Political role of the Tatmadaw
Individual Documents
Description:
"WASHINGTON —
The U.S. is supporting a report by the special rapporteur of human rights in Myanmar, despite China's objection to findings that Beijing has been exporting arms to Myanmar's military which has used them to forcibly suppress resistance groups since its 2021 coup.
"The United States strongly supports the mandate of the Special Rapporteur and his work illuminating the human rights situation in Myanmar," a State Department spokesperson told VOA's Korean Service on Friday.
The remarks came in response to China's opposition to a United Nations report by Tom Andrews, the special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, that was issued in May. In the report, Andrews said Myanmar's military imported weapons and related material worth at least $1 billion from China and Russia since the military junta's deadly coup in 2021.
The report came up during the regular daily press briefing by China's Foreign Ministry on July 18 when Sky TV asked about China's investment in Myanmar and arms sales to the junta.
Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning said, in part, "The Special Rapporteur actually overstepped his mandate."
She continued, "The report contained smears against normal arms trade between sovereign countries and misrepresentation of facts. China firmly opposes it. We have asked the Special Rapporteur to stay objective and fair and strictly follow his mandate and stop serving any political agenda."
The U.N. report, titled "The Billion Dollar Death Trade: The International Arms Networks that Enable Human Rights Violations in Myanmar," says that out of some $1 billion, the Myanmar military imported more than $267 million worth of weapons and materials from entities in China, including state-owned entities.
The report states, "Numerous private and state-owned companies registered in China, including Hong Kong, continued to supply the Myanmar military with an extensive array of arms, equipment, and raw material between October 2021 and December 2022."
The report said the shipments of arms included jets, attack aircrafts and upgrades to tanks and fighter jets, as well as raw materials, such as aluminum, cooper, steel, rubber and lubricants essential for manufacturing weapons.
China seeks 'friendly country,' says expert
David Maxwell, vice president of the Center for Asia Pacific Strategy, said China has been exporting arms to the Myanmar military because it wants "a friendly country on its southern border" to "access the Bay of Bengal to the Indian Ocean to the East of India."
He said that Beijing has "no concern for the human rights of the people in Burma" as it "seeks to export its authoritarian political system around the world in order to dominate the region."
To achieve this goal, Maxwell said China also seeks to "coopt or coerce international organizations, create economic conditions favorable to China alone, and displace democratic institutions."
Bruce Bechtol, a former intelligence officer at the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency who is now a professor at Angelo State University in Texas, said Myanmar is going to be viewed as "a pariah to the international community" and its "only real friend is going to be China."
He added that China might consider that to be an "advantage" because Beijing wants to prevent a democratic country emerging at its border.
'Indiscriminate use of artillery'
Myanmar's military has been using deadly weapons to suppress oppositions groups that have resisted its rule since the overthrow of the democratically elected government led by de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi in a violent coup in 2021.
Human Rights Watch pointed out in its 2023 World Report that the Myanmar military makes "indiscriminate use of artillery and airstrikes," which has killed and injured civilians and destroyed civilian properties.
The U.N. report by Andrews said that since the coup, the military killed at least 3,500 civilians, detained as much as 22,000 political prisoners, and forcibly displaced more than 1.5 million people.
On Friday, two villagers said the Myanmar military killed 14 people in the village of Sone Chaung in the Sagaing region during a raid to search for the leaders of a resistance group known as the People's Defense Force, according to The Guardian citing AFP.
In June, the U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions on Myanmar's Defense Ministry and two state-run banks used by the military to purchase weapons.
Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank and Myanma Investment and Commercial Bank allowed state-owned Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise to access international markets to generate revenues used to import weapons and material, according to the Treasury..."
Source/publisher:
"Voice of America" (Washington, D.C)
Date of publication:
2023-07-24
Date of entry/update:
2023-07-24
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Business and the Military
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"Following last year’s coup, the Myanmar military has been struggling with a growing popular armed resistance against it, as well as a rising number of defections. As of this month, the number of soldiers who have quit has risen to nearly 3,000, including some battalion commanders—the highest position among those to defect so far. Making matter worse for the regime, the Australian government has accepted defectors seeking asylum since January, prompting more troops to consider quitting the army.
Dr. Miemie Winn Byrd, a Burmese-American security expert, said defections are one of three elements—along with the people’s support and international support—necessary for all successful revolutions, adding that the resistance side in Myanmar could focus on defections as a way to deprive the regime of soldiers.
“That’s why defection is a really important strategy for successful resistance,” she said.
In this interview with The Irrawaddy, the professor at the Daniel K. Inouye Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies (APCSS) in Hawaii discusses how a third-country incentive is important for defection; why a public relations strategy is essential, as in Ukraine, to draw attention to the revolution against the junta; and why the Myanmar issue has been overshadowed by the Ukraine war.
The Australian government’s recent granting of asylum to Myanmar army defectors has been big news in military circles. What’s your impression?
It’s not surprising. It’s really a great incentive. According to previous studies we have seen, that type of third-country incentive is really important. This is a huge development for the people’s side. Huge negative for the mitlairy side. When Australia opens themselves, other countries may open up as well, including European countries.
Do you think the third-country incentive could lure more army defectors?
I think so. I think the NUG’s [the parallel civilian National Unity Government’s] Ministry of Foreign Affairs is specifically working on this issue. So, one of their first wins is Australia and I think there are some European countries they are working with. Now they are successful with Australia. It could have a domino effect on others countries they are working on.
What do you know about the army defectors?
I don’t have contact with defectors and I don’t have the data right now, but I think I have to go with the data from People’s Embrace [a group assisting defecting soldiers], but I will interview some of them as I want to know what is the condition inside the military. When they were interviewed they said a good two-thirds of [personnel] inside the military [are] demoralized and they want to leave. It continues. I think the latest one, like the lieutenant colonel who is the battalion commander, he was saying the key [reason for defecting] is his family, and that he can’t show his face in his hometown [in Myanmar’s heartland] anymore. He is embarrassed. His family is embarrassed. So, as long as those things continue, it would create a lot of push for the military personnel to defect to the people’s side. You will have more as the majority of the military personnel were recruited from Myanmar’s heartland. Now they are bombing in the heartland of Myanmar. So, they are bombing their own relatives’ homes and they are attacking their own relatives! So, it’s not surprising that the lieutenant colonel has family members there. He may not himself directly do that but the organization he belongs to [is doing it]. Direct personal impact!
How can Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government (NUG) and the international community be creative and encourage more army defections, especially among higher ranks?
I think there are a variety of factors. Frist, the military continues to brutalize the population. The population sees them as the enemy. Their anger towards them increases. The second is the incentive. Once they get out, safety—specifically for themselves and their families. Those are logistical pieces that the NUG and international community have to work on. Right now Australia is the first one to open up to defectors. That’s really good.
Do you have any recommendations for the NUG and the international community? Some say if there are more third-country incentives, the revolution would be 70 percent accomplished.
I don’t have any other recommendations other than keep doing it, to make sure you [are well resourced for] this strategy. We can see it could be working as we have never seen this level of defection before. Now Australia opens for them. We expect to see some other countries are opening as well. You can say the strategy is working. It can take time. We want it faster but [there are] logistical pieces to work through.
If you compare the situation with Ukraine, the Myanmar resistance against the regime has not received much international support. Any comments?
I don’t think we can say Myanmar’s revolution doesn’t have international support. They have been supporting all throughout the year like humanitarian assistance and targeted sanctions. But Ukraine’s PR team is excellent. They seemed to handle the media and PR [as part of their] military strategic communication and it’s a major part of their war strategy and their counterstrategy. They utilize it. I think some are very proud of [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelensky’s team because they realize that they can’t compete with Russia based on firepower. They know that communication power is something they have to really utilize. So they effectively use it. Everybody in the strategic communication or PR arena absolutely admires what President Zelensky and his team has done on PR. I would say it was because of the way they did it—that’s why they got the attention they need. It’s just part of their strategy.
What do you think of Myanmar on the PR issue?
Given the situation and limitations, I think they have done well. But I think Zelensky has a different level. He is also an actor. He came from that kind of world. He kind of understands how to utlize that. I would say Myanmar people did pretty well. But I would give them a B+ if I have to grade them and Zelensky A+. Definitely the Myanmar team, the resistance, can pick up their game, improve their game a little bit more, looking at Zelensky. I wouldn’t say they are failing. The international community did pay attention to Myanmar. But right now Zelensky did well. Then Myanmar can leverage attention on Ukraine and try to expand their connection to Ukraine. It’s not a zero-sum game. Actually, Ukraine is the European theater in the fight for democracy and against authoritarianism. Myanmar is in the Indo-Pacific theater frontline fight for democracy. In both countries, Russian bombs and bullets are killing people.
But the Myanmar resistance has been on their own so far: not a single bullet yet from outside. This is different from Ukraine.
Yes, that’s the way the problem is framed. In the international system, a country’s sovereignty is so valued that it’s quite shocking for another country to invade. When you have an internal problem, the principle is helping Ukraine but in Myanmar it becomes a little bit of a barrier or hindrance because of the value of sovereignty. So, as for military support or no support, Ukraine has a professional military that has a long relationship with the US and the neighboring countries. Myanmar’s NUG doesn’t have that kind of ready-made platform. Those are the differences. In missing those ready-made platforms, where the US and international community can step in is [that] we do have those sanction regimes. That’s why you’ve got that, and humanitarian aid. They are the differences between Ukraine and Myanmar.
This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
Editor’s Note: The opinion presented in this interview is Dr. Miemie Winn Byrd’s own assessment as an expert on the subject matter. Her opinions do not represent the positions and policies of the U.S. government or any other agencies..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of publication:
2022-03-31
Date of entry/update:
2022-03-31
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Political role of the Tatmadaw
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Description:
"Antagonism and mutual distrust between the Burmese armed forces (or
Tatmadaw) and the civilian sphere have long characterized Myanmar’s
post-independence politics. Since the 1950s, Tatmadaw publications DQG RI¿FLDO GLVFRXUVHV KDYH URXWLQHO\ DFFXVHG FLYLOLDQ SROLWLFLDQV DQG
parliamentarians in particular, of having drawn the country from one
crisis to another (Mya Win 1992; Min Maung Maung 1993). In its own
words and propaganda works, the Tatmadaw likes to position itself
as the sole cohesive, dedicated and disciplined state institution able
to safeguard the unity of the nation, protect its integrity and bring
about political stability (Selth 2002; Callahan 2000, 2009; Kyaw Yin
Hlaing 2009; Maung Aung Myoe 2009; Nakanishi 2013). Across time
and place, the contempt for disruptive and chaotic parliamentarian
politics as well as the divisive essence of civilian affairs has long
been underscored by civil-military scholarship as a legitimate incentive
for the intervention of coup-prone or “praetorian” armies (Huntington
1957; Finer 1975; Nordlinger 1977)..."
Source/publisher:
Academia.edu (San Francisco)
Date of publication:
2015-08-21
Date of entry/update:
2022-03-04
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Military History, Political role of the Tatmadaw, The Military's political role, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory
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636.57 KB
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Description:
"
Myanmar's military junta expressed Thursday its support for Russia's invasion of Ukraine, placing itself at odds with most of the world community which has condemned the military action and moved to introduce crushing sanctions on Moscow.
In an interview with VOA Burmese, General Zaw Min Tun, a spokesperson for Myanmar's military council, cited the reasons for the military government’s support of the action by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"No. 1 is that Russia has worked to consolidate its sovereignty," he said. "I think this is the right thing to do. No. 2 is to show the world that Russia is a world power."
Coup leader Min Aung Hlaing visited Russia in June last year and there are strong ties between the Burmese and Russian militaries. Russia is one of the few countries to have defended the military council that seized power in a Feb. 1, 2021, coup, overthrowing the civilian government and detaining de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other high-ranking officials.
Since then, U.N. and Burmese experts have repeatedly called for a ban on arms sales to the military council, but Russia has ignored the call.
As justification for the February takeover, military officials claimed widespread fraud in a November 2020 general election, which Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy won in a landslide. The international and local election observers verified that the 2020 vote was mostly free and fair except for negligible discrepancies.
Suu Kyi has faced a raft of charges since she was taken into custody when the military seized power. She has already been sentenced to six years' imprisonment after being convicted of illegally importing and possessing walkie-talkies and violating coronavirus restrictions.
She is also being tried on the charge of violating the Official Secrets Act, which carries a maximum sentence of 14 years. Australian economist Sean Turnell, who was her adviser, is a codefendant.
On the first anniversary of the coup, the United States announced more sanctions on individuals and entities associated with the regime. Among those sanctioned were Union Attorney General Thida Oo, Supreme Court Chief Justice Tun Tun Oo and Chairman of the Anti-Corruption Commission Tin Oo.
Two entities sanctioned are KT Services & Logistics Company Limited and the Directorate of Procurement of the Commander-In-Chief of Defense Services, which the U.S. says support the military regime.
The country gained independence from Britain in 1948. It was ruled by the armed forces from 1962-2011, when a new government began returning to civilian rule..."
Source/publisher:
"VOA" (Washington, D.C)
Date of publication:
2022-02-25
Date of entry/update:
2022-02-25
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Military History, Political role of the Tatmadaw
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Description:
"Myanmar’s air force chief General Maung Maung Kyaw, who oversaw airstrikes that killed dozens of civilians while businesses owned by his family enriched themselves, has been forced to retire.
The military regime did not give a reason for its unexpected decision to replace him with Chief of Staff (Air Force) Lieutenant General Tun Aung. General Maung Maung Kyaw, who was once regarded as being close to coup leader Senior General Ming Aung Hlaing, is 58 and still two years short of the official retirement age in Myanmar.
