Burma Army Attacks Kachin Villages, Capturing 18 Villagers; Bodies of Torture Victims Discovered

Burma Army Attacks Nam Gau and Nam San Villages

On 30 January 2014 Burma Army troops began attacking Nam Gau Village, of Man Si Township in Kachin State, firing at villagers and merchants and capturing 18 villagers. The fighting intensified on 31 January, with reinforced Burma army troops attacking not
only Nam Gau but also Nam San Village, located south of the first attack site. Heavy mortar and machine gun fire hit the village as Burma Army troops from Battalion 276 attacked.

The road leading north out of the village was full of fleeing villagers, merchants and trucks. Most residents of these two villages had already fled once before due to an earlier Burma Army attack; after these attacks all the remaining families have now fled. The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) is defending the village; one KIA soldier has been killed in the fighting.

 Bodies of Tortured Victims Found in Nam Lim Pa

Also on 30 January, Free Burma Rangers relief teams conducted a medical clinic in Nam Lim Pa for the few remaining IDPs there. Rangers found three bodies with evidence of torture. All three were killed when the Burma Army attacked Nam Lim Pa in late November 2013 (see FBR report); a total of seven people were killed in these November attacks. Family members of the victims are spread between different IDP sites, and some are in hiding near Nam Lim Pa.

One of the victims was identified as Labang La (pictured in this report); he was killed by the Burma Army in Nam Lim Pa and found by his family on 2 January 2014 with 6 deep knife or axe cuts on his back, as well as other signs of torture. Labang La was a deaf mute.

The sister of NHkum Brang Aung, one of the men tortured and killed by the Burma Army in Nam Lim Pa on 17 November 2013, was able to provide details of his death.  NHkum Brang Aung was 20 years old and mentally disabled. When everyone else was fleeing the advancing Burma Army troops, he said he was not afraid of the Burma army because he did not believe troops would bother someone like him. His body was found with rope burns, and his head had been scalded with boiling water, and his body bore signs of additional torture; he had been shot to death.

Surviving Victim Describes How the Burma Army Captured and Tortured Him

FBR also met with Ndau Gam, a Kachin man who was captured and tortured by the Burma Army on November 8 2013. He was captured at his farm near Nam Gau. The Burma Army troops handcuffed him with steel cuffs and beat his face, head and body for one hour as they questioned him. Then the commander ordered for him to be shot. Two Burma Army troops took him into the jungle to kill him, but he broke away and, still cuffed, ran for his life and escaped. Currently, he is staying at Bum Sit Pa IDP camp.

Free Burma Rangers are standing with people under attack. We pray for the Burma Army and for freedom, justice, and reconciliation for all.

God bless you,

Kachin Free Burma Rangers