State-owner Myawaddy TV said in an evening bulletin on Tuesday that the National League for Democracy was among 40 political parties that had failed to register with the junta-controlled Election Commission.
New Delhi: Myanmar’s state-owned television has reported that the electoral commission, controlled by the junta, has declared that the party led by the jailed leader Aung San Suu Kyi will be dissolved as it did not comply with the new electoral law and failed to re-register.
On January 26 this year, the military gave political parties a two-month deadline – which expired on Tuesday, March 28 – to register with the Election Commission.
At the end of the deadline, Myawaddy TV said in an evening bulletin on Tuesday that the National League for Democracy (NLD) was among 40 political parties that had failed to register with the state-controlled Election Commission. As per the new election law, any party which doesn’t register gets automatically dissolved.
The United Nations expressed concern about the developments. “I think this is another step in the direction that we would not like to be going into,” said the UN secretary general’s spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric. “We want to see a return to democracy in Myanmar. We would like to see the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and other people who continue to be detained, and we will continue to work towards that”.
NLD had won over 80% of the parliamentary seats in the November 2020 general elections. But, the military disputed the results on grounds of irregularities, even though international observers had stated that the elections had been relatively free and fair.
On February 1, 2021, the junta staged a coup, detaining Aung San Suu Kyi and other political leaders, which threw the country into violent chaos. After a series of politically motivated prosecutions, Suu Kyi is currently serving prison sentences which in total amount to 33 years. Her colleagues in the NLD have formed a government in exile, called the National Unity Government of Myanmar.
After the January announcement of registration for elections, the NLD had already announced that it would not participate. “We absolutely do not accept that an election will be held at a time when many political leaders and political activists have been arrested and the people are being tortured by the military,” Bo Bo Oo, one of the elected lawmakers from Suu Kyi’s party, as per agencies.
In February this year, the military junta announced a six-month extension to the state of emergency, which led to speculation that elections could be held in July. But, there is likely to be at least one more six-month extension, as per reports.
According to the International Crisis Group (ICG), elections are unlikely to take place before November 2023, and possibly not until January 2024.
“Considering it won 79% and 82% of the elected seats in the last two general elections, the NLD’s participation is a fundamental requirement for credible polls in Myanmar,” said a new ICG report, released on March 28.
With the new law putting “onerous” qualifications for political parties, the number of political parties will fall drastically from 92 in pre-coup Myanmar.
The think-tank warned that even if the Junta held elections, it would likely be “the most violent in Myanmar’s recent history”.
While the military regime will “ratchet” up pressure on political parties and voters to participate in the elections and increase troop presence on the ground, the polls will also be “a target for resistance forces born as a result of the coup, some of which have already staged attacks”.
Myanmar’s military took power in a coup on February 1 last year after complaining of fraud in a November 2020 general election won by democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi’s party.
Myanmar’s military took power in a coup on February 1 last year after complaining of fraud in a November 2020 general election won by democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi’s party. Election monitoring groups found no evidence of mass fraud.
Following is a timeline of events:
February 1, 2021: Aung San Suu Kyi, President Win Myint and other senior figures from the National League for Democracy (NLD) are detained in morning raids.
February 3: Staff at 70 hospitals and medical departments stop work in protest. Many wear red ribbons as part of a civil disobedience campaign.
NLD offices are raided, documents and computers are seized.
Police file charges against Suu Kyi saying military officers searching her residence found six hand-held radios imported illegally and used without permission.
Charges are also filed against the president over violating coronavirus restrictions.
February 4: Protesters wave banners and chant anti-coup slogans in Mandalay.
February 6: Blocks are ordered on Twitter and Instagram, where protesters had been sharing information. The junta orders the internet shut down.
February 7: Protests sweep the country in the biggest show of anger since 2007 anti-military protests.
Internet access is restored but social media platforms remain blocked.
February 9: Police fire guns, mostly in the air, water cannons and rubber bullets at protesters in the capital, Naypyitaw. A woman is shot in the head and dies 10 days later.
February 13: The junta suspends laws constraining security forces from detaining suspects and searching property.
February 22: General strike shuts businesses as crowds gather across the country.
March 2: Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) foreign ministers hold a call with a junta representative. They urge Suu Kyi’s release and an end to lethal force against protesters.
March 4: At least 19 police cross into India saying they don’t want to take orders from the junta.
March 5: US officials freeze a $1 billion Myanmar account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The United States blocks Myanmar’s defence and interior ministries and top military conglomerates from certain trade.
March 22: The European Union imposes travel bans and asset freezes on 11 people linked to the coup, including Min Aung Hlaing and acting president Myint Swe.
March 27: Troops kill at least 160 people as the military marks Armed Forces Day with a parade.
March 28: About 3,000 villagers flee from Karen State to Thailand after the army launches air strikes in territory controlled by the Karen National Union insurgent group.
