ID Cards

Just when you think Than Shwe's junta has maxed out on its capacity for surreal, senseless cruelty, a government official raises the bar:

Bodies of two protesters killed in the Burmese junta's brutal crackdown on recent protests were not returned to their families but were instead buried in discreet government-organised funeral services, according to family members.

Ko Htun Htun Linn, of South Okkalapa township, and high-school student Maung Kyaw Zeya Naing were killed in Friday's protests in downtown Rangoon after government guards and soldiers fired automatic weapons and beat up protesters.

Their family members said they were later informed of their deaths by the Ministry of Home Affairs. They were invited to attend a funeral service organised by the government, bringing no more than ten people from each family. "The letter, signed by the minister of Home Affairs Thura Myint Maung, was delivered to us by [township] police chief Naing Win and it said that we are to bring our ID cards to the funeral," said a family member of Ko Htun Htun Linn. "It also said that we are not allowed to hold the traditional merit-making ceremony seven days after the death."

Via Moe Aye at the Democratic Voice of Burma.