But junta sources said that the decision was in accordance with military retirement policy because General Maung Maung Kyaw had already served as head of the air force for four years.
Striking military captain Nyi Thuta said: “There have been previous cases in which the military extended the retirement age for people it wanted to keep. Perhaps the coup leader thinks the general does not listen to him, and therefore he doesn’t want to keep him.”
But General Maung Maung Kyaw will remain a member of the State Administration Council (SAC), the military regime’s governing body.
The general was sanctioned by the United States in February 2021, for being a senior member of the military and the SAC responsible for lethal crackdowns on peaceful anti-coup protestors.
General Maung Maung Kyaw is the youngest son of General Thura Kyaw Htin, who served as the air force chief during the military dictatorship of the 1980s. The general was rapidly promoted through the ranks before becoming head of the air force in January 2018.
At that time, General Maung Maung Kyaw was seen as close to Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing and was widely tipped by Myanmar defense analysts as likely to move into a more senior role eventually.
His promotion to air force chief saw his relatives establishing companies which were later involved in deals to supply the armed forces and the country’s aviation sector, according to an investigation by Reuters last year.
The junta has also recently forced Lieutenant General Aung Lin Dwe to step down as Judge Advocate General and transferred him to the reserve force. He did, however, retain his position as the SAC’s secretary.
Since last year’s coup, Myanmar’s air force has launched airstrikes against resistance groups and ethnic armed groups fighting the military regime. Dozens of civilians were killed and thousands displaced by junta airstrikes in 2021.
The Karen National Union said that at least 31 civilians were killed by airstrikes in its territory in Karen State last year, while more than 50,000 people were displaced by the fighting. Many more are feared to have been affected in Sagaing Region and, most recently, thousands of civilians were displaced by airstrikes in Loikaw, the Kayah State capital.
Myanmar’s military has stepped up its use of aerial attacks, despite demands from ethnic armed groups that it ceases using them because they do more harm to the civilian population than resistance fighters..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of publication:
2022-01-12
Date of entry/update:
2022-01-12
Grouping:
Individual Documents
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Sub-title:
The leader of a Tatmadaw-controlled Border Guard Force in a remote region of Kachin State has emerged as a key player in the global rare earth trade, and has turned the territory under his de facto control into a mining hub at a high environmental cost.
Description:
"In mountainous areas of Kachin State bordering China’s Yunnan province, the land is rich in rare earth – elements that are used worldwide in everything from cellphones and laptops to precision-guided weapons.
Rare earth mining in Kachin has turned Myanmar into the world’s third-largest official exporter in just a few years.
Multiple sources told Frontier and Danwatch, a Danish investigative outlet that collaborated on this investigation, that the rare earth mined in Kachin is extracted illegally by Chinese or Chinese-backed companies in areas of Chipwi Township under the de facto control of an armed group and militia led by Kachin warlord Zahkung Ting Ying.
A former officer with the Kachin Independence Organization, Zahkung Ting Ying led a breakaway unit in 1968 that merged with the Communist Party of Burma. When the CPB dissolved in 1989, he established the New Democratic Army-Kachin, and in 2009 the NDA-K became the first ethnic armed group to transition into a Border Guard Force (BGF) under the Tatmadaw. Zahkung Ting Ying also heads a Tatmadaw-aligned militia in the same region, sources told Frontier.
“As a BGF, Zakhung Ting Ying and his former NDA-K are also part of the Tatmadaw chain of command, meaning it is technically a Tatmadaw unit engaged in this rampant illegal mining,” said Ms Clare Hammond, Myanmar researcher with London-based environmental watchdog Global Witness.
Outsourcing environmental costs
As early as 1987, the then leader of China, Mr Deng Xiaoping, predicted that rare earth elements would be crucial to the modern economy. “The Middle East has the oil, but China has the rare earths,” he said during a visit to a production site in Inner Mongolia, a Chinese province.
A group of 17 metals, rare earth elements are actually widely distributed over the earth’s surface but are often not concentrated enough to make extraction financially viable. Mining is also environmentally costly: wastewater and tailings ponds can leak acids, heavy metals and radioactive elements into soil and groundwater, while deforestation leads to erosion and destroys ecosystems.
China has long been the world’s dominant player in rare earth mining, accounting for 95 percent of all official extraction in 2010, according to the United States Geological Survey.
But rising demand for products containing rare earth elements – including in the permanent magnets used in wind turbine generators and electric car motors, as well as for use in the LED screens in our mobile phones and computers – has prompted efforts to diversify production. Rare earths’ utility in military technology, such as drones, has also boosted their global demand and strategic value, including for the US army.
At the same time, China has tightened export laws and introduced comprehensive environmental regulations that have curtailed its own official extraction, particularly since 2015.
Sources familiar with the industry told Frontier and Danwatch that China’s tightening regulations have pushed the extraction of rare earth elements – and particularly a subset known as heavy rare earths, which are in high demand for their use in high-tech weapons, among other products – across the border into Myanmar.
“China has either closed or suspended most of its extraction of heavy rare earths and replaced it with imports from Myanmar,” said David Merriman, a specialist in rare earth elements at the international consulting firm Roskill Information Services, which deals with supply chains of critical raw materials.
China’s official trade data shows that from 2014 to 2020 its imports of rare earth elements from Myanmar jumped from just 300 tonnes to 35,500, with the latter worth US$388 million. By 2019, Myanmar had surpassed Australia to become the world’s third-largest official producer of rare earth elements after China and the United States. Last year, 94 percent of rare earth elements officially imported by China came from Myanmar.
Hammond of Global Witness told Frontier that official trade data may only offer a glimpse into the scale of Kachin’s rare earth mining industry, given its “illegal nature” and because the Kachin State-China border is “highly porous”.
Zahkung Ting Ying appears to have seized the opportunity to make a profit from these trends, with sources telling Frontier that rare earth elements are extracted from territories under the control of his BGF and militia before being driven across the border for processing.
Due to the illegal nature of rare earth mining and its occurrence in territory controlled by Zahkung Ting Ying’s armed groups, it is difficult to track the companies or individuals which are actively engaged in the industry, but local activists and mine workers told Frontier that the bosses and senior workers on the sites are Chinese and that the companies are of Chinese origin. Similar patterns have emerged in other industries in Kachin State, including in the jade mines of Hpakant township and tissue-culture banana plantations across Waingmaw township, where Chinese-backed companies have partnered with Myanmar-registered companies or entered the state illegally in order to skirt regulations when conducting business.
Dr Hkalen Tu Hkawng, a Kachin activist and the minister for natural resources and environmental conservation in the parallel National Unity Government, said that local authorities under the Tatmadaw and armed actors like Zahkung Ting Ying’s BGF might also take taxes or bribes from Chinese businessmen in exchange for permission to mine rare earth – a practice that he said is also common among opium poppy farmers in areas of Waingmaw township under the control of Zahkung Ting Ying’s BGF. “The [former] NDA-K and Tatmadaw know what is happening where, and if they didn’t get anything from it, they wouldn’t stay quiet,” he said.
Cross-border collaboration
The history of rare earth mining in Kachin is murky. Several knowledgeable sources told Frontier that they believed some of the first rare earth mining in the state occurred in areas controlled by the Kachin Independence Organization in the years leading up to the collapse of a ceasefire with the Tatmadaw in 2011, but that mining has now mostly or entirely stopped in KIO-controlled areas.
KIO information department head Colonel Naw Bu told Frontier that the KIO is not officially engaged in rare earth mining, but has allowed exploration in an area of its eastern district known by the Kachin name of Mung Hkawng Pa, in the Mai Ja Yang region. Col Naw Bu said he was not authorised to answer further questions related to rare earth mining in KIO-controlled areas.
Google Earth satellite images show four clusters of pools in a mountainous area northwest of Mai Ja Yang town. The pools look identical to those in photographs given to Frontier by people who worked on rare earth mining sites in Chipwi Township, as well as photos and videos taken by several media who visited rare earth mining sites in Chipwi Township in 2019.
But the number of apparent rare earth mining sites in the Mai Ja Yang region pales in comparison to the mining in Zahkung Ting Ying’s BGF and militia-controlled territory.
Six knowledgeable people interviewed by Frontier said that nearly all rare earth mining in Kachin takes place in areas under control of Zahkung Ting Ying’s BGF and militia, particularly in the area around the border town of Pangwa, alternately spelled Pangwar or Panwar.
Several sources told Frontier that rare earth mining started picking up in this area around 2014 or 2015. Satellite images of the border area show around 100 sites in the region with the pools characteristic of rare earth mining.
The sources said that the mining was happening with impunity.
“Even though there are complaints from local people, rare earth mining is controlled by the BGF, which has weapons, power and money, so they don’t listen to local voices,” said an activist based in Myitkyina.
A representative from the Transparency and Accountability Network Kachin State (TANKS), a local civil society group, told Frontier that land seizures are among many problems which locals face as a result of rare earth mining.
“The [former] NDA-K and rare earth companies forcibly grab local people’s farmland and give compensation without any negotiation. If local people don’t accept, they won’t offer anymore; maybe they will offer less than before. Local villagers have no chance to complain,” said the source, who asked not to be named.
Impunity is nothing new in territory under control of Zahkung Ting Ying’s armed groups, local activists told Frontier. Although the NLD and civil society groups tried to monitor rare earth mining, enforcing the law was almost impossible, said the TANKS representative, whose organisation focuses on monitoring natural resource governance. Tatmadaw personnel would typically accompany assessment teams made up of NLD and civil society representatives on mining site visits, they said, and when the teams arrived, the mining would stop temporarily.
“When they went back to Myitkyina, [rare earth mining] resumed. The NLD government tried to regulate rare earth mining as much as they could … but the main implementers are armed groups, so it wasn’t possible … [The NLD] could only say, ‘stop illegal mining’, but it wasn’t really effective on the groups holding weapons.”
Frontier’s calls to Tatmadaw spokesperson Major-General Zaw Min Tun went unanswered.
Frontier was also unable to reach Zahkung Ting Ying for comment, and his son, politician and former NDA-K senior commander Zahkung Ying Sau, declined an interview request. An official from the New Democracy Party (Kachin), a political party led by Zahkung Ying Sau, who was elected to the state hluttaw in 2020, said the party was not involved in rare earth mining and refused to comment further.
A web of permits
Myanmar mining permit records show that dozens of exploration permits have been issued to mining companies in the stretch of Kachin State’s border with China under control of Zahkung Ting Ying’s armed groups.
Since 2014-15, Myanmar has published records for mining permits as part of its commitments under the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), which was developed to promote the open and accountable management of oil, gas and mineral resources. The EITI Global Standard requires governments and companies in these sectors to disclose a range of information, including revenues, fees and licences.
Myanmar EITI records for 2016-17 show that of the 148 mining permits issued for Kachin State, more than half were in areas of Chipwi and Tsawlaw townships either within or close to territory controlled by Zahkung Ting Ying’s armed groups. None of the permits listed were for rare earth mining exploration or production, however. Most were issued on a “first come first served” basis for exploration of other materials, such as iron, tin, tungsten, marble, lead and zinc.
Many of the permits were issued to companies that do not appear to have ever been registered with Myanmar’s Directorate of Investment and Company Administration, the country’s repository of corporate records. In the Pangwa area of Chipwi township, where the BGF is headquartered, permits were issued to several firms without a DICA registration record, such as “Chain Yein Taung Mining”, which held 15 licences overall, and “Lan Chaw Pwan Development”, which had three permits.
DICA records also show that Zakhung Ting Ying and his son are directors of several registered companies that hold a large number of the permits. One such company, Myanmar Myo Ko Ko Medical Instrument Co Ltd, held 11 permits in total, all for iron production on a “first come first served” basis in the Pangwa area. Issued in 2016, the permits were due to expire in March 2021 and it is unclear whether they have been extended.
Zakhung Ting Ying is also a director together with Zahkung Ying Sau and two other sons, Zahkung Ying Ting and Zahkung Ying Chan, of San Lin International Import and Export Co Ltd, which has held several permits in the Pangwa area of Chipwi township. Myanmar Myo Ko Ko and San Lin companies also share directors with other permit holding firms, including Bawm Myang Co Ltd, and Sin Kyaing Co Ltd.
Myanmar EITI mining permit records for 2017-18, available through the OneMap portal, show that Bawm Myang, San Lin and Lan Chaw Pwan Development held permits around Pangwa that year.
However, the TANKS representative told Frontier in May of this year that Myanmar Myo Ko Ko was the only company officially involved in rare earth mining under the NLD. They said the company was granted a one-year mining exploration licence by the union-level Ministry of Mines in 2018. Radio Free Asia reported in 2019 that according to the Kachin State Ministry of Mines, Myanmar Myo Ko Ko had been licensed to explore five mining sites totaling 114 acres, while the Kachin State Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation at the time, Dashi La Seng, confirmed to RFA that most rare earth mining was happening illegally in the area.
Frontier tried calling Myanmar Myo Ko Ko, but of all the listed numbers, only one number worked and Frontier was told it was a wrong number.
‘Nothing can live there’
As rare earth mining has shifted from China across the border into Myanmar, the environmental consequences appear to have followed. According to Hammond of Global Witness, the “relatively weak rule of law” in the area means that rare earth mining often doesn’t meet even “basic environmental standards.”
Frontier’s interviews, along with other media reports, have revealed concerns about contaminated soil and water sources as well as erosion, which local activists and mine workers told Frontier was causing landslides as well as sediment build-up in the Chipwi River. They also said that little heed was paid to worker safety.
