External powers stay silent as PDF and armed groups commit war crimes
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Phyo/Pearl (NP News) - July 22
U Thein Tun Oo, executive director of the Thayninga Institute for Strategy Studies told The Statesman that some armed groups in Myanmar and the PDF are committing war crimes, but the international community remains silent.
Recently, a video emerged showing PDF members shooting four men in Zigon, Kanbalu Township, Sagaing Region. The video shows a man in civilian clothes inside a shop apologizing not to shoot, but a PDF member shot him in the head with a gun.
The incident was reported by foreign media outlets as an attack by the Kanbalu district PDF on security forces and some people military service members returning from a school bus security patrol, killing one sergeant and three people military service members as well as capturing three firearms.
“They said the people came along while the children were being sent to and from school. Whatever the case may be, they are the people who take responsibility for security reasons. If they weren’t armed, that’s even worse. They are labeled as people military service personnel after killing people. They can pull out weapons from anywhere and show them. Right now, many of the actions being carried out by some armed groups and PDFs in Myanmar are blatant acts of terrorism. There’s no need to even question whether they qualify as war crimes. There have been war crimes from the very beginning,” said U Thein Tun Oo to The Statesman.
The international community has called some of the Tatmadaw's actions as war crimes, but it has ignored the war crimes committed by some armed groups and the PDF group, which are wreaking havoc on the Tatmadaw and the state.
“Why don’t they say anything about people who, unlike a formal armed force like the Tatmadaw, take up arms on their own and commit war crimes? It’s simple. In a country, especially in Myanmar when anyone wants to rule, to seize power, or to dominate, the only institution capable of resisting or countering that process is the Tatmadaw. That’s why they target only the Tatmadaw with accusations, allegations, and attempts to divide. Why don’t they do the same with other groups? Because when those groups act in ways that lead to the collapse of the Tatmadaw and the country, it’s quietly tolerated. That’s the international community’s double standard,” U Thein Tun Oo continued. –