Security forces also open fire at a funeral in Bago town for 114 people killed in a crackdown the previous day.
April 1: Suu Kyi is charged with breaking official secrets law.
April 16: Junta opponents announce a National Unity Government including ousted members of parliament and leaders of anti-coup protests, aiming to end military rule and restore democracy.
April 24: Southeast Asian leaders say they have agreed on a plan with Min Aung Hlaing to end the crisis.
April 27: The KNU captures an army output near the Thai border. The military responds with air strikes.
May 4: Junta-controlled media announce a ban on satellite television receivers.
May 24: Suu Kyi appears in court for the first time since her government was overthrown.
Danny Fenster, 37, an American managing editor of the Frontier Myanmar news site, is detained at Yangon airport as he prepares to fly to Malaysia.
June 8: The United Nations says some 100,000 people in Kayah State have been displaced by fighting that included “indiscriminate attacks by security forces” in civilian areas.
June 21: Min Aung Hlaing and Nikolai Patrushev, the secretary of Russia’s Security Council, commit to strengthening security and other ties at a Moscow meeting.
August 18: The death toll as a result security force crackdowns on protests since the coup tops 1,000, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.
December 5: Suu Kyi is found guilty of incitement and breaching coronavirus restrictions. She is set to serve two years in detention at an undisclosed location, a sentence reduced from four after a partial pardon from military chief.
January 7, 2022: Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen meets Min Aung Hlaing in two-day Myanmar visit, the first by a head of government since the coup.
January 10: A court jails Suu Kyi for four more years on charges including possession of unlicensed walkie-talkies.
January 14: Five new corruption charges against Suu Kyi, 76, are announced. In all, she faces up to 164 years in jail.
Aung San Suu Kyi’s charges include the possession of unlicensed walkie-talkies, the second of nearly a dozen cases registered against Suu Kyi that carry a combined sentence of more than 100 years in prison.
A court in a military-ruled Myanmar has postponed the verdicts it was expected to make in two cases in the trial of ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi to January 10, according to a source familiar with the proceedings.
The court was supposed to rule on charges on Monday, December 27. The charges included the possession of unlicensed walkie-talkies, the second of nearly a dozen cases registered against Suu Kyi that carry a combined sentence of more than 100 years in prison. She denies all charges.
Supporters of Nobel laureate Suu Kyi, 76, say the cases against her are baseless and designed to end once and for all the challenge she poses to the military’s grip on power.
The daughter of the hero of Myanmar’s independence from Britain, Suu Kyi led a civilian government until it was ousted and she was detained in a February 1 military coup.
She is already serving a two-year sentence at an undisclosed location after being found guilty on December 7 on charges of incitement and breaching coronavirus restrictions.
Suu Kyi spent years under house arrest for her opposition to military rule but was freed in 2010 and led her National League for Democracy to a landslide victory in a 2015 election.
Her party won again in November last year but the military said the vote was rigged and seized power weeks later. The election commission at the time dismissed the military’s complaint.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since the coup with hundreds of people killed in protests and fighting against the army.
Rocker Kyar Pauk and heartthrob actor Daung denounced the coup from the outset. Now in hiding, they still find ways to resist the regime.
The Myanmar military’s coup turns eight months old on Friday, and the takeover has had a resounding impact on the country and its people. The regime’s follow-up crackdowns on protesters over the last seven months have seen more than 1,000 people killed and several thousand others detained. For all its brutality, the junta still can’t control the country due to various forms of ongoing popular anti-regime resistance. While some people have taken up arms, some of the country’s most popular artists are using their skills and fame to rally people to the cause and keep the revolution going strong.
Meet Kyar Pauk, one of Myanmar’s most famous rockers, and heartthrob actor Daung.
Both artists have denounced the coup from the outset. Now in hiding, they still find ways to resist the regime. The lead singer of the band Big Bag produces podcasts chronicling unfolding resistance-related events, with the aim of keeping people motivated without giving them “false hope”.
The 31-year-old actor Daung actively lobbied for the Civil Disobedient Movement (CDM) against the regime following the coup. For his activism, he was targeted with false rumors that he had a relationship with the regime leader’s daughter—claims he strenuously denies in the interview below. Currently, he said he is supporting the revolution as best as he can but is reluctant to go into details due to security concerns.
They talked to The Irrawaddy about the reasons behind their opposition to the junta, as well as their hopes.
What led you to participate in the revolution against the military dictatorship?
Kyar Pauk: I joined the movement neither as a rock star nor an artist. I reject military rule as a citizen. The people have the right to speak if they do not like the person who rules them. You need to make your voice heard. It has nothing to do with having many followers. You have to stand on the side that you think is right and show the right side of what you stand for. I do play that role. Another reason is I want to share my message. It doesn’t matter if they block my views one way or another, or whether my songs are not allowed to be sung on stage or be aired on the radio. We have to think about how often we speak out through our own platform. That is the key.
