{"id":180871,"date":"2021-03-15T12:00:25","date_gmt":"2021-03-15T12:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=180871"},"modified":"2021-03-12T10:47:19","modified_gmt":"2021-03-12T10:47:19","slug":"shoot-till-they-are-dead-police-who-fled-myanmar-reveal-orders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2021\/03\/shoot-till-they-are-dead-police-who-fled-myanmar-reveal-orders\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Shoot Till They Are Dead\u2019: Police Who Fled Myanmar Reveal Orders"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote>\n<p class=\"article__subhead\"><em>Police officers who fled to India give first-hand accounts of how military ordered them to shoot peaceful protesters.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<div id=\"attachment_180872\" style=\"width: 510px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/burma-myanmar.jpg\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-180872\" class=\"wp-image-180872\" src=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/burma-myanmar.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"333\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/burma-myanmar.jpg 770w, https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/burma-myanmar-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/burma-myanmar-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-180872\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Police officers search for hiding demonstrators during a protest in Yangon.<br \/>[File: Lynn Bo Bo\/EPA]<\/p><\/div>\n<p><em>10 Mar 2021 &#8211; <\/em>When Tha Peng was ordered to shoot at protesters with his submachine gun to disperse them in the Myanmar town of Khampat on February 27, the police lance corporal said he refused to do so.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe next day, an officer called to ask me if I will shoot,\u201d he said. The 27-year-old refused again and then resigned from the force.<\/p>\n<p>On March 1, he said he left his home and family behind in Khampat and travelled for three days, mostly at night to avoid detection, before crossing into India\u2019s northeastern Mizoram state.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI had no choice,\u201d Tha Peng told the Reuters news agency in an interview on Tuesday, speaking via a translator. He gave only part of his name to protect his identity. Reuters saw his police and national ID cards which confirmed the name.<\/p>\n<p>Tha Peng said he and six colleagues all disobeyed the February 27 order from a superior officer, whom he did not name.<\/p>\n<p>Reuters could not independently verify his or other accounts gathered near the Myanmar-India border.<\/p>\n<p>The description of events was similar to that given to police in Mizoram on March 1 by another Myanmar police lance corporal and three constables who crossed into India, according to a classified internal police document seen by Reuters.<\/p>\n<p>The document was written by Mizoram police officials and gives biographical details of the four individuals and their account of why they fled. It was not addressed to specific people.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs the Civil Disobedience Movement is gaining momentum and protest(s) held by anti-coup protesters at different places we are instructed to shoot at the protesters,\u201d they said in a joint statement to Mizoram police.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn such a scenario, we don\u2019t have the guts to shoot at our own people who are peaceful demonstrators,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">FYI: U Jarmal was a bodyguard of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/WhatsHappeningInMyanmar?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" >#WhatsHappeningInMyanmar<\/a> <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/MilkTeaAlliance?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" >#MilkTeaAlliance<\/a> <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/mar1coup?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" >#mar1coup<\/a> <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/H7V65QCsRY\" >https:\/\/t.co\/H7V65QCsRY<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Ro Nay San Lwin (@nslwin) <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/nslwin\/status\/1369450314810748933?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" >March 10, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2>Deaths and detentions<\/h2>\n<p>Myanmar\u2019s military, which detained members of the country\u2019s elected government and staged a coup on February 1, did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.<\/p>\n<p>The military has said it is acting with restraint in handling what it has described as demonstrations by \u201criotous protesters\u201d, whom it accuses of attacking police and harming national security and stability.<\/p>\n<p>Tha Peng\u2019s is among the first cases reported by the media of police fleeing Myanmar after disobeying orders from the military\u2019s security forces.<\/p>\n<p>Daily protests against the coup are being staged across the country and security forces have cracked down. More than 60 protesters have been killed and nearly 2,000 detained, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, an advocacy group, which has been tracking arrests since the coup.<\/p>\n<p>Reuters has not been able to confirm the figures independently.<\/p>\n<p>Among the detainees is Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who led the elected government.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1348855\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><div id=\"attachment_180873\" style=\"width: 660px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/burma-myanmar2.jpg\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-180873\" class=\"wp-image-180873\" src=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/burma-myanmar2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"650\" height=\"342\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/burma-myanmar2.jpg 770w, https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/burma-myanmar2-300x158.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/burma-myanmar2-768x404.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-180873\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Police officers carry a body during a rally against the military coup in Monywa last week [Reuters]<\/p><\/div><\/figure>\n<h2>Dozens flee<\/h2>\n<p>About 100 people from Myanmar, mostly policemen and their families, have crossed a porous border into India since the protests began, according to a senior Indian official.