“Two senior commanders of the Karen National Defence Organisation (KNDO) have admitted that security forces under their control detained and later killed 25 men in June in its territory near Myanmar’s border with Thailand, human rights group Fortify Rights has said.”
“General Ner Dah Bo Mya and Lieutenant Saw Ba Wah, who have been suspended from their posts, told Fortify Rights that their men were responsible.”
“General Ner Dah Bo Mya denied wrongdoing, saying the men, who were not armed and not in uniform, were “spies” for the military and that his troops “had to finish them up, otherwise they try to run away during the fighting and then they would come back and it would be very hard for us.” The order came from a “captain of intelligence” at the Karen National Union (KNU) – the political group that controls the KNDO – the general added.”
“Fortify Rights said the KNU had confirmed they would cooperate with international investigators and share evidence of the killing and other crimes, as well as conducting its own investigation into the atrocities.”
“The killing amounts to a war crime. Fortify Rights said on Tuesday.”
““This was a massacre and it should be investigated and prosecuted,” Matthew Smith, the CEO at Fortify Rights said in a statement. “The KNU is setting an important example in transparency, cooperation and commitment to share evidence of atrocities with international justice mechanisms.””
“Myanmar has been in a state of turmoil since the military seized power in a coup on February 1 with the KNU, one of the country’s biggest ethnic armed groups, providing shelter to those fighting against the takeover.”
“The military has been accused of human rights abuses in its crackdown on the anti-coup movement with 1,000 people killed since the coup, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.”
Read more: Ethnic Karen commanders in Myanmar admit killing 25 men
Related: Right’s group: 1,001 killed since military took over Myanmar
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