Rocker Kyar Pauk. Photo: Facebook/Kyar Pauk
For eight months since the Feb. 1 coup, you have played your part by motivating others. In this revolution, if some feel depressed and frustrated, what would be your message to them?
KP: The main thing is that we need to know the real situation. The real situation is it will take time, because a lot of things are out of our control. Things can’t be done based on our decisions alone. It depends on the decisions of other people, so patience is key.
No one can say at this time how long it will take. You have to choose what role you will play. But if we get too excited and work so hard every day, we will get tired and burn out. We must strike a balance. We have to know our situation. We must keep that in mind.
How has the coup affected you?
KP: I’ve lost everything. I’m afraid that may sound like a complaint or as if I’m depressed. There are so many memories I try not to dwell on. What we have to keep in mind at this time is not what we have lost. There are some who have lost their lives and some who have lost their family and loved ones. We have to think about that.
Before the coup, you must have had plans for the future. How were you preparing for 2021 before the coup? Are those plans all gone now?
KP: In fact, life is ruined. Everything you believed in and built has been destroyed. I am not alone. As you know, it has happened to all of us, more or less.
What prompted you to be outspoken against injustice and stand up for truth? And what do you want now?
KP: Before 2010, throughout our lives, we did not know much about education or social problems. Then the political transition came, the doors were opened. I knew I did not have freedom under previous military regimes. Then under the civilian governments, we did have relative freedom, if it was not absolute freedom. But when the coup happened, these freedoms were immediately revoked. That’s it. That is the inspiration for all of us. It’s not just me who is motivated to defy the military regime. Everyone knows that loss of freedom is losing a part of our life. Everyone feels empty.
Actor Daung
Could you tell us about the beliefs that led you, as an artist, to get involved in the Spring Revolution and the current anti-dictatorship movement?
Daung: When this [coup] happened, it went without saying that our future was ruined. This is not fair. If we did not respond, we would not be human. Because we live in a society. As a citizen, I cannot accept it at all. That’s why I resist.
I am an artist and the artists belong to the people. We stand with the people to show that we, the artists, do not accept the coup. That’s how I got involved in this revolution. In the beginning, I rejected injustice, and then resisted.
For the past eight months since the coup, you have continuously shown defiance and relentless opposition to the military dictatorship. Some express doubt about how long the revolution will last. How do you keep your spirits up?
Daung: Simply put, the time has passed while we’ve been contributing our part. Before this coup, I posted on Facebook that we, the people, voted [for the National League for Democracy in last November’s election]. The next day, when the military staged the coup, I felt so sad. I think that feeling is still going strong.
From then on, I asked myself, ‘What can I do?’ I will do my best as a citizen. I’ve been working based on my beliefs and decisions step by step until now.
My purpose is simple. I will continue to work until this dictator is overthrown. I don’t think I could work on creating any art other than revolutionary art. I wouldn’t want to. I don’t know why.
Actor Daung with a photo of detained civilian leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. Photo: Facebook/Daung
Yourself and many young people were born and raised during the previous military dictatorships. Then, we had this era of democracy for 10 years. How did you feel when you heard about the military coup on that day?
Daung: Let me give you an analogy: It’s like the electricity going out while you are watching a very interesting movie. There is anger when you’re plunged into darkness. Everyone feels empty and [in Burmese] we say the word “ha” in unison. It was not just me who felt that way: It happened to the whole country.
As you said, we grew up under the dictatorships. We lived like a bird in a cage that did not know we could fly in the sky. Then, the cage door opened [with the democratic transition] and we got half way, flying in the sky. Suddenly, we are now put back in a cage. Such a situation is unacceptable. We are not only fighting the coup leaders and the regime; we are fighting with the intention of making our country the best it can be. I think we all need to understand that.
We must fight them, to deter their destruction. They must be destroyed, demolished and eradicated.
Since you have many supporters as an actor, have there been any personal attacks against you or threats for joining this revolution?
Daung: Now I’m being accused of extra-marital relations with someone I do not know. I have never talked to her. I only shot one film with that production company [Seven Senses]. I did not know that it was led by them [Khin Thiri Thet Mon, the daughter of coup leader and commander-in-chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing]. I think a few actors and actresses took a group photograph with her once at the launch of that film production. That’s it. I’ve received lots of criticism since then. I have already made a decision since then that I would not make contracts with that company. That’s how I’ve rebelled.
It hurts so much to be accused of having a relationship with this woman. I don’t have any such relationship. There are such attacks.