Seng Awng, the pseudonym for a 30-year-old Kachin from a village near Myitkyina, began working for a mining company whose name he does not know in September 2019. Sut Hting, the pseudonym for a 60-year-old Kachin who lives in a displaced person camp in Myitkyina township, also worked for a company whose name he did not know from December 2017 to May 2018.
The two workers said they knew little about the chemicals used in the mining process. Seng Awng described the powders he worked with as similar to salt, while Sut Hting said that the chemical liquids and powders were stored in containers with lettering in Chinese. “Most local workers don’t understand what’s written on those containers, and no one comes to explain,” he said.
Sut Hting avoided work which involved handling chemicals, even though it paid better, because workers said the chemicals harmed their health. “Most workers didn’t want those jobs. They just did it for one or two months,” he said. “They said those chemical liquids and powders harmed their health. Some workers even got sick. The company didn’t provide proper safety equipment.”
Seng Awng, who was among workers who handled chemicals, said he wore gloves but the few times he touched the powder or liquid, he felt a slight burning sensation.
He said workers avoided using local water sources for drinking or bathing and that forests in the area had been destroyed. “There’s nothing left there, not even trees. They cut the trees and burn them. In the working area, there is not a single animal,” he said.
‘Mining can happen more freely than before’
Those interviewed by Frontier and Danwatch believed that rare earth mining had picked up speed since the February 1 military coup.
“Since the coup we’ve seen an increase in rare earth mining in Kachin State and we expect the lawless environment to be conducive to the business interests of militia groups more broadly,” said Hammond of Global Witness. “Illegal activity thrives in anarchic conditions, and the post-coup chaos has created a perfect opportunity for bad actors to take advantage by pillaging Myanmar’s natural resources.”
Hkalen Tu Hkawng of the National Unity Government also forecast rare earth mining to increase. “When the public and activists don’t have the freedom to advocate for the rule of law and law enforcement, and when their ability to monitor becomes weak, rare earth mining can happen more freely than before,” he said.
As the buyer of rare earth from Myanmar, China has a significant amount of leverage to tackle the rampant illegal mining of rare earths in Kachin State – if it chooses to do so.
In January, China introduced draft policies for regulating the rare earth industry chain, which include prohibiting the purchase and sale of products extracted illegally and establishing a tracking system for rare earth.Hammond called on China to do more to stop the illicit cross-border rare earth industry, pointing out that it provided no benefit to communities, who only see the destruction of their land. “Rare earth mining in Kachin is benefitting militia leaders who answer to Myanmar’s military, and who provide support to the military in exchange for being allowed to pursue illicit business interests,” she said. “Cutting off sources of funding to these groups will in turn put pressure on the military.” – Additional reporting by Jaw Tu Hkawng
Source/publisher:
"Frontier Myanmar" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2021-08-03
Date of entry/update:
2021-08-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Business and the Military, Military History, Political role of the Tatmadaw
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Description:
"His name was scrawled on coffins at mock funerals across the country. People shouted wishes for his death. Myanmar’s poker-faced coup leader stared out from burning pictures.
This is how Myanmar people marked the birthday of Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, who turned 65 on Saturday. In other words, it was how they vented their simmering hatred of him for his seizure of power from the country’s democratically elected government five months ago and his forces’ lethal response to the popular protests against him.
Exactly two weeks ago on June 19, Myanmar people at home and abroad marked the 76th birthday of their elected leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been detained by Min Aung Hlaing since the coup.
The junta chief must be envious of the celebrations held at that time, which were in stark contrast to what Min Aung Hlaing witnessed on Saturday. For the State Counselor’s birthday, smiles and flowers were everywhere. People prayed for her good health and speedy release. Myanmar’s favorite social media, Facebook, was flooded with pictures of people wearing or holding flowers to show solidarity with their leader, who is known for wearing flowers. One user wrote: “Come you Back, Mom…Revolutionary flowers are now in bloom.”
When she learned about it, she thanked the people for her birthday celebration and also wished good health to the people, according to one of her lawyers.
On Saturday, activists in Yangon left free fans at bus stops as part of a mock funeral for the coup maker. It is a common practice to distribute fans at Buddhist funerals. Young people staged flash mob protests, vowing to take revenge for his brutality toward protesters.
In Mandalay, people set coffins bearing his name, along with pictures of him, on fire in the streets, cursing him and calling for his speedy death. Due to the misery he has brought to the country since the coup, people said he should have been stillborn. He is so despised that some people went even further, urinating on pictures of him.
On Facebook, people posted pictures of themselves holding placards with their “birthday wishes” for Min Aung Hlaing. One sign read: “May you die in haste!”
In Ayeyarwady Region, villagers prayed “May your birthday be your death day!”
For Min Aung Hlaing and his wife Daw Kyu Kyu Hla, both known for their superstitious beliefs, the people’s reaction on Saturday must surely make them quite uncomfortable.
Until this year, few in the country would have had any interest in his birthday. Were it not for the coup and his deadly response to the protesters, there would have been no mock funerals for him on Saturday. His predecessor as dictator, Than Shwe, was the subject of similar protests, but largely by activists in exile and not in the sort of nationwide denunciation that Min Aung Hlaing is facing today..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of publication:
2021-07-03
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
The Military's political role, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Military History, Sanctions - general
Language:
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Sub-title:
Toppled democratic leader makes clear in a military court appearance that she and her party represent Myanmar's agitated people
Description:
"Myanmar’s deposed and detained leader Aung San Suu Kyi appeared in court on Monday, her first public appearance since a February 1 military coup toppled her elected government and set off waves of popular dissent and resistance.
Although it was only a first 30-minute hearing, the legal process could lead to her eventual imprisonment and the dissolution of her political party, the National League for Democracy (NLD).
Suu Kyi stands accused by the military of several charges ranging from possession of illegally imported walkie-talkies to violating the 1923 colonial-era Official Secrets Act.
But the reality, most Myanmar observers say, is that the top brass wants to punish the government she led since 2016 and nullify the outcome of the November 2020 election where the NLD scored yet another landslide victory, as it did in 2015 and 1990.
The military’s accusations of electoral fraud are not what independent, international election observers saw when they monitored the poll last year.
With the military now firmly in charge of the country’s central institutions since the coup, the eventual outcome of the court cases against Suu Kyi is not in doubt – she will inevitably be found guilty and banned from politics. That, in turn, could set the stage for new elections rigged in favor of the military and without the participation of the NLD.
Those verdicts, whenever they are handed down, will surely spark more furious unrest in a country that has descended into chaos and anarchy since the military made the fateful decision to seize power on the day a newly elected parliament was scheduled to meet for the first time in Naypyitaw.
The coup has also restored Myanmar to pariah status internationally, with Western criticism and sanctions heaped on the coup makers.
At the same time, coup leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing is coming under fire from within the military — not because of the power grab as such, but for his inability to consolidate it. Internally, he has reportedly been mocked as only being good at making donations to pagodas and for being “the prince of bangs and pots”, a reference to the way people across the country are venting their anger at the coup by banging pots and pans.
The coup was immediately met by massive demonstrations all over Myanmar, with pro-democracy protesters often waving Suu Kyi’s image on banners and signs, and has been followed by a fierce response from the military. More than 800 protesters and bystanders have been killed and about 4,000 people detained since the putsch. And the violence and persecution are far from over.
What began as peaceful protests have morphed into violent clashes between the military, the police and anti-coup activists who in some places have organized their own armed bands. In Kayah state in the east armed partisans overran and burned down a police station on May 23.
According to the Kantarawaddy Times, a local website, at least 15 policemen were killed in the raid and four captured alive. Twenty-six Myanmar army soldiers have reportedly been killed elsewhere in Kayah state over the past few days. The same news source reported that one resistance fighter was killed and five wounded during the clash.
In Mindat in the west, resistance fighters armed with hunting rifles and homemade guns took over the town before the military responded with heavy artillery and fire from helicopters. Elsewhere in Myanmar, bombings are becoming daily occurrences and the targets are military-controlled banks, companies and local governmental offices.
A huge fire raged at a government building in the northern city of Myitkyina in Kachin state on May 23. On the same day, a bomb exploded in front of the municipal office and explosions as well as gunfire could be heard in Sanchaung in the country’s largest city and commercial capital Yangon.
Apart from igniting armed resistance by locally raised and previously unknown forces, the war between ethnic armed groups in Kayin and Kachin states and the Myanmar military, known as the Tatmadaw, has flared anew.
In Kayin state, more than 20,000 people have had to flee the fighting while the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) has overrun a number of army positions and police stations, most recently in Hkamti in northern Sagaing Division on May 22.
Airbases in Meiktila, Magwe and Toungoo have come under rocket attacks in what appears to be ethnic rebels working with urban dissidents.
Among those arrested by junta forces are journalists, activists, health workers and teachers who have taken part in protests against the coup. According to a May 23 Reuters report quoting an official of the teachers’ federation who declined to give his name for fear of reprisals, 125,000 school teachers of the country’s total of 430,000 have been suspended.
The number of doctors and nurses who have lost their jobs is not known, but is thought to be considerable. Many educated people, fearing arrests, have managed to leave the country leading to yet another brain drain, similar to those after the first military takeover in 1962 and the crushing of a pro-democracy uprising in 1988.
The country could tilt towards further anomie without a circuit breaker. Banks are not functioning and the economy is in a shambles amid countrywide strikes and unrest. There are rising reports of soldiers and police seemingly at random breaking into people’s homes, destroying furniture and stealing whatever they can lay their hands on.
Other reports indicate that soldiers and policemen have been given methamphetamine pills to jack them up before being deployed to crack down on protesters, which could explain their often erratic and wildly violent behavior.
The only statement that came out of the May 24 court hearing was that a defiant Suu Kyi said that the NLD “was established by the people so the party will be there as long as the people are.” It’s impossible to predict how that short utterance from the country’s iconic democratic leader will impact or ignite an already volatile situation on the ground.
What is clear, however, is that she acknowledged her followers are now pitted against the military, an institution she had tried to accommodate and work with while in power.
It’s also clear that whatever sympathy and support the public may have had for the Tatmadaw are long gone as soldiers rampage, kill and loot with increasingly reckless abandon – a point that some say may be forming schisms in the military.
If Min Aung Hlaing is eventually replaced, which is still far from certain, it doesn’t mean his successor would take a more conciliatory approach to the country’s civilian leaders, including Suu Kyi, and her affiliated pro-democracy movement.
But as long as he remains in place and Suu Kyi is in the dock on trumped-up charges, Myanmar’s people-versus-the military struggle will likely accelerate and spread..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of publication:
2021-05-24
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-25
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
About Aung San Suu Kyi, Various groups, Articles on the NLD, Armed conflict in Kachin State - general articles, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
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Sub-title:
The Tatmadaw, Myanmar's powerful army, controls every aspect of its soldiers' lives. And those who leave pay a heavy price. DW spoke to three defectors.
Description:
"As he witnessed the brutal crackdown on unarmed civilians protesting the army's takeover, the young lieutenant felt increasingly disgusted. Soon after, he left without saying goodbye to his parents, fleeing the country first on motorbike and then on foot, aided across the border by local villagers.
Along the way, he stuck to smaller roads, carefully avoiding checkpoints and detection.
For if caught, he knew he would pay a heavy price for his desertion: In Myanmar, army defectors are usually sentenced to death — which is then commuted to life in prison, as the death penalty has not been carried out in over three decades.
That could, however, change as the army faces opposition within its ranks to its power grab.....Rare insight into Myanmar's military: The lieutenant is one of three defectors DW has spoken to in recent weeks, exchanging almost daily messages with them. The man, who peppers his messages with laughing emojis, is in hiding in India. The other two, both high-ranking officers, are on the run in Myanmar, moving from one safe house to the next. Their accounts provide rare insight into an otherwise opaque institution that is known for committing gross human rights violations against its own citizens — and shows the army's stranglehold on soldiers' lives, minds and, DW has learned, also finances.
The interviews were conducted via messenger apps, including patchy video and audio calls, given that the army's ongoing internet crackdown hampers most communication with the outside world.
DW has not been able to independently verify their accounts, but the interviews corroborate each other in key aspects. In two cases, military identification cards were shown.
Their identities are not disclosed in this report due to fears for the defectors and their families' safety.....'Every move monitored': The three men describe a cloistered, strictly controlled life, based on a stringent, overarching hierarchy. Soldiers, they say, are required to live on army bases and are only allowed to leave if granted permission by superiors. The army dictates what soldiers and their families "wear, say and believe in, even how to decorate your home," one man said. "They can check your house at any moment," he added.
The wives of soldiers, he explains, are not allowed to wear the color red, which is associated with Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD), or spout any other political symbols.
"Everything is monitored," says another defector, who was deliberate with each word used to recount his experience. "They want to turn people into robots, who don't think (for themselves)."
A monitoring team within the army using Facebook, all three sources say, watches over soldiers and their families' activities, scrutinizing every single like, share and post. Soldiers, one defector says, have to hand over their log-in details for Facebook, including sign-up phone numbers.
"If people post political things, they can be arrested and put in jail for three or four weeks," one defector tells DW. Another says that soldiers have been denied promotions after sharing social media posts criticizing the leadership of the Tatmadaw — as Myanmar's military is known — or voicing support for the NLD party.
One man recalls taking part in a training course a few years ago, where officers were shown how to tap into CCTV and intercept phone calls using Russian and Chinese technology — although he did not know the extent of surveillance.
