A/HRC/42/CRP.5 We want them [the Tatmadaw] to tell us openly if they arrest people from the village. They can discuss with me openly, but they do not. These disappearances are not good, and this affects us. If they have the responsibility to control an area, they should exercise such control properly…. There is a law called 17/1,1201 but we don’t know what is in this law, and we need someone to explain it to us. This makes me confused, because if we have good relations with KIA, we risk being arrested under the 17/1. We want to have some clarity about what this is.1202 Tatmadaw-sponsored militias 516. In its 2018 report, the Mission documented the involvement of Tatmadaw-sponsored militias, also known as Pyi Thu Sit (“People’s Army”), working in support of the Tatmadaw operations.1203 They are a means of dividing ethnic minorities by setting one minority, or one part of a minority, against another. Some of these patterns continued during the reporting period. 517. In April 2019, in Namhkan Township of Shan State, elements affiliated with Tatmadaw-supported militia stopped a 16 year old Ta’ang boy who was on his way to farm and took him to an isolated area.1204 The boy was questioned by a person believed to be in a position of authority within the group, who accused him of being a TNLA fighter and asked him how many TNLA fighters were present in his village. 1205 The boy’s hands were tied and he was kicked, beaten with sticks, threatened with death, knives and firearms, before being released.1206 The man who interrogated the boy told him: “If I were not so tired you could have died”. There had been fighting between the Tatmadaw and the TNLA in the area surrounding the village of the victim in the days preceding the incident. 1207 518. The Mission received credible reports that, between February and April 2019, the same group beat another three civilian Ta’ang men living in the same area. 1208 All victims belonged to the same ethnic group as the opposing EAO the militia was fighting. Conclusions and legal findings 519. The Mission concludes on reasonable grounds that Tatmadaw soldiers inflicted severe pain or suffering on men and boys in northern Shan State that constituted a pattern of torture in violation of international human rights law. The Mission draws this conclusion because of the consistency of cases where the Tatmadaw inflicted severe pain or suffering to obtain information. The Mission also concludes on reasonable grounds that the torture constituted violations of international humanitarian law, and amounted to war crimes, because the acts were committed in connection with armed conflicts between the Tatmadaw and EAOs operating in the region.1209 The Mission’s information further indicates that in some cases Tatmadaw commanding officers participated in, were present for, had knowledge of, or acquiesced or consented to acts of torture. International law requires that alleged perpetrators of these acts and those with command responsibility are criminally investigated and, where appropriate, prosecuted.1210 The Mission also concludes on reasonable grounds that in at least one case militia inflicted severe pain or suffering on a boy that would amount to the war crime of torture . Under both international human rights law and international humanitarian law, the Government of Myanmar has an obligation to 1201 1202 1203 1204 1205 1206 1207 1208 1209 1210 This refers to the Unlawful Associations Act. 1342. A/HRC/39/CRP.2, Paras. 108, 155, 170 and 231. PI-164, PI-165. PI-164. PI-164. PI-164, PI-165, 1611. PI-164, PI-165, FFFGEN-1-83587, 1611. ICTY, Kunarac Appeals Chamber Opinion para. 58, See, also, ICTY, Limaj et al. (IT-03-66), para. 91. For a detailed discussion of the elements of torture, see Chapter IV. On the Conflict between the Tatmadaw and the Arakan Army; section C.2: Torture, arbitrary detention and deaths in custody. For a detailed discussion on the requirements of conducting effective investigations, see Legal findings and conclusions: the impossibility of return in Chapter IV. The Situation of the Rohingya. 141