Next time, when our country gets back on the path to democracy, I will practice my art again. I value my art a lot. I believe that art will return in a new form. Because of the experience we are going through now, it will be a lot more mature than before. The people, all of us, want to contribute our best for our country. I believe we can make more beautiful creations. We put our hope in that. That is why we are continuing the revolution.
A closer look at several assassination plots – some failed – reveals the alarming fact that most of the politically motivated killings took place when Myanmar was under military rule. Let’s take a look.
A plot to kill or injure Myanmar’s UN Ambassador U Kyaw Moe Tun was exposed in the first week of August with the FBI arresting two suspects. While the people of Myanmar drew the conclusion that the military regime was behind the plot, the latter has denied any involvement.
The plot bears testimony to the fact that the bloody tradition of eliminating political dissidents is still entrenched in Myanmar’s politics.
Unfortunately, this tradition began with the assassination of Myanmar’s independence hero General Aung San and his colleagues in 1947, a year before Myanmar was freed from colonial rule, by a political rival. Several more assassinations happened after the military coup in 1962 and the practice still flourishes today. A closer look at these assassination plots – some failed – reveals the alarming fact that most of the politically motivated killings took place when Myanmar was under military rule. Let’s take a look.
Captain Kyaw Zwa Myint
The first attempted assassination after the 1962 coup took place in 1965. The target was Captain Kyaw Zwa Myint, a former personal assistant to General Ne Win. The captain fled the dictator to Thailand. Ne Win reportedly much appreciated the smart, 34-year-old Christian Anglo-Burmese soldier.
There were different stories about why he ran away from the military dictator. Some said he got too close to Ne Win’s wife Daw Khin May Than. Some said he questioned Ne Win’s nation-building ideology, the “Burmese Way to Socialism,” which later proved to be destructive to the country’s economy. Some said he sold a military secret to the Thai military attache for US$35,000. Rumours had it that he attempted to poison Ne Win over the dictator’s oppression of Christians in the country.
Captain Kyaw Zwa Myint did flee, and his former boss did order that he be found at any cost. His family was detained as he fled. An assassin sent by Myanmar stabbed the former captain while he was eating at a Bangkok restaurant, but Kyaw Zwa Myint managed to survive, wrote Kyi Win Sein – Ne Win’s protege who served as a business consultant and legal adviser for the regime – in his book “e and the Generals of the Revolutionary Council. Kyaw Zwa Myint later took refuge in Australia and died of cancer at the age of 49 in 1981.
U Win Ko and U Hla Pe
In 1993, U Win Ko and U Hla Pe, of the government-in-exile known as the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB), were killed abroad. The military regime led by Senior General Than Shwe had declared the two ministers fugitives.
U Win Ko was from Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD), and elected in Ye-U Township in the 1990 general election, whose result the military refused to recognize. He served as the finance minister in the NCGUB headed by Sein Win, a cousin of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. He was murdered while staying at a hotel in China’s Kunming. He was 58.
U Hla Pe was also a minister. The NLD member was elected in Pyawbwe Township in the 1990 poll. He was assassinated in Bangkok. He was 54. The two fled a few months after the 1990 election, after the military started to imprison lawmakers-elect instead of transferring power to them.
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi herself was targeted as the top opposition figure to military rule. Thousands of regime-backed thugs armed with swords, spears and sharpened bamboo sticks attacked Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s motorcade in Kyee Village, on the outskirts of Sagaing Region’s Tabayin Township, on May 30, 2003.
About 70 people were killed and others severely injured, although Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s vehicle managed to escape. Former Military Intelligence chief Major General Khin Nyunt wrote in his autobiography that Than Shwe ordered his deputy Soe Win (who later became the prime minister of the regime) to stop Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s motorcade by any means.
Myanmar State Counsellor and Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi. Photo: Ye Aung Thu/Pool via Reuters
Padoh Mahn Sha Lah Phan
On February 14, 2008, Karen National Union (KNU) general secretary Padoh Mahn Sha Lah Phan, 65, was assassinated by gunmen at his home in the Thai border town of Mae Sot.
The outspoken KNU leader was well respected not only by the Karen people, but also by Bamar political activists for the broad-minded leadership he provided to the democracy movement.
Three days before his assassination, he said in an interview with The Irrawaddy: “We can’t rely on the State Peace and Development Council [which the military regime called itself] for a genuine democracy and Union system to emerge. The military dictatorship and [Bamar] chauvinism must be wiped out.”
The Democratic Karen Buddhist Army and Karen National Liberation Army-Peace Council, which have close ties with the military regime, were blamed for the assassination. There was speculation Major General Mya Tun Oo (now a general and defence minister in Min Aung Hlaing’s regime) was involved in the assassination.
Mya Tun Oo has served as commander of No. 101 Infantry Division Headquarters, principal of the Defense Services Academy, and commander of the Central East Command. He is reported to have helped improve relations between the military and Karen armed groups and is also a military representative to the ongoing ceasefire talks between the government and ethnic armed groups.
