The Tatmadaw says the man hanged himself, but family members saw wounds on his face
The wife of a man who died after being detained by the Tatmadaw in Rakhine state has called on authorities to uncover the truth about his death.
The Tatmadaw has claimed that Soe Myint Tun, 37, hanged himself while in detention at Ma Ei township police station on July 13.
He was taken by soldiers two days before his death along with five of his neighbours from Alae Chaung village in Ramree township.
His wife, Ma Lone Kyi, told Myanmar Now she saw wounds on his face when she collected his body from the Ma Ei township hospital.
“I call on the authorities to find out the truth,” she said.
The Tatmadaw claimed in a statement after his death that the six detained villagers were strong supporters of the Arakan Army.
Myint Lwin, the Alae Chaung village administrator, said the men were “honest people earning an honest living.”
Soe Myint Tun was a farmer and was working in his field when soldiers took him without explanation, Myint Lwin said.
They had already taken four of the men in pre-dawn raids that morning, he added.
“The soldiers woke me up at about 3am. They said ‘Wake up, administrator.’ When I woke up, they said they had to do a door-to-door search and asked me to accompany them.
“They took away four people before dawn to interrogate,” he said, adding that they returned for the other two men later.
The other detainees are Zaw Lwin, Maung Myint Tun, Chan Nyein, Maung Myint Win and Maung Win Tun.
The administrator went with family members to the police station to try to meet the men but the Tatmadaw refused their request, he said.
Rights groups have accused the Tatmadaw of torturing and mistreating civilians in custody amid repeated cases of deaths in detention.
Three others remain in custody after the Tatmadaw arrested five people in Kyauktaw township on June 28.
In April last year, six people died and eight were injured when Tatmadaw soldiers opened fire on 270 villagers it had detained in Rathedaung’s Kyauktan village.
The Tatmadaw said its soldiers fired because the detainees tried to snatch their guns. But witnesses said they opened fire because a mentally ill person started shouting.
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