“All the hallmarks of a war crime.”
This is how the UN human rights observer for Myanmar described the massacre that Sky News is investigating.
The massacre took place near Mo So in Kaya state on Christmas Eve, leaving at least 37 people dead.
Image: The attack took place in the state of Kaya, north of Yangon, the largest city in the country
This is an area where fierce battles are being fought between the local militia and the military.
The military regime claims the dead are suspected terrorists.
It seems that two employees of the charity Save the Children were among the dead.
According to doctors, the other victims included at least one child between the ages of 10 and 15 and a disabled man.
Many of the bodies were burned so badly in the attack that it was difficult to confirm all the violence.
Image: Tom Andrews, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, says death has “signs of war crime”
After watching the Sky News report, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar Tom Andrews said: “The film I just watched is absolutely horrifying and unfortunately not uncommon.
“This is the kind of brutality we have seen in different parts of Myanmar. The Myanmar military is known for this.
“They are ruthless … we must investigate it fully. But they have all the hallmarks of a war crime.”
Image: Vehicles can be seen among the burnt debris. Photo: KNDF
After the coup in February 2021, Myanmar was torn apart by violence.
On the one hand: the military or the junta, which said that election fraud was committed and overthrew the government to take power.
On the other hand: protesters, armed groups and militias who say they are fighting for democracy.
In an effort to find out more about how the violence unfolded, Sky News teams in Myanmar, Thailand and London analyzed images and tracked family members and witnesses.
We also worked with Myanmar Witness, a non-governmental organization that documents human rights in Myanmar.
WARNING: This article contains a number of images of violence and dead bodies
Police confirmed that among the dead was a 28-year-old man named Lee Reh.
Image: Lee Reh is described by his family as hardworking. Photo: Family material
Described as a hard-working family man, his siblings explained that Lee Reh was easy to identify because his left arm was not fully developed when he was born.
On December 24, we were told that he had left home on a motorcycle at around 8 am.
Image: Lee Rech left home to buy a car with a friend
He was going with a friend to buy a car.
By 10 a.m., the junta had confirmed that soldiers were stopping people on the road near Mo So.
Image: People traveling on the road near the village of Mo So were stopped on Christmas Eve morning
This is the path that Lee Reh was thought to have traveled.
Around the same time, four members of the local border guard force, allies of the junta (BGF), were sent to the checkpoint to investigate, it is alleged.
Image: Four border guards left the base (marked with a small yellow square) and were sent to investigate what was happening at the checkpoint
What happened over the next few hours at this Mo So checkpoint is difficult to put together.
No one survived the attack.
Local police told me that after receiving information that junta forces were in the area, they arrived at the scene of the killing around 11:15 a.m. and saw burning vehicles.
The shadows in the footage from a police drone, analyzed by experts from Myanmar Witness, suggest that it was taken shortly after, around 11.30.
Image: A car we identified as the one driven by two Save the Children employees appears to be on fire. Photo: KNDF
In the footage, the Save the Children car is on fire, while other trucks are simply smoking, suggesting that the fires started relatively recently.
Image: The smoke can be seen from three trucks. Photo: KNDF
That day, rebel fighters on the scene say they have found the bodies of the four border guards.
The footage shows that their hands were tied with a rope and shot.
Image: The rope can be clearly seen tied around the wrists of these men. Photo: Khit Thit media
It was not until Christmas, when the fires were extinguished, that rebel units said they had returned and found 31 severely burned bodies.
Three bags of body parts were later taken from the scene, according to police.
Our teams found a doctor who helped with the autopsies.
Hiding, he described some of the injuries inflicted on the victims.
We changed his name to protection.
Dr. A explained: “The skulls were completely broken. Maybe shot with a gun or beaten with something. Both the chest and the back have some injuries from stabbing with a sharp object.
“There were bullet holes in the bodies and most of the bodies were tied up.
“I have never seen anything like it in my life. [People] tied up and killed. “
Image: 28-year-old Lee Reh disappeared after buying a car. Photo: Family material
By Christmas, Lee Reh’s family was horrified.
No one was able to obtain him and his motorcycle was photographed among the wreckage.
Image: Lee Reh’s bicycle was found burned among other vehicles. Photo: KSP
When relatives called his phone, they said a strange voice had answered – a voice believed to belong to a junta soldier.
Following the deaths, the Myanmar military regime issued statements saying that on Christmas Eve, soldiers near Mo So tried to stop seven vehicles believed to be linked to an alleged terrorist plot.
People inside were allegedly attacked with bombs and weapons, so security forces fired back.
A battle ensued and the cars caught fire.
The military said they were trying to save people.
However, the evidence seen by Sky News raises new questions.
Image: A doctor who helped with the autopsies spoke anonymously to Sky News
Dr A said many of the victims’ hands were tied and some bodies were found outside the vehicles, which contradicts the idea that they died while fighting.
The regime claims that the people killed are suspected terrorists – so how can the deaths of two charities and at least one child be explained?
And there is more.
Thirteen days after the massacre, on January 6, 2022, rebel fighters say they found two bodies dressed in local police uniforms near the burned vehicles.
The uniforms match photos previously published by military-run media of two “enemies” allegedly involved in Mo So’s attack.
We decided to include these images of dead bodies at this point in this article, as they are part of the evidence that helps provide a picture of what happened that day.
And in the images there are specific details, as we will explain, which are also important elements.
Image: The military-run media published photos of two “enemies” allegedly involved in the Mo So attack. Photo: The Mirror Daily
The additional inspection of the two bodies raised doubts.
Sky News was provided with photos taken at the autopsies, which show that the men were wearing civilian clothes under their uniforms.
Both were shot.
But the officers told us that there were no bullet holes or even blood on the men’s uniforms.
In the state media’s images of the “enemies”, the positioning of the pistol seems unnatural, potentially posed for the photo.
Image: A gun appears to have been placed on the dead man. Photo: Myanmar military
When our team adjusted the contrast in the photo of one of the “enemies”, we found that the blur had faded.
This revealed that one of the alleged soldiers was missing his left arm.
Image: By adjusting the contrast, the blur fades and indicates that the man does not have a left hand. Photo: Myanmar Alin
It appears to be Lee Rech, who disappeared on December 24.
We showed a picture of his brother and sister, who were adamant that he was not a rebel.
Image: Lee Reh was born without a left hand. Photo: Family material
“He is not affiliated with any organization at all,” his sister said.
His brother told him he couldn’t hold a gun. Instead, his family claims that junta soldiers framed Lee Reh and dressed him to look like a rebel.
Image: Lee Reh’s family was horrified after he disappeared. Photo: Family material
“They [the junta] uses Lee Reh’s body to stage that he is from the Kozloduy NPP. [rebel force]. They just wanted to clear the evidence. That’s why they put on Lee Reh’s uniform, “said his brother.
We have provided this evidence to the military government, but so far it has not responded.
Tom Andrews told Sky News: “The very fact that they seem to be trying to make these innocent people, these aid workers look like fighters.
“Obviously there is something in the minds of these commanders that this is a war crime. This is evidence of a war crime.”
He added: “I am afraid that if the course does not change, including a change in the course of how the international community reacts to it, things will get worse exponentially.”
The full scale of what happened in Mo So is still unfolding.
So far, police say 40 people have been reported missing.
The people in charge of Myanmar …
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