Three villagers, including an assistant pastor, were allegedly killed last month following detainment by soldiers from Burma army IB 137 in northern Kachin state's Putao district, according to Kachin Baptist Convention (KBC) officials.
Assistant pastor Hkaw Duk, 20-year old Yung Hka Khin and a third man were killed in Nhka Ga village in early September. Eight other men from the same village, including Ram Mai; the village reverend, were reportedly tortured in the local church compound before their release, KBC officials discovered after an aid mission in the village. The pastor was allegedly interrogated by the IB 137 commander after a hunting rifle was found in his home.
During a meeting with the head of KBC last month, Maj-Gen Tun Tun Naung, commander of Burma Army’s Northern Regional Military Command, conceded that men under his command detained Rev. Ram Mai, but denied that any torture had taken place.
Following this meeting, a small group of KBC officials were allowed to visit Nhka Ga village for a two day aid mission from Sept. 26-27. They found that all of the remaining 53 residents are being prevented from leaving from the occupying military forces. Church officials suspect that the villagers are being kept there as human shields against a likely counterattack by the opposing Kachin Independence Army (KIA).
After fighting broke out in the area in late August many Nhka Ga residents fled to the KIA battalion 7 headquarters near Thing Nan village in Sumprabum township.
In early September, government troops also seized national registration cards (NRC) and family documentation from every household apparently to make it more difficult should they try to escape, explained Rev. Lama Yaw, who took part in the recent aid trip. The visit was only allowed after the church spent a long time negotiating with the commanding officers.
Reverend Lama Yaw and his team pleaded with the military units occupying Nhka Ga to allow 14 sick villagers leave to seek medical attention in the nearby Putao town located about 20 miles away. But the request was denied by the head of the Putao Military Strategic Command, Rev. Lama Yaw said.
Since the fighting broke out last month KBC officials have repeatedly requested for the military to allow villagers to be evacuated to the nearby government-controlled village of Nawng Hkai. At the time of press these requests have been rejected by Tun Tun Naung, who serves as the Putato based commander for the region, Rev. Lama Yaw said.