Low-ranking soldiers, one defector says, were treated "like slaves," with their wives forced to clean high-ranking officers' homes without pay. Another said he had witnessed a superior asking the wife of a low-ranking soldier to give him a massage. He says the woman acquiesced, knowing that refusing could have negative repercussions for her husband.....Anti-Muslim propaganda: According to DW's three sources, soldiers are fed a steady stream of propaganda that views the Tatmadaw as the guardian of the embattled Buddhist nation of Myanmar. The enemies, according to this propaganda, are made up of a shadowy cabal of Muslims, Aung San Suu Kyi and her NLD party, who are bent on destroying the Buddhist country.
It's an ideology that has been forged in a decades-long, at times brutal battle against a myriad of ethnic insurgencies that have been fighting for independence from the Burmese majority and, at times, each other.
In Myanmar, a state with 135 different ethnic groups, where roughly 90% of the population adheres to Buddhism, politics and religion are closely interwoven. Generals have long built pagodas, erected Buddha statues, and paid homage to influential monks to legitimize their claim to power as a unifying force. Anti-Muslim sentiments are widespread, which the Tatmadaw is adept at exploiting for political capital.
And this anti-Muslim, Buddhism-first propaganda is instilled into soldiers of all ranks. Soldiers, one source says, are being "brainwashed" into buying the army's worldview. Another said while he did not believe the propaganda, he did not speak out against it, for fear of being punished. One defector recalled how he had been verbally abused when he dared to question the narrative that Rohingya — a Muslim minority long denied full citizenship rights — were "terrorists" bent on destroying the country and that they had no place in Myanmar.
One of the men, who, like many officers hails from a military family and had grown up on an army base, said that he had long believed the Tatmadaw's propaganda: When friends dared to question the army, he would defend the military, recalling his anger at anyone who spoke negatively of the institution he had been taught to revere.
His views, he said, only changed following the coup when he witnessed the army's crackdown on peaceful protesters — unarmed men, women and children that the army labels "terrorists.".....Myanmar army is a state within the state: The Tatmadaw's outsized role is intertwined within Myanmar's political and economic life — a lucrative advantage that succeeded colonial rule.
Following independence from Britain in 1948, a military junta took control in 1962, ushering in a prolonged period of iron-fisted rule characterized by strict censorship, imprisonment of opponents and international isolation.
While in power, the army — as well as individual officers and their families — amassed great wealth. This included land, economic and financial assets.
The generals only eased their grip on power in 2010, which culminated in elections that allowed for Aung San Suu Kyi's NLD party to form a government.
Even after ceding some control to elected politicians, it continues to play a vast role in both the political and economic field: The constitution guarantees the military 25% of parliament seats, meaning that the army can block any constitutional amendments it dislikes.
It also retains control of important ministries, including defense and home affairs.
Likewise, it continues to own and run a myriad of lucrative business interests without any independent oversight. The Tatmadaw runs its own schools, universities, hospitals and court system.
In short: The army has established what is basically a powerful state within the state. And, since the coup, it is now formally back in power.
In absolute terms, this professional army is the 11th largest in the world, with some 406,000 soldiers in active duty as of 2019, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies.....Economic exploitation: The Tatmadaw not only tries to control soldiers' ways of thinking — but also their finances. Military personnel of all ranks, DW has learned, are forced to support military-owned companies through two mandatory schemes: This includes, the three defectors say, requiring soldiers to sign up for a life insurance policy with Aung Myint Moh Min Insurance Company Ltd. The policy, which they are forced to select, renews automatically every five years — with no way for soldiers to opt-out.
The company is an alleged subsidiary of one of the military's two conglomerates, Myanmar Economic Holding (MEC) and Myanmar Economic Holding Limited (MEHL), according to a 2019 UN report. These conglomerates, benefit both the Tatmadaw and high-ranking individual officers and their families.
The company did not respond to DW's requests for comment.
Soldiers are also forced to make mandatory payments into MEC and MEHL, which are converted into shares. In return, soldiers receive a small dividend every year, defectors say.
It is likely a way to both generate revenues for the military and individual generals — whilst buying loyalty. Many high-ranking officers upon retirement are often awarded posts in the two holdings, their subsidiaries and affiliated companies. Others are given posts in the civilian administration.
The army does not respond kindly to those who attempt to leave its fold. One of the defectors tells DW that soldiers "cannot leave the army."
In theory, another explained, soldiers can submit a letter of resignation after 10 years. "But that is only in the law," he explained drily. "In practice, it is not easy and it takes three to four years to submit the process (of leaving the army)." And even then, he added, it was not a given that the army would let the soldier go.
He says he regrets his decision to join the army in the first place.
The Myanmar Embassy in Berlin did not respond to DW's request for comment.....Tatmadaw hunting down defectors?: All three men are aware of the Tatmadaw's reach, as the army pursues defectors. One man says he had heard from a contact in the Tatmadaw's headquarters that it had compiled a list of some 300 defectors and was going after them and their families. It was, he says, "a manhunt."
DW cannot verify the claim, however, given that the authorities have compiled a wanted list of activists and journalists that is broadcast every night on state television, it's likely that the same is happening with army defectors.
One man describes how his family receives threatening phone calls. "They said: Where is your son? If you support him, you will get arrested." Soon after, he severed all communication with his family, fearing for their safety.
Another source refuses to acknowledge whether he is still in contact with his family, fearing it would risk their safety.
Despite all the high risks, one defector has no regrets. Life on the run and hiding in a different house each night to keep safe is, for him, a consequence of maintaining integrity. He stands by his decision to leave the army he had served for so many years, saying he did not want his future children to "think I did nothing to stop this illegal coup."..."
Source/publisher:
"DW News" (Germany)
Date of publication:
2021-05-22
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-22
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Political role of the Tatmadaw, The Military's political role, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Racial or ethnic discrimination in Burma: reports of violations against several groups, Human Rights and international relations, Military History, Political History, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
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Sub-title:
A directive reveals that the coup leader indefinitely extended his tenure as commander-in-chief days after seizing power
Description:
"Days after overthrowing Myanmar’s elected government, Senior General Min Aun Hlaing also pulled off another coup: making himself the country’s de facto military leader for life.
That was revealed in documents that have put his motives for throwing the country into turmoil into sharper focus.
On February 4, the newly installed junta issued a directive that effectively allowed Min Aung Hlaing to stay on as top general for as long as he sees fit.
The directive, which has only recently come to light, removes an age restriction that would have required the senior general to step down later this year.
The issue first came up five years ago, when he acknowledged that under existing rules, he would have to retire once he reached the age of 65.
“The duty of commander-in-chief is not unlimited. There is an age limit that cannot be extended,” he told reporters in June 2016, when he was 60 years old.
Now less than two months away from his 65th birthday, Min Aung Hlaing should be making his way to the exit. Instead, he spends his days cementing his hold on power.
In a recent interview with the BBC’s Burmese-language service, Maj-Gen Zaw Min Tun, the regime’s deputy information minister and military spokesperson, confirmed the move.
The new directive allows both the commander-in-chief and the deputy commander-in-chief to remain in their positions for as long as the situation requires, he said without elaborating.
“It was changed because they are performing state duties,” he added, referring to the military’s resumption of direct control over the country since ousting its elected leaders.
Even before the coup, there were signs that Min Aung Hlaing was positioning himself to remain as the military’s unchallenged supremo, according to observers.
One sign, they said, was his appointment of officers many years his junior to senior military posts, side-lining any prospective rivals from among those closer to him in age and influence.
Many of the military’s most powerful commanders are now relatively young men in their fifties or even forties, all of whom are beholden to Min Aung Hlaing for their rapid rise to the highest echelons of power.
The current air force chief is Gen Maung Maung Kyaw, who graduated from the 26th intake of the elite Defence Services Academy (DSA), seven years behind Min Aung Hlaing (DSA 19). His navy counterpart, Gen Moe Aung, is an even younger DSA alumnus from the 28th intake.
Younger still is Lt-Gen Moe Myint Tun (DSA 30), a Min Aung Hlaing favourite who now serves as army chief of staff. He is also a member of the ruling military council and, since the coup, the new chair of the Myanmar Investment Commission.
Lt-Gen Myo Zaw Thein, a DSA 28 graduate who is also closely linked to Min Aung Hlaing, was appointed adjutant general in July 2019, while DSA 35 graduate Lt-Gen Kyaw Swar Linn was named quartermaster general in May of last year, when he was just 49 years old. (He is also the youngest member of the Myanmar military ever to hold his current rank.)
Junta joint secretary Lt-Gen Ye Win Oo, who is also chief of military security affairs, and Lt-Gen Than Hlaing, the deputy home affairs minister and newly appointed police chief, are also at least 10 years younger than Min Aung Hlaing.
Maj Hein Thaw Oo, who served in the military for nearly 20 years before defecting in late March, said the senior general’s choices reflect his obsession with holding onto power.
“It’s madness. He just doesn’t want to transfer power to any of his peers. There are outstanding officers under him, but he doesn’t want anyone else to have power,” he said..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2021-05-22
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-22
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
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Description:
"With a vast ethnic and cultural diversity,1 as well as high
levels of poverty, Myanmar has witnessed the emergence
of a myriad of armed non-state actors (ANSAs), which have
splintered and morphed over time, and has subnational
tensions arising from tremendous distinctive dynamics.
The majority of such actors, known as ethnic armed
organizations (EAOs), have primarily pursued a high level
of autonomy along with the recognition of identity and
rights. These claims have been ongoing since before the
colonial period, intensifying after independence in 1948
and still persisting in 2017. The 1980s and 90s saw important progress towards peace, with several ceasefire deals and the creation of the Border Guard Forces (BGFs) following plans for demobilization. Yet, these deals have all failed and have, therefore, generated
the proliferation of ANSAs. It was not until 2015 that the
government of Aung San Suu Kyi achieved the signing
of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA); however,
this process has failed to be inclusive, leaving aside key
actors after the government imposed restrictions for its signature and as a result, have maintained their armed confrontation.
Myanmar is composed of seven states, seven regions, six selfadministered zones (or divisions) and one union territory.2
One of the seven states, Rakhine (situated on the west coast of the country), is the site of ongoing tensions between the Myanmar armed
forces and the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA).
Violence escalated sharply from October 2016, when ARSA
first attacked, and continued to spiral, with the last military
crackdown on 25 August 2017. Thus, in order to understand the complex setting in Myanmar, it is crucial to outline the dynamics of these longterm tensions, while focusing on the latest developments in
Rakhine state and the challenges these give rise to..."
Source/publisher:
Geneva Academy Of International Humanitarian Law And Human Rights (Geneva)
Date of publication:
2017-12-00
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-06
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Various groups, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies
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Topic:
KIA, Kachin Independence Army, Myanmar military, Kachin State
Sub-title:
The Myanmar military launches air attacks on Kachin and Karen villages after losing strategic bases to ethnic armed organisations
Topic:
KIA, Kachin Independence Army, Myanmar military, Kachin State
Description:
"The Myanmar military continued to launch lethal air attacks on villages in Kachin State’s Momauk Township after one of its helicopters was shot down by the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) on Monday.
KIA spokesperson Col Naw Bu told Myanmar Now that Kachin forces shot and destroyed a junta helicopter between the villages of Myo Thit and Kone Law in Momauk at around 8am.
“We shot it down during a battle. Fighter jets also came to the area,” Col Naw Bu said. “The battles are not on the ground—the military are launching airstrikes and using sophisticated weapons.”
After losing the helicopter, the regime’s armed forces continued its air attacks on Myo Thit, Kone Law and Si Hat villages, he added.
A 60-year-old man and a Buddhist monk, whose age was not known at the time of reporting, were killed in the strikes, local media reported. At least 10 villagers were injured, according to the Kachinwaves news outlet.
Fighting has intensified between the KIA and the military’s 77th Light Infantry Division in Momauk in recent days. A battle on April 29 killed 20 regime soldiers and led to a KIA seizure of junta weaponry, according to a KIA source.
The clash took place below Alaw Bum, a strategically important hill base that the KIA seized on March 25. The Tatmadaw has launched numerous air and ground attacks in a bid to reclaim it but has suffered heavy losses.
At the time of reporting, Alaw Bum was still in KIA hands.
The Myanmar military has also launched around 30 airstrikes since late March in Mutraw (Hpapun) District, Karen State. The territory is controlled by the 5th Brigade of the Karen National Union’s armed wing, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA).
The airstrikes and heavy artillery fire, largely aimed at civilian targets, had driven more than 3,000 people to seek refuge across the border in Thailand as of Saturday, according to the Karen Peace Support Network.
The most recent round of regime air attacks followed the KNLA’s seizure of a junta base in the Thaw Le Hta area of Mutraw, across the Salween River from Thailand’s Mae Hong Son province, on April 27.
Many of the airstrikes have taken place near the Ei Htu Hta internally displaced people’s camp near the Salween River, forcing the camp’s population of more than 2,000 into hiding. Many are among the recent refugees in Thailand.
More displaced villagers from Karen State are expected to flee to Thailand if the regime’s airstrikes continue..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2021-05-03
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-04
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Kachin State - general articles, Armed conflict in Kachin State - displacement and the humanitarian situation, Armed conflict in Kachin State - human rights violations, Arms (Military Expenditure, Arms Transfers, Arms Production Etc), Political role of the Tatmadaw, Internal displacement/forced migration of Kachin, The Military's political role
Language:
more
Sub-title:
Regional bloc's controversial summit with military leader could provide a template for UN agencies also to engage the killer junta
Description:
"At first it appeared that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) had summoned Myanmar coup leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing to Jakarta to read him the riot act.
