Military detains six teenagers for dissenting on conscription

Relatives and locals said they had been unable to contact six teenagers in Naypyitaw after junta authorities arrested them on Friday for opposing the military’s plans to conscript new troops. Military authorities detained the six young people—all between 16 and 18 years old—from the Sein Lae Kan Thar restaurant and nature park in Ywar Thit village, Pobbathiri Township. Three of those arrested were from Mae Dee village, Lewe Township and were identified as Khant Nyar Aung, 18; Thet Naung Tun, 16; and Yan Lin Aung, 16, of whom the latter two are in ninth grade at school. Identifying information on the other detainees is still unavailable. “They were talking about how they didn’t want to be conscripted and how Min Aung Hlaing was wrong. The soldiers overheard, seized their phones, checked their group chats, and arrested them,” a Naypyitaw resident said. A woman who witnessed the incident confirmed that junta personnel in plainclothes had detained the teenagers. A source close to the detainees’ families said the authorities had taken them to the Lewe Township police station immediately after arresting them and transferred them to an interrogation centre the same night. Khant Nyar Aung, an 18-year-old detained by junta authorities for saying he did not want to be conscripted into military service (Supplied) “When we went to the Lewe police station they told us to come back another day, but we still haven’t had any contact with them. They are still so young, so we are extremely worried,” the source said. Because of its proximity to the township tax office and Naypyitaw regional police commander’s office, the restaurant where the youths were arrested is located inside a high security area enclosed with barbed wire. Locals say military trucks often patrol the streets of Naypyitaw, which are now usually empty at night after the junta announced its plans to implement the conscription law on February 12 and authorities began conducting more frequent “guest list” inspections to verify that people have registered at the addresses where they are staying. The conscription law, originally enacted in 2010 as the National Service Act, requires up to two years of military service from all eligible men between the ages of 18 and 35 and all eligible women between the ages of 18 and 27. For professional specialists (“experts”), the range extends to age 45 for men and age 35 for women, and the required term of service is as many as three years. Resisting or evading conscription is punishable with a prison sentence of up to five years. The military council has formed a Central Recruitment Team as well as sub-teams for each region and state to implement the conscription of civilians into the army. The regime also claimed that 6.3 million men and 7.3 million women in Myanmar would be eligible for service, and that the first batch of 5,000 recruits would be selected by the end of the Thingyan holidays in mid-April. The day after announcing its plans to enforce the conscription act, the military council also revived the 2010 Reserve Forces Law, requiring former soldiers who resigned or retired from the military less than five years ago to return to service when recalled. A junta soldier handing out flyers on the conscription law in Monywa, Sagaing Region on February 18 (Pro-junta propaganda channels/Telegram)

Military detains six teenagers for dissenting on conscription

Junta personnel in plainclothes overheard the group discussing compulsory military service at a restaurant before confiscating their phones and arresting them

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