Legal expert U Ko Ni, a prominent legal adviser to the NLD, was gunned down at Yangon International Airport in broad daylight in 2017. The 64-year-old lawyer was credited with creating the position of state counsellor for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who is constitutionally barred from the presidency, after the NLD won a landslide victory in the 2015 general election. He was also one of the most vocal critics of the military-drafted 2008 constitution.
The assassination was orchestrated by a former major with Myanmar’s military. It is widely believed that Myanmar’s military was involved in his assassination. Ex-major Aung Win Khaing, who hired gunman Kyi Lin, is still at large.
U Ko Ni. Photo: Kryptonova Z/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
UN Ambassador U Kyaw Moe Tun
In the latest of the assassinations or attempted assassinations, Phyo Hein Htut, 28, and Ye Hein Zaw, 20, plotted to seriously injure or kill Myanmar’s UN ambassador U Kyaw Moe Tun. Phyo Hein Htut told FBI investigators that an arms dealer in Thailand had contacted him online and offered him money to hire attackers to hurt the ambassador and force him to step down.
Myanmar’s ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun addresses the Human Rights Council at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, March 11, 2019. Photo: Reuters/Denis Balibouse/File
U Kyaw Moe Tun said the FBI and New York police are currently providing security for him. He publicly opposed military rule in Myanmar during a UN meeting in February after the coup. Since then the regime has tried to replace the ambassador, but in vain so far, as the UN has not taken action at the junta’s request. Currently, he represents Myanmar’s National Unity Government formed by lawmakers from the ousted government and ethnic minority representatives.
This article was first published on The Irrawaddy. It has been lightly edited for style and clarity.
While on the campaign trail, Suu Kyi and her supporters ran into a group of soldiers commanded by Myint Oo.
New Delhi: Thirty-two years ago, during the thick of the pro-democracy movement of Myanmar after the 1988 uprising, a group of soldiers nearly opened fire at a protest march led by National League for Democracy (NLD) leader Aung San Suu Kyi during a demonstration. Myint Oo was the military captain in command of these soldiers.
This past July 26, Myint Oo, retired and aged 60, passed away at a military medical facility in Yangon after he was initially turned down by it, even though he was seriously affected by COVID-19.
According to the Irrawaddy, Myint, for the last 32 years, had been an ardent supporter of the Junta. Since 2015, when the NLD came to power, he had regularly spoken against it on his Facebook account and reiterated his support to the military.
“However, he felt betrayed all over again on July 18 when he rushed to the 1000-bed Military Hospital in Yangon after developing a fever, one of the symptoms of the Covid-19. He was not welcome and yelled at by officers on duty. After two days of seeking admission, he tested positive and was sent to a Covid-19 centre without proper referral documents and was turned away from there as well,” said the news report.
According to the Irrawaddy, on that day – April 4, 1989 – Suu Kyi and her supporters were on the campaign trail for the NLD in Danubyu town of the Ayeyawardy region. They ran into a group of soldiers led by Captain Myint Oo. As the soldiers trained their guns at the protesters, Myint asked Suu Kyi and her supporters to halt.
While the NLD leader continued to walk on the side of the road, Myint continued to “shout that the soldiers would open fire” at them if they didn’t stop.“The intense situation was suddenly diffused by a major, who interrupted the captain, ordering him not to shoot, saying, ‘This is not the frontline…this is politics’,” the Irrawaddy report says.
This reversal of the earlier order angered Myint enough to make him rip his epaulettes off on the spot.
The report adds that years later, the captain recalled that he would definitely have fired at Daw Aung San Syu Kyi and her supporters because he had received a “written order from upstairs to do so”.
In 1992, Myint Oo was transferred to the irrigation ministry, from where he retired as a deputy director.
The report said the recent ill-treatment at the military hospital “angered him so much (that) he wrote a warning on his Facebook page saying he ‘didn’t want to turn red (meaning, to support NLD) after having been green (pro-military) all these years’.”
After that post, he was admitted to a military hospital but he died on July 26.
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected a large swathe of people in Myanmar, including the military.
This past July 29, at an informal Security Council discussion on Myanmar, Barbara Woodward, UK ambassador to the United Nations, said, “The virus is spreading through the population, very fast indeed. By some estimates, in the next two weeks, half of the population of Myanmar could be infected with Covid.”
Myanmar’s UN envoy Kyaw Moe Tun, who publicly broke with the junta, said a committee of ousted lawmakers was looking at ways people can be held accountable for violence following the coup.
Myanmar security forces shot dead at least one opponent of military rule on Friday, a witness said, as ousted lawmakers explored whether the International Criminal Court can investigate crimes against humanity since a February 1, 2021 coup.
