Ni Lin Aung, the lieutenant general responsible for the murder of dozens of civilians in Karenni (Kayah) State, was appointed by the junta as the new chief of the police force on Friday.
He most recently headed the Triangle Region Command, based in eastern Shan State, from August 2022 until the present. Following the February 2021 coup, he led the Eastern Central and Eastern Commands, where he led several army offensives in Karenni State.
In this role, Lt-Gen Ni Lin Aung is believed to have ordered the killing of at least 35 people, including children and aid workers, near Moso village in Karenni State’s Hpruso Township in December 2021. Their burnt bodies were found in trucks on Christmas Day by members of the resistance, who speculated that they were fleeing clashes in the area when they were intercepted by the military.
Ni Lin Aung was added to the European Union’s list of sanctioned individuals two months later, described as “directly command[ing]” the units “responsible for that massacre” and “therefore responsible for serious human rights violations and engaging in actions that threaten the peace, security and stability of Myanmar/Burma.”
He will be the third general to head the police force since the coup, replacing Brig-Gen Zin Min Htet who held the position—which also involves serving as the military council’s deputy minister of home affairs—for just over one year. Before Zin Min Htet, the military had installed Lt-Gen Than Hlaing to the post on the day of the military takeover, replacing Gen Aung Win Oo, who had been appointed by the ousted National League for Democracy government.
Than Hlaing, who was the police chief for 10 months before being transferred back to a military post by the regime, was subjected to United States sanctions in March 2021.
“Under Than Hlaing’s leadership, the [Myanmar] Police Force has gone from attacking peaceful protesters with water cannons, rubber bullets, and tear gas, to using live ammunition,” the US Department of the Treasury said at the time, adding that the police had killed “dozens of peaceful protesters” nationwide in the month after the coup.
On July 12, the junta also announced that they were replacing Zaw Min, director-general of the prison department under the home affairs ministry, with another military officer. The military had assigned Zaw Min to the position on a temporary basis days after seizing power. In November 2022, he was named as responsible for the widespread beatings of political detainees in Myanmar’s prisons and sanctioned by the EU at the same time as junta chief Min Aung Hlaing.
