The military regime is trying to avoid accountability for its crimes by claiming that a widely cited tally of deaths since the February 1 coup has been inflated, the monitoring group behind the figures has said.
The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) said on Wednesday that the coup regime wanted to “destroy the evidence of the atrocities” it had committed since seizing power.
The military regime said via state television and newspapers earlier this week that the AAPP’s count of over 700 deaths was “bloated.” The announcement said 258 people had been killed and that the victims were mostly “rioters.”
Most died during “roadblock clearing” operations or during attacks against the regime’s forces, the announcement added. Another 11 died under different circumstances such as during fights or shootings between protesters, it said.
The AAPP said the military’s claim was “unsubstantiated”. The group publishes a daily list of deaths that includes the names of most of the victims.
It also often includes their ages, their fathers’ names, and details about how and where they were killed.
The names of some of the fatalities – about 50 – are listed as “unknown”.
An AAPP member in charge of documentation, who spoke anonymously for security reasons, told Myanmar Now that the group verifies reported deaths via its networks in the regions where the victims live.
That includes following up reports in “credible media” by talking with victims’ family members, he said.
The deaths listed with unknown names include cases where there were credible reports of a killing but the group was unable to collect further information because of internet restrictions or because it occurred in a remote area, he added.
“AAPP’s 20 April fatality figure of 738 is not inflated,” the group said. “They are identified dead bodies – shot to the head, tortured, burnt alive, beaten to death, tied up and dragged along on motorbikes – perpetrated by junta troops in police, soldier, or civilian clothes.”
“Our lists are published freely online, every single day, for anyone and everyone to access,” it added.
“The allegations made against AAPP are an attempt to destroy the evidence of the atrocities committed by this junta. We can say this illegal military is committing crimes against humanity,” it added.
The regime said that 20-year-old Mya Thwe Thwe Khine, the first protester to be murdered after the coup, was killed by a “rioter”. It made the same claim about 19-year-old Kyal Sin, who was shot in the head during a crackdown on an anti-coup protest in early March.
The junta blamed Covid-19 for the death of Yar Zar Aung, who was shot in the knee and severely beaten before being taken to a military hospital in Mandalay in February.
In late March a military hospital claimed that 17-year-old Kyaw Min Latt died from falling off a motorbike, even though his murder was captured on CCTV and the footage widely shared on social media.
Authorities in Yangon also tried to claim that 39-year-old Kyaw Lin Htwe, whose body showed signs of torture, died in a motorbike accident.
The military has a history of misleading the outside world about the number of civilians it has killed, the AAPP said, adding that the real number of deaths from the crackdown on the 1988 uprising is still not known.
This article was updated on April 22 to add further information from AAPP about how it verifies deaths.
