1 November 2008 – Aizawl: A Chin human rights activists is reported
missing and feared dead after a small boat he was riding in was swept
away by fast currents of the Kaladan river in southern Chin State on
October 30, Chinland Guardian has learned.
Jonh Tuihing, a staff of Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO) was
crossing the Kaladan River on a small boat on a return from a
clandestine trip inside Burma to assess food scarcity situations in
Paletwa Township of southern Chin State when he was reported drowned.
His body has not been recovered.
John, in his 30s, joined the CHRO in April of 2008, and was actively
engaged in a clandestine monitoring mission inside Chin State during
the May 10 constitutional referendum in Burma . He recently assumed
the position of acting coordinator for the Chin Famine Emergency
Relief Committee (CFERC), a Mizoram-based relief group engaged in
cross-border relief work inside Chin State .
"The news of John's death shocked us beyond belief. He was a dedicated
and hardworking individual. The operation of CFERC would not have been
possible without his contributions," says the group's Chairman H. Chan
Thawng Ling.
John was on a mission to conduct assessment on food scarcity
situations in the southern township of Paletwa as part of a joint
effort for cross-border food relief programs initiated by four
Mizoram-based Chin groups: Chin Famine Emergency Relief Committee
(CFERC), Chin Humanitarian Relief Committee (CHRC), Women League of
Chinland ( WLC ) and Public Affairs Committee (PAC). The four groups
recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU), agreeing to
launch a more effective and coordinated cross-border relief efforts
inside Chin State .
"John was a dedicated activist who will be remembered as someone who
gave his life for the promotion of human rights. His death is a great
loss us. We will do everything on our part to recover John's body so
that he can be honored and properly laid according to the Chin
customs," says Salai Bawi Lian Mang, Executive Director of Chin Human
Rights Organization. He says John is the third person in his
organization to die while fighting for human rights. In 1998 and 2000
respectively, Michael En Za Pau, Secretary of CHRO and Salai Zo Thang,
the organization's field monitor were killed while on a mission to
document human rights situations in Chin State .
A search is still on for John's body.