Military and police have used increasingly violent tactics to suppress demonstrations by supporters of detained elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi, but that has not put off the protests, with crowds out again in several towns.
Security forces used tear gas to disperse protesters in the central town of Aungban and later opened fire, media and a witness reported. “Security forces came to remove barriers, but the people resisted, and they fired shots,” one witness, who declined to be identified, said from the town by telephone. The witness said he saw one person killed but had heard of more. The Kanbawza Tai news portal said on Facebook six people had been killed.
Police in the main city of Yangon forced people to clear protesters’ barricades, residents said, while demonstrators were also out in the second city of Mandalay, the central towns of Myingyan and Katha, and the eastern town of Myawaddy, witnesses and media reported.
The total number killed in weeks of unrest has risen to at least 224, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners activist group said earlier.
A junta spokesperson has said security forces have used force only when necessary, but critics have derided that explanation.
Riot police officers detain a demonstrator during a protest against the military coup in Yangon, Myanmar, March 19, 2021. Photo: Reuters/Stringer
Myanmar’s UN envoy, who publicly broke with the junta, said a committee of ousted lawmakers was looking at ways people can be held accountable for violence following the coup. “The ICC is one of them,” Kyaw Moe Tun told an event in New York. “We are not a state party to the ICC, but we need to … explore the ways and means to bring the case to the ICC.”
In Geneva, United Nations human rights experts denounced forced evictions, arbitrary detentions and the killings of pro-democracy protesters. They said foreign governments should consider pursuing those responsible for crimes against humanity.
Hundreds have fled towns and cities since the coup and are sheltering in areas controlled by ethnic minority militias on the Thai border, an official from one group said. People have also crossed the western border into India.
Indonesia army chief concerned
Nobel peace laureate Suu Kyi, 75, is hugely popular for her decades-long campaign for democracy. She is being detained at an undisclosed location while facing accusations of bribery and other crimes which could see her banned from politics and jailed if convicted. Her lawyer says the charges are trumped up.
Western countries have condemned the coup and called for an end to the violence and for Suu Kyi’s release. Asian neighbours have offered to help find a solution, but Myanmar’s military has shown no sign of seeking reconciliation.
Coup leader General Min Aung Hlaing took part in a video conference with other Southeast Asian defence chiefs on Thursday, his first international engagement since seizing power, state television showed. During the meeting, the head of Indonesia’s armed forces, Hadi Tjahjanto, expressed concern over the situation in Myanmar, the Indonesian military said on its website.
Indonesia’s army ruled for years but later completely withdrew from politics. Indonesia had led diplomatic efforts in Southeast Asia to resolve the crisis, but a March 3, 2021 regional meeting it helped coordinate failed to make headway.
A Myanmar military spokesperson did not answer telephone calls seeking comment.
EU sanctions
The European Union is due to place sanctions on individual military figures on Monday and then target businesses they run in what would be its most significant response since the coup. The EU’s expected sanctions follow a US decision last month to target the military and its business interests. Britain last month froze the assets of and placed travel bans on three generals.
The army has defended its takeover, saying its accusations of fraud in a November 8, 2020 election swept by Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy were rejected by the electoral commission. It has promised a new election but not set a date.
Information within Myanmar is becoming increasingly difficult to verify after authorities have restricted the internet services that protesters use to organise and post reports and pictures. About 37 journalists have been arrested, including 19 who remain in detention, the UN human rights office said.
Some families told the media that security forces had seized the bodies of their loved ones, but they vowed to still hold funerals.
The families of dozens of people killed in clashes between Myanmar security forces and anti-coup protesters prepared to hold funerals on Tuesday after candle-lit vigils overnight in defiance of a curfew.
Security forces shot dead at least 20 people on Monday after 74 killed a day earlier, including many in a suburb of Yangon where Chinese-financed factories were torched, according to advocacy group the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP).
In further violence overnight, a medical worker in the Dawbon area of Yangon said one person died and six were injured when security forces broke up a protest. “We had to flee…because they threatened if we didn’t leave the body, they would shoot us,” the medic, who declined to be identified, said by telephone, referring to the person killed.
UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres was appalled by the escalating violence at the hands of the military and called on the international community to help end the repression, his spokesperson said.
Supporters of detained elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi have shown no signs of backing down in the face of growing violence, with Sunday the bloodiest day since a military coup on February 1, 2021.
A total of 183 people have been killed by security forces in the weeks of protests against the coup and the casualties were rising drastically, the AAPP said. A junta spokesperson did not answer calls to seek comment and Reuters could not independently confirm all the casualties.
People held up pictures of Suu Kyi and called for an end to the repression during a small protest in the southern town of Dawei on Tuesday, the Dawei Watch media outlet reported. There was no report of violence.
Candle-lit vigils were held in parts of Yangon and Mandalay and some other towns, according to media reports and photographs on social media.
