Soldier stripped of rank after Tatmadaw court rules him guilty for death of civilian

Naypyidaw, Aug. 10 (ANI): The Myanmar National Human Rights Commission has said a Tatmadaw (Myanmar Armed Forces) investigation into the death of a villager in Kachin State has found a soldier guilty, with a military tribunal ruling that he be stripped of his rank and discharged from service. The commission's statement said that it had received a complaint from Daw Mwai Hpu Htu, a Kamaing resident in Kachin State, seeking a probe into the death of Tu Jar. According to the complainant, her son-in-law Tu Jar and three other villagers were detained in June 2015 by the No 250 Infantry Regiment, and while the other three were released about one week later, Tu Jar was not, reports the Myanmar Times. After the request was passed on to the Ministry of Defence, the Tatmadaw investigated the case, determining that Tu Jar was a corporal in the Kachin Independence Army's Battalion No 6, and had been buried by Major Ye Kyaw Thu. According to the statement, the court did not directly blame the victim's death on Maj Ye Kyaw Thu but found him guilty for deception and "secretly hiding the dead body." However, a notable gap exists between the commission statement's release date and the purported timeline of events surrounding Tu Jar's death. The statement said he was detained and died in June 2015, and the court-martial trial began in January 2016, whereas the statement from the rights commission was released on August 5, some seven months later. The statement said that the commission had been informed of the case's outcome by the Ministry of Defence on March 11, five months ago. Recently, the Tatmadaw also announced a rare investigation into the abduction and death of seven villagers in Mong Yaw village, Lashio township, amid tensions in the area between the Tatmadaw and an ethnic armed group. (ANI)