NUG and AASYC Issue Statements on Mass Killing in Byaing Phyu Village, Sittwe
On June 4, the All Arakan Students' and Youths' Congress (AASYC) strongly condemned the brutal killing of 53 people, 48 men and five women, after battalions under the terrorist junta's Sittwe Military Operations Command raided Set Yoe Kya ward (Byaing Phyu village), Sittwe Township, Rakhine State, in force on May 29. It said it would work with all forces inside and outside the country, including the United Nations, to hold the perpetrators accountable.
The AASYC statement said that two of the women killed were raped before being killed, that minors and students were among the dead, and that some men are still being detained and interrogated. It said such a mass killing is not only a human rights violation but a flagrant war crime.
It also warned that, as criticism has been heard that the Arakan Liberation Party (ALP) led by Saw Mya Yarzar Linn is cooperating with the terrorist junta, which is committing war crimes across Rakhine, the ALP must be especially careful that taking part in activities against the people under the historic ALP name would mean deviating from the path of Rakhine national liberation.
The National Unity Government (NUG) also issued a statement on June 3 regarding the Byaing Phyu village incident, saying it will work by all means, together with any organization that seeks justice, including revolutionary groups in the region, to bring to justice as quickly as possible all those directly or indirectly responsible for or involved in the war crimes, mass killings and crimes against humanity committed and being committed by the terrorist junta, and to restore justice for all victims. The NUG statement, however, said 51 people, 48 men and three women, were killed in the mass killing.
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