Troops from Burma Army LIB 504 arrested four civilians in Hsipaw, northern Shan State, accused them of supporting the Shan State Army (SSA), then sent them to jail at Hsipaw police station on 6th November, according to their relatives.

At 9:15 am, on 5th November, four men from Wan Mai Zan Lake village, Tha Tay tract, Hsipaw Township, were going to a market in Hsipaw town. When the four villagers, named Sai Ka Lar, Sai Kyaw, Sai Hom and Sai Mao, entered Hsipaw, the Burmese soldiers from LIB 504 arrested and beat them, accusing them of having connections to the SSA. They were detained the entire night, and on the next day, 6th November, at 4:30 pm they were sent to Hsipaw police station.

“Four of them came to Hsipaw from Tha Tay in a car in order to buy a motor engine and parts. However, when they entered the town, the Burmese soldiers from LIB 504 stopped their car. After that the Burmese soldiers accused them of being members of armed groups, tied them with ropes and beat them, though no evidence was found,” said a local source close to an  army family.

Sources close to the police said the military came and handed over the four civilians on charges of having no driving license and illegal association.
U Sai Nyunt, a member of the Shan Nationalities Democratic Party (SNDP) said all four men were ordinary civilians, but that one of them, Sai Hom, had a personal conflict with a military officer. He said he would discuss within his party about securing the villagers’ release, and is helping to collect related information and necessary evidence.

“A few months ago, Sai Hom was travelling to town in a small truck, and at that time an army officer was riding on a motorbike with his wife behind the truck. The motorbike tried to overtake the truck but couldn’t since the road was bad, so the officer shouted and swore at Sai Hom. Sai Hom was very angry and fired a wooden slingshot at the officer, not knowing he was from the army. Maybe he was arrested because of that,” said one of his friends.

The LIB 504 base is located 4 miles from Hsipaw town, and Tha Tay tract is located 7 miles   north of Hsipaw. In June 2013, this same army unit arrested and detained three local civilians for six months, since they found some photos of members of RCSS/SSA in military uniforms in the civilians’ MP4 players.

Both the Shan armed groups SSPP/SSA and RCSS/SSA have already signed a union level ceasefire agreement with the Naypyidaw government.