<\/p>\n<p>Several have taken shelter in Mizoram\u2019s Champhai district bordering Myanmar, where Reuters interviewed three Myanmar nationals who said they had served with the police.<\/p>\n<p>As well as his ID cards, Tha Peng showed an undated photograph of him wearing a Myanmar police uniform. He said he joined the force nine years ago.<\/p>\n<p>Tha Peng said that, according to police rules, protesters should either be stopped by rubber-coated bullets or shot below the knees. Reuters could not verify police policies.<\/p>\n<p>But he was given orders by his superiors to \u201cshoot till they are dead,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>Ngun Hlei, who said he was posted as a police constable in the city of Mandalay, said he had also received orders to shoot. He did not give a date, nor specify whether the order was to shoot to kill. He did not give details of any casualties.<\/p>\n<p>The 23-year-old also gave only a part of his full name and carried his national ID card.<\/p>\n<p>Tha Peng and Ngun Hlei said they believed police were acting under orders from Myanmar\u2019s military, known as the Tatmadaw. They did not provide evidence to back up their statement.<\/p>\n<h2>Military pressure<\/h2>\n<p>The other four Myanmar police concurred with the statement, according to the classified police document.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c\u2026the military pressured the police force who are mostly constables to confront the people,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n<p>Ngun Hlei said he was reprimanded for disobeying orders and transferred out. He sought help from pro-democracy activists online and travelled by road to Mizoram\u2019s Vaphai village on March 6.<\/p>\n<p>The journey to India cost him about 200,000 Myanmar kyat ($143), Ngun Hlei said.<\/p>\n<p>Although guarded by Indian paramilitary forces, the India-Myanmar border has a \u201cfree movement regime\u201d, which allows people to venture a few miles into Indian territory without requiring travel permits.<\/p>\n<h2>\u2018Don\u2019t want to go back\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>Twenty-four-year-old Dal said she had worked as a constable with Myanmar police in the mountainside town of Falam in northwestern Myanmar. Reuters saw a photograph of her police ID and verified the name.<\/p>\n<p>Her job was mostly administrative, including making lists of people detained by the police. But as protests swelled in the wake of the coup, she said she was instructed to try to detain female protesters \u2013 an order she refused.<\/p>\n<p>Fearing imprisonment for siding with the protesters and their civil disobedience movement, she said she decided to flee Myanmar.<\/p>\n<p>All three said that there was substantial support for the protesters within Myanmar\u2019s police force.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cInside the police station, 90 percent support the protesters but there is no leader to unite them,\u201d said Tha Peng, who left behind his wife and two young daughters, one six months old.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1348860\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><div id=\"attachment_180874\" style=\"width: 510px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/burma-myanmar3.jpg\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-180874\" class=\"wp-image-180874\" src=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/burma-myanmar3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"333\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/burma-myanmar3.jpg 770w, https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/burma-myanmar3-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/burma-myanmar3-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-180874\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A police vehicle drives past after they seized Sanchaung district in search of anti-coup demonstrators in Yangon on Monday [Stringer\/Reuters]<\/p><\/div><\/figure>\n<p>Following in the path of others who have crossed in recent days, the three are scattered around Champhai, supported by a network of local activists.<\/p>\n<p>Saw Htun Win, deputy commissioner of Myanmar\u2019s Falam district last week wrote to Champhai\u2019s top government official, Deputy Commissioner Maria C T Zuali, asking for eight policemen who had entered India to be returned to them \u201cin order to uphold friendly relations between the two neighbour countries.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Zuali confirmed she had received the letter, a copy of which has been seen by Reuters.<\/p>\n<p>Zoramthanga, Mizoram\u2019s chief minister, told Reuters that his administration would provide temporary food and shelter to those fleeing Myanmar, but was waiting forIndia\u2019s federal government to come to a decision on repatriations.<\/p>\n<p>Tha Peng said that although he missed his family he feared returning to Myanmar.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t want to go back,\u201d he said, sitting in a first-floor room overlooking rolling green hills that stretch into Myanmar.<\/p>\n<p><em>Source : Reuters<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2021\/3\/10\/shoot-till-they-are-dead-some-myanmar-police-say-fled-to-india\" >Go to Original &#8211; aljazeera.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>10 Mar 2021 &#8211; Police officers who fled to India give first-hand accounts of how military ordered them to shoot peaceful protesters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":180872,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[197],"tags":[526,1854,865,2073],"class_list":["post-180871","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-special-feature","tag-burma-myanmar","tag-crimes-against-humanity","tag-genocide","tag-unhchr"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180871","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=180871"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180871\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/180872"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=180871"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=180871"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=180871"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}