Funerals of dead protesters were set to take place on Tuesday in Yangon and elsewhere. Some families told media the security forces had seized the bodies of loved ones, but they would still hold a funeral.
Martial law
State broadcaster MRTV said martial law had been imposed in parts of Yangon, the commercial hub. The martial law announcement said military commanders in Yangon would take over administration of districts and courts, MRTV said.
The army said it took power after its accusations of fraud in a November 8, 2020 election won by Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy were rejected by the electoral commission. It has promised to hold a new election but has not set a date.
The military ruled the former British colony for decades after a 1962 coup and cracked down hard on previous uprisings before beginning a tentative transition to democracy a decade ago. That has now been derailed.
The military has spent decades battling ethnic minority insurgents and has long seen itself as the only institution capable of holding the country together.
Suu Kyi, 75, has been detained since the coup and faces charges such as illegally importing walkie-talkie radios and infringing coronavirus protocols. Last week, the junta accused her of accepting illegal payments, but she has yet to be charged with that.
Western countries have called for Suu Kyi’s release and condemned the violence, while Asian neighbours have offered to help resolve the crisis, but Myanmar has a long record of rejecting outside intervention.
Anti-China sentiment has risen since the coup, fuelled by Beijing’s muted criticism of the takeover compared with Western condemnation. Sunday’s arson attacks against 32 Chinese-invested factories in the Hlaingthaya area of Yangon prompted China’s strongest comments yet on the turmoil in its neighbour, where many people see Beijing as supportive of the coup.
China has urged the military to stop the violence, punish perpetrators of attacks on factories and protect Chinese people and property. Its Global Times newspaper said the attacks caused damage worth $37 million and injured two Chinese employees.
Japan’s Fast Retailing Co, known for the Uniqlo clothing brand, said two supplier factories in Myanmar had been set on fire. Social media footage on Tuesday showed what media said was another blaze from a factory in Hlaingthaya.
Migrant workers streamed out of the industrial zone on Tuesday on motorbikes, in taxis and with belongings crammed into pick-up trucks, bound for their hometowns, pictures on social media showed. “My factory was … burnt down and I can’t afford to stay in Yangon without a job … so it’s better to go back,” said a garment factory worker heading to her home in the Bago region, north of Yangon.
The Chinese embassy said many Chinese staff were injured as unidentified assailants set garment factories on fire. China is viewed as being supportive of the military junta that has taken power.
Security forces killed at least 22 anti-coup protesters in the poor, industrial Hlaingthaya suburb of Myanmar’s main city on Sunday after Chinese-financed factories were set ablaze there, an advocacy group said.
A further 16 protesters were killed in other places, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) said, as well as one policeman, making it the bloodiest day since the February 1, 2021 coup against elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
The Chinese embassy said many Chinese staff were injured and trapped in arson attacks by unidentified assailants on garment factories in Hlaingthaya and that it had called on Myanmar to protect Chinese property and citizens. China is viewed as being supportive of the military junta that has taken power.
As plumes of smoke rose from the industrial area, security forces opened fire on protesters in the suburb that is home to migrants from across the country, local media said. “It was horrible. People were shot before my eyes. It will never leave my memory,” said one photojournalist on the scene who did not want to be named.
Martial law was imposed in Hlaingthaya and another district of Yangon, Myanmar’s commercial hub and former capital, state media announced.
Army-run Myawadday television said security forces acted after four garment factories and a fertiliser plant were set ablaze and about 2,000 people had stopped fire engines from reaching them.
A junta spokesperson did not answer calls requesting comment.
Doctor Sasa, a representative of elected lawmakers from the assembly that was ousted by the army, voiced solidarity with the people of Hlaingthaya. “The perpetrators, attackers, enemies of the people of Myanmar, the evil SAC [State Administrative Council] will be held accountable for every drop of blood that shed,” he said in a message.
The latest deaths would bring the toll from the protests to 126, the AAPP said. It said more than 2,150 people had been detained by Saturday. More than 300 have since been released.
China called for action
China’s embassy described the situation as “very severe” after the attacks on the Chinese-financed factories. It did not make a statement about the killings. “China urges Myanmar to take further effective measures to stop all acts of violence, punish the perpetrators in accordance with the law and ensure the safety of life and property of Chinese companies and personnel in Myanmar,” its statement said.
No group claimed responsibility for burning the factories.
The embassy’s Facebook page was bombarded with negative comments in Myanmar language and more than half the reactions – over 29,000 – used the laughing-face emoji.
Anti-Chinese sentiment has risen since the coup that plunged Myanmar into turmoil, with opponents of the army takeover noting Beijing’s muted criticism compared to Western condemnation.
Only two factories had been burnt for now, protest leader Ei Thinzar Maung posted on Facebook. “If you want to do business in Myanmar stably, then respect Myanmar people,” she said. “Fighting Hlaingthaya, we are proud of you!!”