Before the extraordinary summit, leaders of Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines had condemned the lethal violence unleashed since the February 1 coup, with at least 755 protesters killed by the Myanmar police and military, and called for the release of all political prisoners, now numbering nearly 4,000 including elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
But after the military leader attended the April 24 meeting, he left with what many viewed as a mere slap on the wrist. ASEAN agreed on a five-point plan for resolving Myanmar’s crisis, which by almost any measure was bland and toothless even by the regional grouping’s policies of consensus and non-interference.
In essence, the meeting put equal blame on the Myanmar military’s gunning down peaceful demonstrators, including children as young as five, and the protesters’ use of slingshots and other homemade devices to defend themselves against the security forces’ war weapons.
“We tried not to accuse his [Min Aung Hlaing’s] side too much because we don’t care who’s causing it,” Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin told reporters after the meeting.
The Myanmar military’s mouthpiece Global New Light of Myanmar reported on April 25 that Min Aung Hlaing had emphasized the importance of close cooperation with ASEAN member countries in accord with the ASEAN Charter, and little more than that.
In an April 26 statement, the coup leader said he would carefully consider ASEAN leaders’ recommended steps for solving the crisis “after the situation stabilizes”, and that would be done only if ASEAN’s plan of action facilitated the implementation of the junta’s own policies.
The initial reaction from the “National Unity Government” (NUG), a coalition of elected parliamentarians, ethnic groups and other anti-military personalities, was to welcome the outcome of the Jakarta summit.
In an April 24 statement, the same day as the meeting was held, NUG spokesperson Dr Sasa stated that he was “encouraged” by the consensus that ASEAN had reached.
Rights groups say the danger with Dr Sasa’s statement and media reports that echo similar sentiments is that the main beneficiary of the summit would be Min Aung Hlaing’s coup-installed government.
The international community may thus now believe that the time is ripe to tone down its criticism of the junta’s murderous acts in order to give the ASEAN plan a chance. The notion that the ASEAN summit was a “success” also opens the way for other international actors to engage the junta with outcomes that are unlikely to lead to the restoraration of democracy in Myanmar.
But, as Phil Robertson of Human Rights Watch stated in an April 25 press release: “The lack of a clear timeline for action, and ASEAN’s well-known weakness in implementing the decisions and plans that it issues, are real concerns that no one should overlook.”
There is actually very little in ASEAN’s “five points of consensus” that could even be called a plan. The first point states that “all parties should exercise utmost restraint” and stop using violence.
The second calls for a “constructive dialog among all parties concerned” while the third says that ASEAN shall appoint a special envoy to “facilitate the dialog process.” The fourth says ASEAN shall provide humanitarian assistance through its coordinating center for disaster management — aid that ultimately would have to be channeled through the military regime and thus unlikely to reach those most in need.
The fifth and final point says that ASEAN’s “special envoy and delegation shall visit Myanmar to meet with all parties concerned.”
But with the junta’s insistence on adherence to its own “roadmap”, which includes a vague vow to hold new elections perhaps within a year, those points are likely non-starters even if they were implemented — which of course would have to be done through ASEAN’s two golden principles of non-interference and consensus.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen attended the Jakarta meeting, but has stated that what’s happening in Myanmar is an “internal affair.” Other authoritarian member states like communist-ruled Vietnam and Laos will not be keen to create a bloc precedent that could draw into question their own non-democratic systems of government.
Despite Dr Sasa’s positive appraisal of the summit, the reaction on Myanmar’s social media has been overwhelmingly negative and verged on outright hostility towards ASEAN, with many condemning the plan as a stab in the back.
The 88 Generation group of activists, which brings together veterans of Myanmar’s long struggle for democracy, issued a statement even before the meeting took place accusing ASEAN of always siding with the military and acting “in its self-interest and has never been seen to assist nor solve any political discord within its member states.”
The Irrawaddy, a website run by Myanmar journalists, said that “if ASEAN is looking to demonstrate progress, it should go further by condemning the violence and calling for the released of political prisoners and an immediate halt to torture of detainees and other abuses…Myanmar’s implosion has only further exposed ASEAN as the pathetic and irrelevant institution it is.”
Meanwhile, the killings and arrests of protesters have continued unabated, even during and after the summit. Kaung Htet Naing, a 22-year-old student, was shot and killed in Mandalay on April 24.
Another young protester was killed in the central town of Pyinmana and a 63-year-old woman died in custody after being abducted from her house by police in raids following the Jakarta summit.
In the commercial capital Yangon, soldiers and police raided the house of Thura Saw, a former cameraman for the popular TV news channel DVB. Among those arrested since the coup are more than 70 journalists of whom 40 are still under detention while arrest warrants have been issued for another 22 media workers.
A draft statement circulating before the Jakarta summit included a demand for the release of all political prisoners, but that was dropped as one of the “consensus points” after the arrival of Min Aung Hlaing.
With the Jakarta summit in the bag, the Myanmar junta’s likely next step to win international legitimacy will be to woo UN agencies, whose Yangon-based officials potentially stand to lose their jobs unless agreements can be reached with the junta.
That’s worked in the wake of past military massacres. In 1988, when the rest of the world shunned the murderous junta infamously known as the State Law and Order Restoration Council, or SLORC, Oscar Lazo, the head of Yangon-based UN agencies and himself representing the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), invited the SLORC-appointed minister for agriculture and forestry General Chit Swe to attend an FAO conference in Rome.
That was hardly surprising considering Lazo had initiated several lucrative projects in collaboration with Aye Zaw Win, the son-in-law of then-military dictator General Ne Win. Lazo’s overture eventually opened the floodgates for the rest of the UN, which was soon back in business in Myanmar.
Min Aung Hlaing’s junta has already begun to play the drug suppression card to gain international recognition. If the Global New Times of Myanmar of April 14 is to be believed, Myanmar’s Deputy Minister for Home Affairs Lieutenant General Than Hlaing attended the 64th meeting of the Narcotic Drugs Commission in Vienna from April 12-16 “via video conferencing.”
The event, organized by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), overlooked the fact that Than Hlaing is among 25 junta leaders and other military officers who have been blacklisted and sanctioned by the European Union for what it has termed “serious human rights violations and abuses.”
In a March 30 statement, the UNODC claimed that “drug lords entwined with rebel groups in Myanmar’s ungovernable border zone…the notorious Golden Triangle” are taking advantage of the situation by “pumping record amounts of methamphetamines across Southeast Asia.”
The statement did not mention official or military complicity in the drug trade and the well-established fact that most of the drug trade is run by local militias that are allied with the Myanmar military.
The question after the ASEAN meeting concerns which other international organizations might be willing to look away from the recent atrocities committed in Myanmar to maintain and pave their particularistic interests in the country.
In an interview with the Jakarta Post on April 27, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi lauded what she apparently termed as “ASEAN’s Myanmar breakthrough.”
But the question now is a breakthrough for whom, the pro-democracy movement, the democracy-suspending junta, or outside groups that see a cynical opportunity in Myanmar’s crisis?..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of publication:
2021-04-28
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-02
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
ASEAN-Burma relations, National Unity Government (NUG), Human Rights and international relations, History of the Tatmadaw, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Sub-title:
Unclaimed attacks on military airbases signal a possible spread of civil war from remote frontier areas to urban centers
Description:
"No group has yet claimed responsibility for several, almost simultaneous attacks on military targets in central Myanmar, including air bases recently used to target ethnic armed groups in the nation’s frontier areas.
Security analysts, however, believe the shadowy attacks are likely the work of an alliance between ethnic rebels and urban-based pro-democracy dissidents, with the former providing the explosives and the latter knowledge of local conditions in the Myanmar heartland.
If that assessment is accurate and the hits were not isolated incidents, it could mean that Myanmar’s long-running, low-intensity civil wars are spreading from ethnic minority areas in the nation’s periphery to major cities and towns.
Three months after top generals seized power from a popularly elected government and despite the fact that military and police have gunned down over 750 and arrested well over 4,000 protesters, people are still bravely taking to the streets to vent their anger with the coup.
The ongoing popular resistance underscores what is by now widely seen as perhaps the most unsuccessful coup in modern Asian history. That could yet spell ill for coup leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, who has stuck stubbornly to his guns amid rising international condemnation that is deeply isolating the country.
There are certain indications provided confidentially to Asia Times by military insiders that veterans of previous ruling juntas, namely the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) and State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), are growing wary of Min Aung Hlaing’s perceived as ineffective and polarizing actions and tactics.
Recent developments, including the attacks on military airbases, have opened a Pandora’s box of possibilities and scenarios that were largely unforeseen when the tanks rolled into the main city of Yangon three months ago and scores of elected MPs and other politicians were arrested and detained in the capital Naypyitaw.
Those include a wider civil war in the nation’s central region heartland, including near the generals’ bunker-like capital at Naypyidaw. On April 29, unidentified militants fired rockets at air force bases in Magwe and Meiktila in central Myanmar.
Another explosion detonated at a Myanmar Army weapons storage facility near Bago city, about 70 kilometers north of Yangon. Those attacks came after intense fighting between the Myanmar military, known as Tatmadaw, and ethnic rebels from the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) on the border with Thailand.
The shadowy unclaimed attacks on airbases also coincided with intensified battles with the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in the country’s far north, where many pro-democracy activists have sought refuge after bloody crackdowns in urban areas.
The Tatmadaw’s attacks have been marked by airstrikes on rebel targets which have included civilian villages. That’s caused the recent displacement of more than 25,000 villagers in Kayin state and at least 5,000 in Kachin state. That adds to the tens of thousands who fled their homes amid earlier fighting in the areas.
Long-time observers of Myanmar’s politics have privately drawn parallels between current events and what happened after an even bloodier coup in 1988, when thousands of dissidents also took to the hills and jungles after the Tatmadaw crushed another nationwide, pro-democracy uprising.
But, they note, there are fundamental differences between the events of 1988 and current developments. In 1988, young urban dissidents formed the All Burma Students’ Democratic Front (ABSDF), donned uniforms and fought alongside ethnic rebels in the frontier areas.
At that time, it was much easier to acquire weapons from grey Thai arms markets and dissident groups had ready sanctuaries — and even offices — in neighboring Thailand. However, improved relations between the Thai and Myanmar militaries coupled with severe entry restrictions into Thailand caused by the Covid-19 pandemic have at least so far kept the dissidents on the Myanmar side of the border.
The old ABSDF exists now only in name as most of its cadres have either surrendered or been resettled in third countries. The ABSDF’s ultimately failed uprising could explain why the new ethnic-urban alliance has taken on a different and potentially more explosive form.
Indeed, recent developments seem to signal the beginning of hitherto unseen urban warfare, which the Tatmadaw is ill-equipped to handle. Apart from the obvious alliances between informal groups of pro-democracy activists and ethnic rebels, local resistance forces have already emerged in Sagaing Region and Chin state. Reports indicate similar forces are coalescing in Mon state and Mandalay Region.
Social media posts show those local partisans are equipped with hunting rifles and homemade explosives but have nonetheless been able to inflict significant casualties on the police and military, including in Kalay in Sagaing Region. In nearby Chin state, a new force called the Chinland Defense Force reportedly killed 15 junta troops in their area.
Shadowy bomb and Molotov cocktail attacks have been reported against police stations in Yangon, Mandalay and Monywa.
At the same time, the Tatmadaw must contend with battle-hardened ethnic armies. In the country’s far north, there have been over 50 clashes since Kachin rebels overran and captured a Tatmadaw outpost on the strategic Alawbum mountain near the Chinese border on March 25.
Airstrikes have failed to dislodge the KIA, which has carried out subsequent attacks near the Hpakant jade mines in western Kachin state and north of Sumprabum in the state’s north.
In Kayin State, the Free Burma Rangers nongovernmental organization reports daily fights between the Tatmadaw and KNLA, despite the fact the two sides entered a ceasefire agreement in October 2015.
That agreement, which included the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS) and eight smaller, rather insignificant groups, was termed a “Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement” (NCA), although it was neither nationwide nor led to even a semblance of peace in frontier areas.
Although the KNLA and the KIA have sided openly with Myanmar’s until now peaceful Civil Disobedience Movement, other ethnic groups have been less supportive. In a March 27 interview with Reuters, RCSS chairman Yawd Serk said his group would not stand by idly if the junta’s forces continue to kill protesters but his vow hasn’t been followed up with any clear action.
On the contrary, the RCSS has been fighting a rival Shan group, the Shan State Army of the Shan State Progress Party and its ethnic Palaung allies in the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) for control of areas in northern Shan state.
Myanmar’s most powerful ethnic army, the 20,000-30,000 strong United Wa State Army (UWSA), has remained conspicuously silent since the coup. Not all Wa agree with the stance: Ten Wa civil society organizations signed on March 25 a written, urgent plea to the UWSA and its political wing the United Wa State Party to say something.
That hasn’t happened though, probably because the UWSA is so closely allied with China’s security services, which do not want to get involved with Myanmar’s anti-coup movement. Protesters have targeted Beijing’s perceived support of the regime at the United Nations. Several Chinese factories were torched in Yangon in one spasm of violence.
The 7,000-strong Arakan Army (AA) in Rakhine state, one of Myanmar’s most powerful rebel armies, which has killed hundreds of Tatmadaw soldiers in recent fighting, has taken a more surprising stance. It entered into ceasefire talks with the Tatmadaw in November last year and was taken off its list of “terrorist” organizations soon after the February 1 coup.
