At the
graduating ceremony of DSA Intake-55 on 8 December 2012 your Excellency the
Vice Senior General yourself said, “Instead
of just doing whatever he desires a good officer must think carefully and
analyse what he should or should not do. He needs to know the exact condition
of his soldiers. And he has to carefully implement the task at hand only after
analysing the problem he is facing and also thinking of the present situation
and possible future outcomes.”
What my
eldest son the army officer had done was exactly same as what you clearly
emphasized in your speech and thus I have to open up and report to you the army
commander-in-chief of the over-the-top punishment imposed upon my son.
A Soldier’s Son Becoming an Officer
I’d served
in the army for over 40 years and retired at the rank of senior corporal
recently. While I was still serving for my country my eldest son Kyaw Thet
Naing has passed matriculation at 16 and he asked me to let him join the army.
So I
supported him to apply for the Officer Training School and he was selected and
became a second lieutenant after the OTS from which he graduated as fourth best
cadet overall and best cadet for physical training.
From the
second-lieutenant to the captain he had served as an infantry officer in
various field operations all over the Shan State. He then became a major and
the Deputy Battalion Commanding Officer of an infantry battalion of MOC-1.
In March
2011 he fought the battles in Namt-san of Northern Shan State and Nant-poke
Kyay-thee of Southern Shan State from the beginning to the end against the SSA
(Shan State Army). He was then promoted to an Acting Battalion Commanding
Officer and given the Maing-pon based 517th Light Infantry Battalion
of MOC-2.
My Officer Son Is Now a Disgraced Officer
My Officer Son Is Now a Disgraced Officer
But during
the Maing-shu battle in June 2012 he was charged with violation of Burma Army
Act-56(A) and court-martialled. He was then sentenced a two years jail term
with hard-labor by a military court and he has been in Taung-lay-lone Prison in
Taung-gyi since.
And this
letter is my plea, as the father of Major Kyaw Thet Naing (Kyee-30070), pleading
for your pardon on behalf of my eldest son Kyaw Thet Naing.
Before his
case came to the Court Martial he was held at the (Ya-la-kha) the
Middle-Eastern Regional Command’s LIB-66 at Kho Lam. While he was there he
contacted me and explained me what had happened to him and some of his officer
comrades.
He Did Refuse To Fight Only Once For A Sound
Reason
Enemy being fortified on higher ground and their abundant
use of remote-controlled land-mines had made my son’s task almost impossible.
But after 3 days of heavy fighting uphill days and nights without adequate food
and water my son’s battalion had finally captured the border post but with
heavy casualties on his battalion which was nearly depleted.
That day immediately after the capture of SSA post and just
after the exhaustive search for the officers and other ranks missing during
last 3 days of night fights and the eventual burial of the fallen his battalion received another
order to attack and capture another fortified hill of SSA.
My son as a
responsible battalion CO then reported back of his situations on the field. His
men were basically starving without food and water. And his battalion had so
many wounded needing urgent medical attentions. And the enemy had been
reinforcing their position with new arrivals and laying down a killing field
with remote-controlled mines again for any Burmese army attacks.
Field amputation on a wounded Burmese soldier. |
Understandably
his men were really upset and angry but he still managed to calm them down and finally
managed to reason with his Tactical Command Boss. But his reasons didn’t work
with the higher bosses from the Regional Command and they all were charged and
court-martialled.
The Tactical
Command Chief, General Staff Officer-1, Battalion CO, Deputy Battalion CO, and
My son the Acting Battalion CO are now all in prison serving harsh sentences.
The Lives of All These Officers Are
Now Being Wasted
All these
harshly-punished officers including my son have military services ranging from
13 to 30 years. Just think of the Tactical Command Chief now in prison.
He did make
a very sound decision basing on him being on the front line leading the men
despite he could have pushed them to their ultimate death by forcing to fight
an up-hill battle against superior enemy position.
Former army officers turned prisoners? |
And the
reward for his good decision was that he was now in a prison like a common
criminal.
