Deep South Referendum Bombing Suspects Resurface

Asohn Vi / Kaowao; June 9, 2008

Two men suspected of setting and exploding a bomb previously believed to have been tortured to death, have resurfaced in a southern town in Mon state. According to their relatives, they now remain detained at the town’s police station.

Nai Cheem Mon (Show Tun), a former New Mon State Party (NMSP) medic and Nai Kyaw Tun were arrested after being forced to admit to the bombing during the May 10th referendum in Yin Dein (Yan Dein) village, southern Ye and were allegedly tortured with electric shock by the Army troops of Infantry Battalion (IB) No.31 based in Khaw Zar subtown. Most villagers believed they had died as a result of torture as nothing had been seen or heard from them since that time. Death as a result of torture is not uncommon in Mon state.

When the Burmese regime heard that most people in Yin Dein village planned to register a vote against the constitutional referendum, they positioned themselves in the area on May 10th; on the same day a bomb exploded near the school where the vote took place. After the explosion the military called all people suspected of planting the bomb to plead their case and eventually arrested two villagers after finding they possessed a VCD about the Saffron Revolution.

According to his wife, Mi San Aye, although Nai Cheem Mon insisted he wasn’t involved in the bombing, authorities ignored all pleas and instead detained him and subjected him to torture. Rather than hope for exemption, Mi San Aye had also assumed her husband had died as a result of torture, and so was surprised when she was recently able to meet with him. After seeing her husband for the first time in almost one month she stated that although there were no bruises evident, his speech was slurred and at times incoherent, possibly as a result of repeated electric shocks.

In a similar case the head villager of Yin Ye village, a neighboring village of Yin Dein, together with his three partners were arrested on May 28th and 30th and tortured until close to death by the town authority Infantry Battalion (IB) No.30. Their alleged crime was supporting Mon rebel groups in fundraising. All four men were given an internment on June 3rd after prominent people in their village acted as guarantors for them. The condition of their release is similar to parole; “They have to report and sign into the IB No.31 every week, confirming that they are at the village and registering their activities over the past week,” said a Yin Ye villager.

These cases are widely known throughout the Mon community around the world and have led to a strong call for both the Mon ceasefire groups and Mon rebel groups to work on a resolution.

Banya Htaw Weang, an overseas Mon community leader from America, urged and encouraged overseas Mon using the e-communication tool of Monnet, commenting, “I would like to urge the NMSP and the Hongsawatoi Restoration Party to find a solution on how to get along with each other and protect our people instead of going in different directions and allowing personal problems to become the priority. This is the time to work together.”

Many Mon believe a combined approach is required, as cases of unexplained detention and significant use of torture on Mon people increases.