Its leader, Twan Mrat Naing, said on April 16 at the UWSA’s Panghsang headquarters that the ousted National League for Democracy government claimed that it would create a federal union with equal rights for all nationalities but failed to deliver on the promise. With that view, it’s doubtful the AA will join any grand alliance between urban dissidents and ethnic armies.
Even without a unified ethnic resistance, there is still a chance that the Tatmadaw’s old guard could move to break the stalemate by pressuring or even trying to overthrow Min Aung Hlaing and his top deputies before the situation deteriorates further.
The SLORC and SPDC were likewise brutal outfits and no friends of democracy, but former junta chief and commander-in-chief Senior General Than Shwe did initiate liberal reforms that led to a more open society and vastly improved relations with the West and wider world before stepping aside in 2010.
Than Shwe is now in his late 80s and political analysts in Myanmar believe that the current chaos is hardly the kind of legacy he would want to leave behind. Whether the aging general has the wherewithal, influence or inclination to try to rein in Min Aung Hlaing is unknown, but the anarchy unleashed by his coup is clearly not in the military establishment’s short or long-term interests..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of publication:
2021-05-01
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-02
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Various groups, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Political role of the Tatmadaw, History of the Tatmadaw, Several Groups, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The Military's political role, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
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Description:
"Authors: Artyom Lukin, Far Eastern Federal University and Andrey Gubin, Russian Institute for Strategic Studies
On 1 February 2021, Myanmar’s military junta declared a state of emergency and seized power from the civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi. The coup immediately created a political crisis and resulted in mass bloodshed, but the international response has been divided.
While the US-led West and its key Asian allies such as Japan and South Korea condemn the coup and imposed sanctions on the junta, other key powers are more ambivalent. In the UN Security Council, China, India and Russia have made efforts to shield the perpetrators from harsher censure and potential UN sanctions.
From the very beginning Russia has refused to condemn the coup, with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs merely expressing hope for ‘a peaceful settlement of the situation through the resumption of political dialogue’. In the same statement, Moscow noted as an encouraging sign that the military intended to hold a new parliamentary election. Russian state-owned news agency RIA Novosti justified the coup by arguing that the Myanmar army, the Tatmadaw, is the only viable guarantor of the multi-ethnic country’s unity and peace.
The most visible manifestation of Russian support for the junta came in late March, when Deputy Minister of Defence Alexander Fomin became the highest-ranking foreign official to attend Myanmar’s Armed Forces Day parade in the capital Naypyidaw. While the military was violently cracking down on protestors, Fomin held talks with junta leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing. He called Myanmar ‘Russia’s reliable ally and strategic partner in Southeast Asia and the Asia Pacific’ and emphasised that Moscow ‘adheres to the strategic course of enhancing relations between the two countries’.
There are several reasons why Russia is emerging as the most high-profile supporter of the Myanmar military government.
Moscow’s close ties with Myanmar date back to the 1950s. Given that for most of its modern history the Southeast Asian country has been governed by the military, Russia has developed a working relationship with its uniformed rulers. Incumbent strongman general Min Aung Hlaing has visited Russia on numerous occasions, most recently in June 2020 to attend the Victory Day parade in Moscow, and is known as a champion of Myanmar–Russia ties.
Under Min Aung Hlaing, Myanmar–Russia military cooperation has received a boost. After China, Russia is the country’s second largest supplier of arms, being the source of at least 16 per cent of weaponry procured by Myanmar from 2014–2019. Myanmar’s military is now awaiting the delivery of six Su-30 fighter jets ordered in 2019, and in January 2021 the two sides signed contracts for a Russian air defence system and a suite of surveillance drones.
Thousands of Myanmar’s military officers have also received training in Russia’s military academies. Tellingly, the Myanmar commander-in-chief maintains an official account on Russia’s VK social network while being banned from Facebook and Twitter. It is not coincidental that the Kremlin’s main interlocutor with Myanmar is defence minister Sergey Shoigu, who happened to visit the country just several days before the 1 February coup.
Given this long-standing and profitable relationship with the Myanmar military, it stands to reason that Russia is not going to condemn the coup, let alone sanction the junta. Russian President Vladimir Putin has never been known for his sympathies for pro-democracy movements backed by the West, and the Kremlin hardly sees the English-educated Aung Sang Suu Kyi, whose two sons are British nationals, as a desirable alternative to uniformed rulers.
Moscow’s support for a military dictatorship could damage its international reputation, but with what has already transpired between Putin and the West, the Kremlin could hardly care less about its reputational fallout from Myanmar. In defence of its stance on Myanmar, Russia could also point to Western hypocrisy — neighbouring Thailand is ruled by generals with dubious democratic credentials, but the country remains in the West’s good graces due to being a ‘treaty ally’ of the United States.
It is unclear to what extent Moscow will coordinate its Myanmar policies with Beijing, Russia’s main strategic partner and a fellow autocracy. The Chinese government has refrained from condemning the military takeover, but compared to Russia it has been conspicuously less supportive — China’s relationship with the Tatmadaw has always been complicated, and Beijing is hardly happy about the coup.
Whereas Moscow’s relationship to Myanmar is mostly limited to military-to-military ties, with scant social and economic interactions, China’s relations with its southern neighbour are more multi-dimensional. Beijing cannot afford to antagonise pro-democracy segments of Myanmar’s population, so it needs to adopt a more complex approach.
Moscow and Beijing are likely discussing the situation in Myanmar, but their strategies differ. Russia is driven by the desire to keep lucrative military contracts and possibly gain a foothold in the Indian Ocean. By contrast, Beijing is guided by more long-term strategic interests dictated by Myanmar’s immediate proximity to China’s Yunnan province.
Viewing itself as a global great power, Russia has a stake in maintaining a strategic presence in Myanmar, a geopolitically important country in the Indo-Pacific. To retain and expand Russia’s links with Myanmar, the Kremlin has banked on the generals. It remains to be seen if Moscow’s calculus will turn out to be the right one..."
Source/publisher:
"East Asia Forum" (Australia)
Date of publication:
2021-04-27
Date of entry/update:
2021-04-28
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Russia-Burma relations, Arms (Military Expenditure, Arms Transfers, Arms Production Etc), Political role of the Tatmadaw, Military History, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
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Topic:
Myanmar (Burma); democratic transition; rural working people; military coup; politics of agrarian transformation
Topic:
Myanmar (Burma); democratic transition; rural working people; military coup; politics of agrarian transformation
Description:
"Myanmar is in a dangerous and uncertain moment following the
military coup on 1 February 2021. The articles in this Special
Forum provide timely contextual analysis. Written before the
coup, the articles delve into the politics of agrarian
transformation in the context of (what was then) an ongoing (but
fragile) opening up of political space. This introduction outlines
three themes that connect the articles and now also shed some
light on what the future may hold: (1) the limited character of the
2010–2021 ‘democratic transition’; (2) the struggles around land
and natural resources amidst a social reproduction crisis and (3)
the responses of rural working peoples. This Special Forum on Myanmar’s agrarian transformation concludes at a moment of great
danger and deep uncertainty resulting from the military coup that took place on 1 February 2021. All the articles were written before the coup, and all the authors were keen to engage
explicitly on the politics of agrarian transformation in the context of (what was at that time) a still ongoing (fragile) opening up of political space and the social-political challenges of working in such a context, including examining the changing political agency of the implicated differentiated rural peoples (along lines of class, gender, generation and in Myanmar the all-important question of ethnicity). Reading their analyses now may thus help to dampen any temptation to romanticize about what life and politics was like for many people before the coup. And it will put under a critical spotlight the call by some segments
of the resistance movement for a return to where everyone/everything was before the coup, that is, to restore the NLD government to power under the military-crafted 2008 Constitution. Most of the authors who contributed insights and analysis to the six articles constituting this special forum are long-time social activists who have been working for many years outside the spotlight and under the radar, alongside many other veteran activists, grassroots organizations, issue-based associations and ethnic communities. In the years before and since the national political cycle that began with the March 2011 handover of government by the military-run SPDC to the quasi-civilian Thein Sein administration, they have been in the trenches, so to speak, along with many others,accompanying ordinary people in doing the everyday politics of regime transition. Such efforts have involved the crucial but often intangible work of feeling for openings, testing limits, deploying razor-sharp political humour, calculating risks, calibrating interventions, reaching out and ratcheting up, building bridges, stepping up and stepping back, pushing with restraint, articulating hopes, managing fears, calling bluffs, etc. It’s worth mentioning here too that this has also necessarily involved working to ensure the material conditions needed to enable these dynamics of activism to survive and thrive, despite increasingly bureaucratized and periodically politicized relationships with both government
donors and international non-governmental donor agencies. While for various reasons and at various times government donors and donor agencies could become quite allergic to activism – especially activism taking extra-parliamentary form – this was not always the
case, and despite what may have been risks involved in supporting social change activism during the post-2011 opening, some of these actors supported this work anyway. Much of what the bulk of ordinary people actively trying to shape the transition underway have been doing has remained invisible and in the shadow of a still fairly draconian ‘rule of law’, while the international media spotlight has tended to focus on increasing space for elite politics and elite-driven economic reform, as if these were all that mattered
in the regime transition underway. It was important that these ‘invisible’ politics remained so at times, in order to protect and shelter them, and at other times, it was critical that they surface, in order to try to propel more central political processes in a more radical direction.
But while much of the social activism for meaningful agrarian change has resurrected and unfurled in the lingering shadows cast by past coups, past waves of resource grabbing, and past ‘high politics’ turning points, at the same time, a fairly clear set of major neoliberaloriented economic reforms have been initiated and steadily pushed since 2011 as part and parcel of a ‘rule of law’ reform agenda aimed at creating the ‘positive enabling environment’ for big Asian, US and EU-based business interests itching to enter or do more
business in Myanmar. Hitherto, earlier rounds of market liberalization following the thenmilitary regime’s response to political and economic crises in the late 1980s had mainly benefitted regional (especially Chinese and Thai) and local capitalists (with the exception of two
infamous gas projects – one led by Total, one led by UNOCAL – see ERI 1996). The consequences of these reforms have been hitting the ground hard, yet affecting different groups of people differently depending on class, ethnicity, gender, generation,
and geographic region. And so here is one crux of the matter for many of the hardest hit people today: as huge masses of people from all walks of life spill currently into the streets to protest the military coup – how and to what extent will the broad anti-coup resistance
movement be able to take on 1. the contradictions emerging from capitalist development and 2. the growing aspiration for a democratic federal union? Capitalism is not tied exclusively to any particular kind of political system: it can exist under outright militarized
authoritarian conditions, and also under still-militarized, semi-authoritarian political conditions where participation in decision making is open to some segments of society to some degree, but many (if not most) remain excluded more or less completely (e.g.
more akin to what the country had been experiencing in the decade prior to the coup). Since 2011, capitalist development has wrought a new configuration of winners and losers, where a wider range of people found opportunities and breathing room to
accumulate and have seen their living conditions improve, while many others have seen their situation deteriorate significantly. The ranks of those engaged in ‘3D’ migrant labour work abroad (e.g. dirty, difficult, dangerous) and the importance of migrant worker
remittances to the national economy, for example, have increased dramatically since 2011 as a result partly of the new laws and policies put in place by the quasi-military Thein Sein government but then continued and even deepened by the ‘democratically-elected’ NLDled government (Borras et al. 2020). The agrarian crisis that is pushing many people, from different walks of life (both ethnic Bamar and non-Bamar), further toward or deeper into landlessness and precarious labour conditions, has been deepening throughout the
country. But its precise character has varied, shaped by complex social-historical and political-economic particularities, including politicized geographies of race/ethnicity, obtaining in different regions and subregions. To be sure, however, regions and subregions where various non-Bamar ‘ethnic nationalities’ (a term increasingly preferred nowadays by non-Bamar activists themselves, in a bid to put the term ‘ethnic minorities’ firmly into the past) are most concentrated, have been clearly targeted for ‘accumulation by dispossession’ via outright extra-economic coercion, in tandem with and alongside
processes of commodification, as discussed below. The increasingly organized, multiethnic demand for abolition of the 2008 Constitution and building of a democratic federal union is therefore very much underpinned by the intensely racialized/ethnicised
character of Myanmar political-economy historically..."
Source/publisher:
Routledge (London)
Date of publication:
2021-04-25
Date of entry/update:
2021-04-27
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association, violations of, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Military History, Political History
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1.83 MB
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Topic:
Kachin Independence Army, Myanmar military
Sub-title:
The junta has reportedly not been able to recapture any of the camps that they have lost to the Kachin forces
Topic:
Kachin Independence Army, Myanmar military
Description:
"The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) has seized at least 10 of the junta’s army bases since fighting escalated with the Myanmar military following the February 1 coup, according to local sources.
Clashes between the KIA and the regime’s armed forces have been ongoing since early March, when the KIA began to launch offensives to capture military bases and police stations in the Kachin State townships of Hpakant, Mogaung, Waingmaw, Putao and Tanai, as well as in northern Shan State.
Among the locations since overtaken by the KIA are the Alaw Bum and Ywathit military outposts in Momauk Township, as well as one police base; the Tan Khawn and Aungbalay bases in Hpakant; and the Nambyu base in Tanai.
“The KIA raided and seized around 10 bases, including small ones,” a Myitkyina resident and military observer said, adding that Kachin forces continue to maintain control over some locations, and others they destroyed. “They set fire to the military bases that they did not continue to occupy, so now neither force is at those,” the individual added.
He said that the military junta had not been able to recapture any of the camps they lost.
KIA information officer Col Naw Bu told Myanmar Now on April 21 that Kachin forces had seized some bases belonging to the junta, but that further details were unavailable, with fighting ongoing in multiple locations.
