Many people have been arbitrarily taken into night raids, and their families do not know where their loved ones are or what their condition is, the United Nations said. Human Rights Watch said that missing persons were more likely to be subjected to torture or ill-treatment than other people arrested.
Zaw Myat Lynn, the National League for Democracy (NLD), died in custody on Tuesday after being arrested in the largest city in Yangon, Reuters reported, citing ousted MP Ba Bao Thein.
The Association for the Assistance of Political Prisoners (AAPP) released a statement saying that “Zaw Myat Lynn, who was the head of an educational institute, was pronounced dead today due to injuries compatible with torture following an arbitrary raid during night”.
The exact cause of death is still unknown, but AAPP added that Zaw Myat Lynn was beaten.
Shortly before his arrest, Zaw Myat Lynn posted a live feed on Facebook in which he said, “I want to encourage all citizens across the country to protest 24 hours a day against the dictatorship.”
He urged people to continue fighting the army, saying “we will risk our lives to defeat them.”
“We are showing the international community, including the UN and other agencies, that we, the citizens of Myanmar, want democracy and appreciate democracy as the most precious thing in our lives,” he said.
Following the death of Yangon NLD party chairman Khin Maung Latt, who died in custody on Saturday.
“On the night of his arrest, Khin Maung Latt was tortured to death in his cell,” AAPP said in a press release. Reports of bruises on Khin Maung Latt’s head and body have raised suspicions that he was abused, NLD MP Ba Myo Thein told Reuters.
CNN cannot independently verify this report and the details of the deaths of Zaw Myat Lynn and Khin Maung Latt are not immediately clear.
Rights groups called on the military junta, led by coup leader General Min Aung Hlaing, to promptly and impartially investigate the deaths.
“The Myanmar junta is leading security forces and can quickly find out who killed Khin Maung Latt if they want to,” Brad Adams, Asia’s director of Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. “If they want to show that they believe in the rule of law, all those responsible should be held accountable. Unfortunately, Myanmar’s security forces seem intent on using night raids and brutal ill-treatment to create fear and break popular resistance to military domination “.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military took power, detaining State Councilor Suu Kyi and forming a new junta to lead the country. For more than a month, protesters in Myanmar have demonstrated thousands of times daily to resist military rule.
Security forces responded with increasing violence and brutality. Witnesses reported extrajudicial crimes, while footage and photos show police and military shooting anti-coup protesters and beating detainees.
According to the UN, at least 54 people were killed in protests, although activists say the number is higher. AAPP said 1,939 people had been arrested, charged or convicted of the coup.
Myanmar’s media offices, Mizzima and Kamayut Media, were attacked by security forces on Tuesday afternoon, the editors of Myanmar Now publications said.
No Mizzima personnel were detained, but a family member said Kamayut’s co-founder and editor-in-chief had been arrested by security forces, Myanmar Now reported.
The founder of Myanmar Now said his offices were looted on Monday. Myanmar Now and Mizzima are among the five media outlets whose publishing licenses have been revoked.
“They confiscated computers, confiscated printers and parts of the newsroom’s data server,” Lei Win said, adding that no one was in the office at the time, nor had they been since the coup.
“Obviously it was done in a very public manner, witnesses saw security forces storming the office building and there was this show of force that was probably trying to send a message,” she said.
Sophie Jeong of CNN and Pauline Lockwood contributed to the reporting.