Myanmar: detained student leader prevented from attending his mother funeral
Event- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Oct 21, 2022
- Event Description
A funeral for 55-year-old Kyi Myint, who was killed in a parcel bomb explosion and shooting incident at Yangon’s Insein Prison last week, was held at Kyi Su cemetery on October 21.
Her son is student activist Lin Htet Naing, commonly known as James, and is incarcerated at Insein, Myanmar’s largest detention facility. She was at the prison to deliver a package to him when two explosions went off, followed by gunfire from junta personnel.
Family members reportedly asked that the Insein Prison authorities allow James to attend his mother’s funeral, but permission was denied.
According to the junta, among the eight casualties in the attack were three prison guards, a 10-year-old girl, and several women. An urban guerrilla group called the Special Task Agency (STA) of Burma claimed responsibility for the controversial attack in a statement, saying that the bombs intended to targeted the prison superintendent “in retaliation against prison officers who are Min Aung Hlaing’s followers, for constantly oppressing comrades of the revolution.”
Though several witnesses told Myanmar Now that most of the victims were killed when soldiers opened fire from a nearby watchtower in response to the blasts, the guerrilla group was heavily criticised for planning an attack near the prison entrance where many civilians frequently visit in order to send parcels to their detained relatives. The National Unity Government, along with many resistance groups, condemned the bombing.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Event Location
Latitude: 16.799200308371965
Longitude: 96.15956119142456
- Event Location
- Summary for Publications
On 21 October 2022, Lin Htet Naing, also known as James, detained pro-democracy student, was prevented by the prison officers from attending her mother's funeral held inside the same detention facility in Insein Prison, Yangon, Myanmar.