Much of the regime’s focus has been on regaining control of the strategic Alaw Bum hilltop base in Dawphoneyang sub-township of Momauk.
Since April 11, the junta has carried out repeated airstrikes against the KIA in an attempt to drive them out of Alaw Bum and areas controlled by KIA’s Brigades 8 and 9, but the military has reportedly suffered heavy casualties in the offensive, according to KIA sources.
These sources have said that hundreds of Myanmar military troops, including battalion commanders, were killed in the fighting, and at least one whole battalion– LIB 320– was wiped out.
Myanmar Now has not been able to independently verify these casualties.
A KIA officer told Myanmar Now that, at the time of reporting, more than 1,000 junta soldiers had been airlifted to Momauk Township as reinforcements.
Locals have noted that since a previous 17-year ceasefire with the Myanmar military broke down in 2011, the KIA had been largely fighting on the defensive; only since the coup had they started engaging in offensives against Myanmar’s armed forces.
“It is like the KIA is attacking places that they used to control in the past. The tension can only escalate from here,” a resident of Hpakant said..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2021-04-23
Date of entry/update:
2021-04-23
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Kachin State, Armed conflict in Kachin State - general articles, Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), Kachin (economic, social, cultural, political), Political role of the Tatmadaw, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
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Sub-title:
A major who abandoned LID 99 says a culture of fear has long stopped soldiers from leaving the army, but now feels that may change
Description:
"An army major who recently broke rank has described Myanmar’s military as an institution rife with rank- and class-based discrimination, a reality that he said had made soldiers consider defecting prior to the February 1 coup.
Major Hein Thaw Oo, of the Meikhtila-based Light Infantry Division (LID) 99, was the highest-ranking known defector from the military at the time of reporting.
He abandoned the military after 20 years and joined the anti-junta Civil Disobedience (CDM) on March 24.
A native of Magwe Region and a 2002 graduate of the 48th intake of the Defence Services Academy, the major had been stationed on the frontline in Lashio, northern Shan State. There, LID 99– whose soldiers are among the military’s “shock troops”– is known to have engaged in brutal clashes with ethnic armed organisations based in the region.
“In the military, for whatever reason, you’re always scared of anyone who has a higher rank than you,” Hein Thaw Oo told Myanmar Now.
The major said that the military “alienated” anyone who questioned the institution or its practises.
“It’s not just now, it has always been this way. If they don’t get along with you, you’re pushed aside. Not only that, you get in trouble,” he explained.
Those who, like him, have defected from the military and police are largely sheltering in areas controlled by ethnic armed organisations.
Hein Thaw Oo insisted there are more who want to defect, “from sergeants on upward.”
“If you don’t believe it, go ask them. If you ask them if they want to get out, they’d get out, dancing,” the major said.
The major said that he planned to undertake a temporary monkhood, and would later join a federal army to fight against the junta’s armed forces.
At least 739 civilians have been killed nationwide by the military regime during Myanmar’s anti-dictatorship Spring Revolution since the February 1 coup, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a group which has been monitoring the violence.
On April 9 alone, more than 80 civilians who were protesting peacefully in Bago were murdered during a crackdown by the junta’s armed forces that involved the use of heavy artillery.
Hein Thaw Oo told Myanmar Now that the suppression of public opposition at these demonstrations has been directly ordered by military strategists from the junta’s Ministry of Defence in Naypyitaw.
Military officers consider protest sites to be battlefields, and ignore when lower ranking soldiers loot homes or commit robberies and extortion, he explained.
“I assume they’re giving these orders so that they can let the soldiers on the ground just roam freely and do what they want,” the major said, adding that this was how the military treated conflict areas.
Dr. Lian Hmung Sakhong, the federal union affairs minister with the newly formed interim cabinet of the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), recently said that he believed there were more officers who would leave if given the chance.
The cabinet, known as the National Unity Government (NUG), urged military and police to defect and stand with the public at an NUG press conference on April 16.
Dr. Lian Hmung Sakhong invited military officers he came to know during his work on peace negotiations between the Myanmar army and ethnic armed organisations to join the CDM.
“Don’t follow [military chief] Min Aung Hlaing, follow justice and truth,” he said at the press conference, addressing those still serving in the regime’s armed forces. “Join us in building a society where everyone treats each other with humanity.”
Although there are soldiers who are dissatisfied with the military coup, chances of a mutiny depend on the NUG’s governing capacity, Major Hein Thaw Oo told Myanmar Now.
Captain Htun Myat Aung, a 15-year veteran of Myanmar’s military and another recent defector, said the same. He was among those whom Myanmar Now spoke to who speculated that other soldiers were waiting to see the NUG’s next moves before abandoning the armed forces.
“The military has been broken for a while. But they’ve instilled so much fear [in soldiers] that it would take a big spark that could combat this,” he said..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2021-04-22
Date of entry/update:
2021-04-23
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Political role of the Tatmadaw, Inside the Tatmadaw, Anti-coup protesters, Spring Revolution, The Military's political role, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"Sleeping by their makeshift barricades, knots of young men at Tahan in the western Myanmar town of Kale had not expected an attack in the pre-dawn darkness.
Armed with a few hunting guns made by village blacksmiths, catapults, some airguns and Molotov cocktails, they were no match for forces hardened by decades of conflict and equipped with combat weapons.
The first barrage of shots and rocket propelled grenades from Myanmar's army, known as the Tatmadaw, came around 5 a.m. on April 7, the protesters and residents of Kale said.
By evening, the one-sided battle was over, the sandbag barricades had been cleared and 13 people were dead, three people involved in the armed group told Reuters. Soldiers deployed on street corners and remain until now.
"So many people on our side were wounded that we couldn’t do anything and had to retreat," Aung Myat Thu, one 20-year-old protester in Kale, told Reuters from there by messaging app.
Although the resistance in Kale was quickly crushed, it points to a new phase of bloodshed in Myanmar after the Feb. 1 coup, with some protesters now seeking to take up arms against the junta's forces.
The junta did not respond to requests for comment.
The junta-controlled Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper said 18 rioters were arrested in Kale after attacking security forces with homemade weapons. "Some of the members of the security forces were seriously injured," it said
Despite the early setbacks, disparate groups are trying to source better weapons, sharpen tactics, share intelligence and get training from some of the two dozen or so existing ethnic armed groups in Myanmar, several opposition politicians said.
"Some small defence units have been formed across the country, in the community, villages or wards," said Moe Saw Oo, a spokesman for the Committee Representing the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), a body representing ousted lawmakers that has set up a rival national unity government.
"At the same time, we are in coordination with ethnic armed organisations about the establishment of a proper defence force," he said.
Over 700 people have been killed and more than 3,000 have been detained by security forces cracking down on the nationwide protests that have raged since the military deposed the civilian government led by Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi on Feb. 1.
Even as the fighters in Kale retreated, other groups have sprung up elsewhere. Acts of sabotage, such as the burning of administrative buildings and attacks on businesses linked to the army have broken out the in the main city of Yangon and the second city of Mandalay.
"It is a sign of the determination and the extreme violence the military has been using against protesters rather than a strategic assessment they can take on the might of the military," said analyst Richard Horsey, who recently briefed the U.N. Security Council on the threat of national collapse.
Among the new groups, the Ayeyarwaddy Federal Army announced its arrival last week in the heartland of the Bamar majority, which forms the core of the armed forces as well as Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy.
"Armed revolution is the only way to return the people's power," spokesman Mratt Thu Aung told Reuters via messaging app.
He did not disclose the group's location or the size of its force and Reuters was unable to do so independently.....'IF WE DON'T FIGHT...'.....Pressure to organise an armed group in Kale began in mid-March as the army stepped up violence against protests sweeping the largely Buddhist country of 53 million.
On March 17, police opened fire on an anti-coup rally - killing four people - after chasing protesters to Myohla on Kale's outskirts, said a 36-year-old activist who was there.
"From that point, the people, especially the youth, felt that we needed to do something to defend ourselves," he said, declining to give his name for reprisals against his family.
By late March, at least three barricades were set-up around the main market in Tahan, hundreds of people joining to pile up sandbags. Young people in the town banded together to form the Tahan Civil Defence Group, local activists said.
The group then raised funds and sought out weapons - mainly rudimentary hunting guns made by local blacksmiths, they said.
"At first we had seven guns, which then increased to 15 within a short time," the 36-year-old activist said.
The group went for target practice session in a nearby forest on March 26. Two days later, the Tahan Civil Defence Group held off an assault by junta forces. Shortly after, it combined with other local groups to form the Kalay (Kale) Civil Army.
Such groups were getting help from the CRPH across the country, an official of the group said.
Several thousand young people had been given basic training in arms and fighting by at least four ethnic armed organisations, mostly in Myanmar's border areas, he said.
"More are coming," he said, declining to be named. "If we don't fight, the future of Myanmar is gone."......'DON’T UNDERSTAND THE TATMADAW'...In Kale, the little-trained fighters were emboldened by early success.
The 19-year-old fighter said he was sleeping between barricades on the main road through Tahan when gunfire woke him.
"I grabbed my hunting gun and two soldiers started shooting at me," he said. "I had one chance to shoot back, but my gun didn't work."
He sheltered behind a wall, then fled during a lull.
The Tatmadaw advanced systematically, blocking off escape routes, one resistance member in Tahan said.
"We don't understand the Tatmadaw mindset," the 43-year-old said from a safe house. "That's our mistake."
Several young fighters were among the 13 dead at the end of a day of fighting, activists said.
Survivors had now gone underground, they said.
"We were not safe in Kale anymore," the 19-year-old fighter said by phone from northeastern India, whose border is just over 100 km (60 miles away). Indian authorities declined to comment.
A local NLD lawmaker involved in forming the Kalay Civil Army said fighters had been asked to lay low for now, while equipment and training were improved across Myanmar.
“Maybe the time will come to fight with the Tatmadaw,” the lawmaker said, “For that, we will need good training.”..."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK)
Date of publication:
2021-04-19
Date of entry/update:
2021-04-19
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Anti-coup protesters, Spring Revolution, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Political role of the Tatmadaw, The Military's political role, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians
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Topic:
civil disobedience movement, Coup, Democracy, Human Rights, military in politics, Min Aung Hlaing, National League for Democracy, November 8 general election, Rule of Law, State Administrative Council, State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Tatmadaw, Yangon
Topic:
civil disobedience movement, Coup, Democracy, Human Rights, military in politics, Min Aung Hlaing, National League for Democracy, November 8 general election, Rule of Law, State Administrative Council, State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Tatmadaw, Yangon
Description:
"What is the new normal for Myanmar today? As people have been trying different forms of civil disobedience to fight the military coup it has become a new normal in Myanmar.
The words “civil disobedience” comes from State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s appeal before she was detained. She urged people to “oppose the military coup together in any way possible”. For her, as she often said, “the people are the most important force”.
A veteran journalist asked another National League for Democracy (NLD) leader, U Win Htein, about the message and what Daw Aung San Suu Kyi wants people to do. U Win Htein said she wanted a civil disobedience movement rather than mass street protests because of COVID-19 and the potential for bloodshed.
As her message was not clear enough, people were puzzled about what to do.
NLD members have waited for instructions from the party’s central executive committee who are being held in Naypyidaw.
The strict hierarchy of the NLD left people feeling bereft on the first day of the coup. My 78-year-old mother kept asking me, “Is there any luck?” She cried the whole day because her beloved leader, “Mother Suu”, was detained. It is heartbreaking for her because she did not expect to return to military rule.
One day after the coup, people started banging pots and pans and honking car horns to oppose military rule. Banging pans is a traditional way of driving out ghosts. That initiative reached the international media and was dubbed the “drum revolution”.
Thais have followed suit in an attempt to drive out Thailand’s military regime.
But pots and pans are not enough for young citizens who have been hit the hardest by the forced internet shutdown ordered by the authorities. My son and his student friends have lost their online jobs, they cannot play virtual games and their online shopping businesses have folded.
Food Panda delivers lost their jobs as online ordering has broken down and most bank cards have stopped working because of connection failures. Shops only want cash as the banking system is unstable and the Grab taxi app just says, “no connection found”. The internet shut down is causing a long list of problems.
Facebook was blocked after the authorities forced telecoms operators to ban the most popular social media network. People immediately searched for virtual private networks (VPNs) to bypass Myanmar’s networks. Anti-coup posts and protest photos returned to Facebook..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of publication:
2021-02-15
Date of entry/update:
2021-04-15
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Anti-coup protesters, Health Workers Strike, Rail Workers strike, Spring Revolution, General Strike, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association, violations of, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Articles on the NLD, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports
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Sub-title:
As ethnic militias back the popular uprising and refugees flee the country, the similarities with Syria are deeply disturbing
Description:
"In August 2011, Ahmet Davutoglu, Turkey’s then foreign minister, made a “mercy dash” to Damascus. He appealed in person to Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad, to stop killing his people and talk to his opponents after five months of anti-regime protests.
Davutoglu spoke for Turkey but also, indirectly, for the US and the west. He had conferred with Hillary Clinton, then secretary of state, before making the trip. His message: it’s not too late to call a halt; the alternative is civil war. But Assad turned him down flat.
At that early point in the crisis, about 2,000 people had died. Fearing worse to come, Davutoglu kept trying. In Istanbul the following year, he urged the US, Britain and other countries to work together to prevent a humanitarian “disaster”. Millions of Syrians were at risk, he told me. “How long can this situation continue? I mean in Bosnia, now we have Ban Ki-moon (then UN secretary-general) apologising 20 years after. Who will apologise for Syria in 20 years’ time?”
