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War crimes in Myanmar reportedly caught on camera
Footage has been reported to have emerged depicting violent war crimes in the Sagaing Region of Myanmar — also known alternatively as Burma. The footage on social media depict killings and other atrocities committed by the Myanmar military.
In 2021, a coup returned the Myanmar military to power in the country and halted all democratic efforts in the Southeast Asian country. The coup continues decades of military rule, civil war with ethnic minority groups, and poverty and starvation.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Disturbing footage from cell phone of junta troop in Sagaing. AAPP reports 746 civilians have been killed since the coup in this Region alone. This is only the verified figure - actual number may be much higher. <a href="https://twitter.com/mannymaung?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@mannymaung</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hrw?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@hrw</a><a href="https://t.co/QOQOoNlsA7">https://t.co/QOQOoNlsA7</a></p>— AAPP (Burma) (@aapp_burma) <a href="https://twitter.com/aapp_burma/status/1543884294560821249?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 4, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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The footage was recovered from a Myanmar Soldier’s mobile phone. Media outlet Radio Free Asia verified the footage, but it has not been verified elsewhere.
The footage shows roughly 30 men who were captured on May 10th of this year in Mon Tainge Pin village. Five of those men were later seen dead in the video, shot from behind while their hands were bound behind their backs. Three Myanmar troops speaking Burmese also discuss how many people they’ve killed. One Soldier in the video wearing Sergeant rank specified that he had shot 26 people. Another claims to have slit five people’s throats.
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The phone is claimed to have been recovered by a civilian villager after it was lost by a Myanmar Soldier.
This video and the supporting photographs are grim documentation of an already well established pattern of war crimes and other atrocities -- including murder and sexual crimes -- which the Myanmar military has been committing for decades.
Following the coup in February of last year, several human rights groups have been diligently documenting these war crimes. There have been numerous reports from the same groups and other media outlets that the military junta and its pro-military militia groups have been burning down villages, executing civilians, and committing war crimes indiscriminately.
Earlier this year, a villager from Aye Tin who chose to remain anonymous said that Soldiers “Raided and destroyed our houses. And they also burned motor boats that we use for transport and for carrying food for our village, including my boat. My life is ruined, as I have lost my home and I [have] nothing left to do for a living.”
