YANGON (CHINDWIN): The Arakan Army (AA) abducts and detains a well-known human rights activist, Ko Zaw Zaw Htay (aka Ko Saw Twan), completely cutting off communication lines from his family who could no longer contact him since his abduction.
Our source reveals that he was abducted by the Arakan Army (AA) on 21 July in Kyauktaw Town, Rakhine State. Since then, his family has been unable to contact him.
“We don’t know the reason why he was arrested, and we haven’t been able to contact him since,” Zaw Zaw Htay’s sister told the Chindwin.
“We dare not inform his mother (who is now 70-years-old) about the arrest as she has a health condition, and we want AA to release him as soon as possible,” she added.
Zaw Zaw Htay is a member of All Arakan Students’ and Youths’ Congress (AASYC) and is working for the Arakan Rivers Network (ARN) that has been actively campaigning for human rights and environmental justices in Rakhine State and beyond.
A local news outlet, the Narinjara, reported that three members of AA with two motorbikes approached him at around 2-pm while he was buying betel nut at a local street vendor, and a while later, two other members came and escorted him away.
The reason for his arrest was unknown. But a source close to The Chindwin reported that Zaw Zaw Htay has been vocal on human rights violations committed against local civilians by both the Myanmar military and AA’s commanders in Rakhine State.
“I think AA arrested him because he was often critical about some human rights violations committed by the AA commanders in the ground, which AA leaderships may have been unaware of. But when you arrest a person, you should also abide by the international human rights standard and norms. They should inform his family about the reason why he was arrested and allow him a fair trial,” a source closed to Zaw Zaw Htay, who asked to remain anonymous for security reasons, told The Chindwin.
“I understand that this is a revolution period, but you cannot do whatever you want with the gun in your hand. You must respect human rights. And we expected AA to respect human rights, including the individual rights to freedom of speech and expression,” he added.
Zaw Zaw has been detained for over two months, but his family has been unable to obtain information about where he is held.
Prior to his arrest, Zaw Zaw Htay reportedly wrote a short note on his social media platform about AA, questioning human rights violations AA commanders and their soldiers committed on the ground.
AA has previous records of abducting civilians, including a member of parliamentarian Hawi Ting and five Indian nationals in 2019.
