night, were captured and forced to serve as replacements,” a man from Mandalay said. Data compiled by the Voice of Mandalay, which monitors arrests and other developments in the city, shows that more than 20 young people were conscripted in January. An official with the group said the figure represents only documented cases and that the true number is likely higher, adding that conscriptions have surged in February.

Mandalay teen beaten to death after forced conscription, family says

A 17-year-old from Mahaaungmyay Township died in detention at a ward administration office after refusing conscription, as reports indicate recruitment drives have resumed and are expanding across the city

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