The village headman of Nalung was assaulted by two Burmese soldiers for helping a soldier of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) at the military checkpoint near the Sino-Burma border in Burma's northern Kachin State, said a local source. The Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), the political wing of the KIA signed a ceasefire agreement with the ruling junta in 1994.
Ladai Brang Awng (40), who was appointed Chairman of Nalung on the Myitkyina-Bhamo road by the Burmese military junta, was severely beaten up by two Burmese soldiers at the Lajayang Military Checkpoint which is at the entrance of Laiza, the headquarters of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) on the border on October 14 (Tuesday) at 10:30 p.m. local time, said villagers.
Ladai Brang Awng was called out of his home near Lajayang and beaten up with the butts of guns by a sergeant and a soldier. The incident occurred at the checkpoint in the Lajayang-based Burmese Army's No.105 Infantry Battalion (IB) commanded by Lt-Col Aung Thaung Htike. He was not given a chance to explain himself, sources close to the headman said.
The headman sustained injuries on his face and chest. He cannot hear clearly since the night he was beaten up by the two soldiers, said family members.
Sources close to troops at the Burmese military checkpoint, however said the soldiers had beaten up the village headman accusing him of recruiting for the KIA. He had also helped a person to cross the Burmese Army-controlled Lajayang military checkpoint to the KIO/A-controlled Laiza area after the checkpoint deadline of 6 p.m. set by Burmese Army authorities early this month.
The source close to family of Ladai Brang Awng said the village headman had just helped a KIA soldier at the Burmese Army-controlled Lajayang checkpoint in order to cross it and come back to the Laiza controlled area.
Mr. Joe Zau, deputy spokesman of the Kachin Human Rights Organization (KHRO), which was formed on October 27, 2007 on the Sino-Burma border in northern Burma just after the September Saffron Revolution, told KNG today, "We strongly condemn the act of the two Burmese soldiers of IB No.105. The torture of civilians should not be happening during the ceasefire between the KIO/A and the junta."
Burmese soldiers in Kachin State often commit human rights abuses like rape and killing of civilians. The junta has been condemned for its human rights record by the international community, Mr. Joe Zau added.
