2 senior KNDO commanders admitted killing 25 suspected spies in June 2021 ; suspended from their posts by the Karen National Union (KNU)
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Jean-Paul Lagacé
@marcoyolo_usaThe Karen National Defense Organization suspended two of its senior commanders after they admitted to ordering the execution of 25 unarmed prisoners accused of espionage #burma #myanmar #kndo #KarenArmy
Two senior commanders of the Karen National Defence Organisation (KNDO) have admitted that security forces under their control detained and later killed 25 men in June in its territory near Myanmar’s border with Thailand, human rights group Fortify Rights has said.
General Ner Dah Bo Mya and Lieutenant Saw Ba Wah, who have been suspended from their posts, told Fortify Rights that their men were responsible.
General Ner Dah Bo Mya denied wrongdoing, saying the men, who were not armed and not in uniform, were “spies” for the military and that his troops “had to finish them up, otherwise they try to run away during the fighting and then they would come back and it would be very hard for us.” The order came from a “captain of intelligence” at the Karen National Union (KNU) – the political group that controls the KNDO – the general added.
The men were part of a group of 47 people, including 16 women and children, who were detained by the KNDO on May 31 in Kanele village in Karen state. The 25 men were killed on June 1 and the remainder of the group released over the following week, Fortify Rights said.