Thursday, October 30, 2014

NGOs call for govt probe on Roi Ja disappearance


Kachin farmer Dau Lum holds a picture of his wife, who was abducted by the Burmese military in 2011 (Photo: Edward Chung Ho)Kachin farmer Dau Lum holds a picture of his wife, who was abducted by the Burmese military in 2011 (Photo: Edward Chung Ho)
More than 120 civic organisations have petitioned the Burmese government to probe into the alleged abduction and disappearance of Sumlut Roi Ja, a Kachin woman, who went missing exactly three years ago today.
The 124 Burmese and international organisations that are signatories to the petition have urged the Burmese government to: “Establish an independent and impartial parliamentary commission with a mandate to investigate the disappearance of Sumlut Roi Ja and identify the perpetrators.”
On 28 October 2011, the Burmese army’s Light Infantry Battalion 321 allegedly picked up Sumlut Roi Ja along with her husband and father-in-law near Hkaibang Village, Momauk Township, Kachin State, on allegations of involvement with the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIA).
Speaking to DVB last year, her husband Dau Lam said that he and his father managed to break free of their ropes and get away by jumping down a ravine, narrowly escaping a hail of gunfire in the process. Roi Ja who was being closely guarded by the troops, was unable to get away, he said. She has not been seen since.+