Two members of parliament (MPs) appointed by the junta to represent the military in Chin State’s parliament are officers who committed war crimes in Hakha Township, Chin State, according to the Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO).
The new Chin State parliament, formed following the recent election, began its sessions on March 20 with Colonel Saw Tun and Major Arkar Kyaw Moe attending as MPs. On the same day, the Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO) issued a statement strongly condemning the two officers’ participation.
“The reinstatement of military officers accused of torture and crimes against humanity in the Chin State parliament is an insult to victims and their families. The world will remember the junta’s rigged election as a tool designed to keep perpetrators under its command in power and to grant them impunity,” said Salai Mang Hre Lian, spokesperson for the CHRO.
Colonel Saw Tun, a former tactical operations commander in northern Chin State who oversaw the light infantry battalions—the junta’s main combat forces—was deeply involved in crimes against humanity committed during the junta’s military operations in 2021 and 2022, the early years of the coup, the CHRO alleged.
In May 2021, in Hakha, the capital of Chin State, the junta detained, brutally assaulted and interrogated 54-year-old Pu Tler Ling and 27-year-old Salai Kham Bawi until they died, the CHRO claims it obtained evidence that Colonel Saw Tun ordered the actions. Major Arkar Kyaw Moe is the officer who personally participated in the torture of the two Chin men, leading to their deaths.
CHRO attempted to file indictments in the Philippines against the two, along with other junta officers, to pursue action under international jurisdiction for the junta’s war crimes against civilians.
Under the 2008 Constitution, the commander-in-chief of the Myanmar military directly appoints 25 percent of parliamentary seats. Accordingly, the junta selected four MPs for Chin State, including Colonel Saw Tun and Major Arkar Kyaw Moe.
There are allegations that the junta’s appointment of former officers alleged to have committed war crimes to the legislature shows that the move is not aimed at restoring civilian rule through elections, but at entrenching impunity for those accused of such crimes.
In the Chin State parliament, Pu Kawl Lian Thang and U Thant Sin Htoo, MPs from the junta-aligned Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), were elected as Speaker and Vice-Speaker, respectively.