The United Nations special envoy for Myanmar condemned what she termed the “ongoing brutality”. Christine Schraner Burgener said she had “personally heard from contacts in Myanmar heart-breaking accounts of killings, mistreatment of demonstrators and torture of prisoners over the weekend”. The repression undermined the prospects for peace and stability, she said, appealing to the international community to support the people of Myanmar and their democratic aspirations.
Britain, Myanmar’s former colonial ruler, said it was appalled by the security forces’ use of deadly force against innocent people in Hlaingthaya and elsewhere. “We call for an immediate cessation of this violence and for the military regime to hand back power to those democratically elected by the people of Myanmar,” British ambassador Dan Chugg said.
The army said it took power after its accusations of fraud in a November 8, 2020 election won by Suu Kyi’s party were rejected by the electoral commission. It has promised to hold a new election but has not set a date.
Suu Kyi has been detained since the coup and is due to return to court on Monday. She faces at least four charges, including the illegal use of walkie-talkie radios and infringing coronavirus protocols.
Away from Hlaingthaya, at least 16 deaths were reported elsewhere in Myanmar, including in the second city of Mandalay and in Bago, where state television MRTV said a police officer had died of a chest wound after a confrontation with protesters. He is the second policeman reported dead in the protests.
The violence took place a day after Mahn Win Khaing Than, who is on the run along with most senior officials from Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy Party, said the civilian government would give people the legal right to defend themselves. It announced a law to that effect on Sunday.
“These are unrepentant commanders already implicated in crimes against humanity, deploying their troops and murderous methods in the open,” said Joanne Mariner, director of crisis response at Amnesty International.
Protesters took to the streets in several parts of Myanmar on Thursday, defying an increasingly brutal crackdown by security forces that rights group Amnesty International says are now adopting battle tactics against demonstrators.
More than 60 protesters have been killed and some 2,000 people have been detained by security forces since the February 1, 2021 coup against Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government, an advocacy group said.
Social media posts showed pro-democracy protesters marching in the town of Tamu in Chin State on Thursday chanting: “Will we revolt or will we serve them? We will revolt.” A Reuters witness said there was also a small rally in the Sanchaung area of Yangon, a district where security forces this week fired guns and used stun grenades as they checked houses to hunt down protesters. Overnight people defied a curfew to hold several more candle-lit vigils in parts of Yangon and also in Myingyan, south west of the second city of Mandalay.
The UN Security Council on Wednesday condemned violence against protesters and urged the army to show restraint but failed to denounce the military takeover as a coup or threaten further action due to opposition from China and Russia.
Amnesty International accused the army of using lethal force against protesters and said many killings documented amounted to extrajudicial executions. “These are not the actions of overwhelmed, individual officers making poor decisions,” said Joanne Mariner, director of crisis response at Amnesty International. “These are unrepentant commanders already implicated in crimes against humanity, deploying their troops and murderous methods in the open.”
A junta spokesperson declined to give an immediate comment but said there would be a news conference held by the military’s council in the capital Naypyitaw at 2 pm (07:30 GMT) on Thursday.
The junta has previously said it is acting with utmost restraint in handling what it describes as demonstrations by “riotous protesters” whom it accuses of attacking police and harming national security and stability.
A man, who says he was beaten by soldiers in custody, shows his bruises in Myeik, Myanmar March 9, 2021, in this picture obtained by Reuters from social media.
US sanctions general’s children
State media said the junta had removed Arakan Army (AA) insurgents from its list of terrorist groups because the faction has stopped attacks and in order to help establish peace across the country. The move comes at a time the army is struggling to contain daily protests against the coup.
The AA is fighting for greater autonomy in the western Rakhine state and had become one of the most formidable forces in challenging an army that has been fighting various ethnic wars for seven decades.
On Wednesday, security forces firing teargas and rubber bullets trapped hundreds of anti-junta protesters late into the night in two districts of Yangon. Some protesters who managed to evade blockades set up by police in surrounding streets told of scores of arrests and said that some of those who got caught were beaten.
In a bid to increase pressure on the military as it continues its crackdown, the US treasury department on Wednesday imposed sanctions on two children of military leader Min Aung Hlaing and six companies they control.
In New York, the United Nations Security Council condemned violence against peaceful protesters and called for the military to “exercise utmost restraint”. But language that would have condemned the coup and threatened possible further action was removed from the British-drafted text due to opposition by China, Russia, India and Vietnam.
UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres said he hoped the Security Council statement would push the military to realise it “is absolutely essential” that all prisoners are released and that the results of the November election are respected.
The army has justified the coup by saying that the election, won by Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, was marred by fraud – an assertion rejected by the electoral commission. The junta has promised a new election within a year but has not set a date.