When I went
and saw my son in the prison he tearfully said to me that he was dearly missing
his wife and two very-young daughters. He also frustratingly said to me that the
higher education he had from the DSA was practically useless in the prison.
And despite
being army officers they are now being treated like common criminals. For him
it was plain depressing to spend his days among mostly low-life drug pushers
and drug traffickers.
He also
added that since he became a soldier he had bravely fought without caring about
his own life. But the army top brass didn’t consider his sacrifices and not
only destroyed his life by dismissing him from the army but also killed his
life by sending him to prison. He admitted to me that whenever he thinks about
his present situation he felt like killing himself.
He also said
that even after finishing his jail term he has to restart life from the
beginning as his 20 years experience in the army would be almost useless to
make a decent living as a civilian.
I then felt
so sorry for him that had I known my son could end up like this I would have never
let him join the army.
Enemy Is Forgiven While Loyal Soldiers Are
Forgotten
SSA General Ywet-Sit and Burmese General Soe Win Toasting. |
Many peace
negotiations and cease-fire agreements are now on the table with most
armed-insurgent groups. While our government is even releasing most political
prisoners and many criminals why don’t the army release military prisoners held
for many years now?
I myself witnessed
the Regional Division Commander friendly shaking hands with the leaders of SSA
the very own enemy my son and his men were required to fight with their lives ordered
by the same divisional commander. It was on the very day my son was sentenced
by the military court.
The army top
brass is now treating the enemy like long lost friends as if the sacrifices of
the fallen and wounded soldiers were meaningless to them. But why are the same
top brass treating their own army officers like enemies by keeping them in
prisons?
Punishing severely the good officers like my son and his
men is basically a great loss to the army and our country and I am begging with
a deep respect that your Excellency Vice-Senior General should reconsider their
punishment and eventually pardon them.
The list of imprisoned officers
Tactical-Command-Chief
Colonel Win Nyunt (OTS-12) three years sentence,General-Staff-Officer (G-1) Lt. Colonel Soe Min Latt (DSA-35) two years sentence,
Battalion-Commander Lt. Colonel Win Min Nyunt (DSA-37) five years sentence,
Deputy-Battalion-Commander Major Kyaw Thet Naing (OTS-25) two years sentence,
Deputy-Battalion-Commander Major Nanda Kyaw (OTS-27) two years sentence, and
Acting-Company-Commander Major Kyaw Myint Htun (DSA-44) two years sentence.
Respectfully,
Corporal Chit Aye (retired)
(PSN/363916)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
That made the
matter worse and their boss MOC-1 Chief Brigadier General Nyi Soe charged them
with insubordination and the subsequent court-martial sentenced the Battalion
CO 25 years with hard labor, the Company CO 20 years, other 4 officers 20 years
each, the 4 sergeant-majors 15 years each, and the 9 sergeants 10 years each.
(Translator’s
notes: In December 2011 just after the President’s public order to stop
fighting in Kachin State an army officer Major Myo Htun Khaing from IB-47
stationed at Bamaw submitted his resignation from the army.
His stated reasons
for the resignation were that his company had been really hit hard by KIA and
also he no longer felt like fighting this meaningless and hopeless civil war
among brothers.
His battalion CO
not only accepted his resignation but he also submitted his own resignation along
with his company commander’s by stating that if his men didn’t want to fight no
more he wouldn’t fight too.
Field burial of a fallen Burmese soldier. |
All of them are
now being held in the Civilian Prison in Bamaw. They are serving their harsh
sentences together with another group of officers and NCOs from the LIB-428
from the same command for similar offences of insubordination because of their
refusals to fight the KIA no more.
To raise the morale
of the army that lost nearly 5,000 men in the battle for Laiza 78 bravery
medals including 3 Thuras were awarded on 8 February this year. Other 1,500
Good-Soldier medals were also awarded mainly to the infantry troops fighting
KIA in the Kachin State.)
Fallen Burmese soldiers on the front slope of SSA hill by Thai Border. |
SSA General Ywet Sit and Burmese Minister Aung Min at the peace talk. |
Jungle-dwelling Burmese soldiers without adequate uniforms and supply. |