Ten years on, Davutoglu has an answer. The west failed to act decisively, 500,000 or more Syrians are dead, 13.3 million are displaced, the country is in ruins – and no one has apologised. Meanwhile, half a world away, history repeats itself. Is Myanmar the new Syria?
The portents and parallels are many and disturbing. They foretell yet another avoidable human tragedy of epic dimensions. Once again, those who could stop it don’t. Instead, they wrangle and seek national advantage.
Once again, UN alarm bells ring, warning of an “imminent bloodbath”. Myanmar’s military junta, which seized power in a coup in February, is waging a war on citizens, the special UN envoy Christine Schraner Burgener told the security council last week.
Another failure to uphold international law and honour the international community’s “responsibility to protect” could produce “a multi-dimensional catastrophe in the heart of Asia,” she said. But again, as perennially over Syria, the council is split.
In Myanmar’s case, it’s China, not Russia, that holds the whip hand. Like Moscow, Beijing plays a double game. Its UN ambassador, Zhang Jun, said China supported stability, dialogue, and what he disingenuously termed the “democratic transition”.
Yet it is China that is blocking international sanctions and other UN action to rein in the junta. Like Russia in Syria, it is a saviour of killers. No surprise, perhaps. If it’s a choice between autocracy and democracy, the world knows where president Xi Jinping stands.
The US president, Joe Biden, says human rights are a central plank of his foreign policy. But over Myanmar, he looks weak as Beijing calls his bluff. The UK, the former colonial power, is trying harder, leading the UN debate, sanctioning military-related sales, and providing funds to record rights abuses.
Meanwhile, Myanmar’s neighbours in the Association of South-East Asian Nations make solemn statements and do next to nothing. Taken altogether, it’s nowhere near enough. The pressure group Burma Campaign UK demands a global arms embargo, for example, and referral to the international criminal court.
There is little doubt Gen Min Aung Hlaing, the junta boss, and members of the military and police are each day committing crimes against humanity and war crimes. Min Aung Hlaing is already wanted for the 2017 genocide of the Rohingya minority.
These uniformed killers and torturers are counting on impunity fuelled by international divisions and inertia. As matters stand, it’s entirely possible that, like Assad and most of his henchmen, they will escape justice.
Hundreds of civilians have been killed so far, and thousands detained or forcibly disappeared, according to the UN’s human rights office. “Night raids, mass arrests and killings have become daily occurrences,” it reported last week.
“De facto military authorities have increasingly resorted to heavy weaponry such as rocket-propelled and fragmentation grenades, heavy machine guns, and snipers to kill demonstrators in massive numbers,” it said.
Evidence accumulates that youthful civilian demonstrators are being radicalised by this trauma. Unusually, street protests appear to enjoy broad middle class support. There is talk of taking up arms in self-defence and building an opposition-based federal army – another echo of Syria in 2011.
Significantly, Myanmar’s “parallel government”, the CRPH, comprising MPs elected in last year’s election and supporters of the deposed leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, is now proposing a new federal constitution that recognises the rights of ethnic minorities..."
Source/publisher:
"The Guardian" (UK)
Date of publication:
2021-04-04
Date of entry/update:
2021-04-04
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Anti-coup protesters, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association, violations of, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Political role of the Tatmadaw
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Reports say 550 people dead, including 46 children, and almost 3,000 detained since February coup
Description:
"Security forces in central Myanmar opened fire on anti-coup protesters on Saturday in violence that a human rights group said has left 550 civilians dead since the military takeover.
Of those, 46 were children, according to Myanmar’s Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. Some 2,751 people have been detained or sentenced, the group said.
Threats of lethal violence and arrests of protesters have failed to suppress daily demonstrations across Myanmar demanding that the military step down and reinstate the democratically elected government.
Government forces fired at demonstrators in Monywa city in central Myanmar, according to social media posts. One video showed a group of protesters carrying away a young man with what appeared to be a serious head wound, as gunfire sounded. His condition was not immediately known.
Late on Friday, armed plainclothes police took five people into custody after they spoke to a CNN reporter in a Yangon market, local media reported, citing witnesses. The arrests occurred in three separate incidents.
Two women reportedly shouted for help as they were being arrested, Myanmar Now news service reported. One police officer, who was carrying a gun, asked if “anyone dared to help them”, a witness told the news service.
“They pointed their pistols at everyone – at passersby and at people in the store,” a witness said of two police officers who forcibly took away two other women in the market.
Meanwhile, the Karen National Union representing the ethnic minority rebel group that has been fighting the government for decades condemned “non-stop bombings and airstrikes” against villages and “unarmed civilians” in their homeland along the border with Thailand.
“The attacks have caused the death of many people including children and students, and the destruction of schools, residential homes and villages. These terrorist acts are clearly a flagrant violation of local and international laws,” the group said.
In areas controlled by the Karen, more than a dozen civilians have been killed and at least 20,000 displaced since 27 March, according to the Free Burma Rangers, a relief agency operating in the region.
About 3,000 Karen fled to Thailand, but many returned under unclear circumstances. Thai authorities said they went back voluntarily, but aid groups say they are not safe and many are hiding in the jungle and in caves on the Myanmar side of the border.
More than a dozen minority groups have sought greater autonomy from the central government for decades, sometimes through armed struggle. Several of the major groups – including the Kachin, Karen and Rakhine Arakan Army – have denounced the coup and said they will defend protesters in their territories.
After weeks of overnight cutoffs of internet access, Myanmar’s military on Friday shut all links apart from those using fibre-optic cable, which was working at drastically reduced speeds. Access to mobile networks and all wireless, the less costly options used by most people in the country, remained blocked on Saturday. The coup reversed years of slow progress toward democracy in Myanmar, which for five decades languished under strict military rule that led to international isolation and sanctions. As the generals loosened their grip, culminating in Aung San Suu Kyi’s rise to leadership in 2015 elections, the international community responded by lifting most sanctions and pouring investment into the country..."
Source/publisher:
"The Guardian" (UK)
Date of publication:
2021-04-03
Date of entry/update:
2021-04-04
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Anti-coup protesters, Freedom of Opinion and Expression - tools for change in Burma/Myanmar, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Political role of the Tatmadaw, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Demonstrators in North Okkalapa flee under fire, and junta units raid striking rail workers’ district
Description:
"Police in Myanmar have surrounded and arrested at least 200 students and civilians protesting against the military coup on the outskirts of Yangon, according to witnesses who said those detained were driven away in unmarked trucks.
Video footage from North Okkalapa showed protesters fleeing under fire. At least one person appeared to be seriously wounded. Earlier, military forces raided a compound in a Yangon neighbourhood that is home to state railway workers who have been on strike. Riot police sealed off the Mingalar Taung Nyunt area where the Ma Hlwa Kone train station and housing for rail employees are located.
Photographs on social media showed officers blocking streets and what appeared to be people escaping. At least three arrests were reported. These could not immediately be confirmed. There was no apparent resistance to the raid, and local media said the authorities forced at least some residents from their homes.
The latest clampdown follows mass arrests a week ago when about 400 young people were put in prison.
As demonstrations continued in towns and cities across the country, the US embassy in Yangon condemned the police action against “innocent” people. It urged security forces to withdraw and to release all of those arrested. The military junta, led by Min Aung Hlaing, appears determined to crush the country’s general strike. Hlaing seized power on 1 February, overthrowing a civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi, whose National League for Democracy won elections in November and was about start a second term. The coup undid years of slow progress towards democracy following five decades of military rule, and sparked a wave of non-violent protests. A civil disobedience movement has united large numbers of public-sector employees – some of whom have taken to the streets – and there has been a boycott of military-owned companies.
The raid on state rail workers comes days after several unions issued a joint call for a nationwide work stoppage. They said their strike would be part of a broader effort for “the full, extended shutdown of the Myanmar economy”.
Despite the increasingly violent tactics of security forces, protests continued on Wednesday in cities including in Mandalay, Monywa, Dawei, Myitkyina, Myitkyina, Bago, Kalaw and Myingyan. Some were met with police force, while others were brief and free of violence.
Riot police in the small southern city of Dawei fired teargas, forcing marchers to disperse and hide. There were reports of the use of rubber bullets. No injuries have been confirmed. A leading organiser of protests was arrested, according to the Dawei Watch news service. The city has become a hotspot for anti-coup protests and been subjected to heavy police crackdowns. Up to five deaths have occurred..."
Source/publisher:
"The Guardian" (UK)
Date of publication:
2021-03-10
Date of entry/update:
2021-03-11
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, The Military's political role
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Description:
"The Myanmar military is using increasingly lethal tactics and weapons normally seen on the battlefield against peaceful protesters and bystanders across the country, new research by Amnesty International has revealed.
By verifying more than 50 videos from the ongoing crackdown, Amnesty International’s Crisis Evidence Lab can confirm that security forces appear to be implementing planned, systematic strategies including the ramped-up use of lethal force. Many of the killings documented amount to extrajudicial executions. Footage clearly shows that Myanmar military troops - also known as the Tatmadaw - are increasingly armed with weapons that are only appropriate for the battlefield, not for policing actions. Officers are frequently seen engaging in reckless behavior, including the indiscriminate spraying of live ammunition in urban areas. NEWS
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(Photo by Kaung Zaw Hein/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
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Myanmar: Vast arsenal and notorious troops deployed during nationwide ‘killing spree’ protest crackdown – new research
11 March 2021, 00:01 UTC
Analysis of more than 50 videos show systematic and premeditated killings amid extensive deployment of battlefield weaponry
Soldiers implicated in atrocity crimes against ethnic minorities now operating in Myanmar’s cities
Evidence of extrajudicial executions and killings on orders of commanders
The Myanmar military is using increasingly lethal tactics and weapons normally seen on the battlefield against peaceful protesters and bystanders across the country, new research by Amnesty International has revealed.
By verifying more than 50 videos from the ongoing crackdown, Amnesty International’s Crisis Evidence Lab can confirm that security forces appear to be implementing planned, systematic strategies including the ramped-up use of lethal force. Many of the killings documented amount to extrajudicial executions.
These Myanmar military tactics are far from new, but their killing sprees have never before been livestreamed for the world to see.
Joanne Mariner, Director of Crisis Response
Footage clearly shows that Myanmar military troops - also known as the Tatmadaw - are increasingly armed with weapons that are only appropriate for the battlefield, not for policing actions. Officers are frequently seen engaging in reckless behavior, including the indiscriminate spraying of live ammunition in urban areas.
“These Myanmar military tactics are far from new, but their killing sprees have never before been livestreamed for the world to see,” said Joanne Mariner, Director of Crisis Response at Amnesty International.
“These are not the actions of overwhelmed, individual officers making poor decisions. These are unrepentant commanders already implicated in crimes against humanity, deploying their troops and murderous methods in the open.
“For years, ethnic minorities - including the Chin, Kachin, Karen, Rakhine, Rohingya, Shan, Ta’ang and more - have borne the brunt of horrific violence meted out by the Tatmadaw. Along with other rights groups, we have called on the UN Security Council to refer the situation in Myanmar to the International Criminal Court, and bring the Tatmadaw’s senior commanders, including Min Aung Hlaing, to justice. Instead the Security Council has done nothing, and today we see the same military units turn their fire on protesters. “The military authorities must immediately cease their deadly onslaught, de-escalate the situation nationwide, and release all those arbitrarily detained.”
The 55 clips, filmed from 28 February to 8 March, were recorded by members of the public and local media in cities including Dawei, Mandalay, Mawlamyine, Monywa, Myeik, Myitkyina and Yangon.
According to the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, the death toll from the protests as of 4 March stands at 61. This official estimate excludes additional known casualties in recent days..."
Source/publisher:
"Amnesty International" (UK)
Date of publication:
2021-03-11
Date of entry/update:
2021-03-11
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, The Military's political role, Amnesty International reports on Burma/Myanmar
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"The United Nations Security Council has condemned the escalating violence in Myanmar and called on the army to show restraint in its response to peaceful protesters, as the United States imposed sanctions on two children of junta leader Min Aung Hlaing.
In a statement issued on Wednesday following days of talks that sometimes broke down, the 15-member council said it “strongly condemns the violence against peaceful protesters, including against women, youth and children. “The council calls for the military to exercise utmost restraint and emphasizes that it is following the situation closely.”
Language that would have condemned the February 1 coup and threatened possible further action was removed from the UK-drafted text, due to opposition by China, Russia, India and Vietnam.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he hoped the statement would push the military to realise it “is absolutely essential” that all prisoners are released and that the results of a November election are respected. The army has justified the coup by saying that the election, won by Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy in a landslide, was marred by fraud – a claim rejected by the electoral commission. The junta has promised a new election, but has not said when it might take place.
Guterres acknowledged that Myanmar was not a “perfect democracy” before the coup.
“It was still heavily under military control in many aspects, which makes this coup even more difficult to understand, especially the accusations of electoral fraud by those that were largely in control of the country,” he said.
The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, an advocacy group tracking arrests since the military seized power, said on Wednesday night that more than 60 people had been killed since the protests began. Some 2,008 people had been detained with 1,689 still in custody, it said.
While welcoming the Security Council statement, rights groups monitoring the situation in Myanmar said more action was needed..."
Source/publisher:
"Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
Date of publication:
2021-03-10
Date of entry/update:
2021-03-11
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, The Military's political role, Sanctions - general, Political, social and economic dimensions of investment in Burma
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Description:
"Myanmar security forces surrounded the staff compound of striking railway workers opposed to the military junta on Wednesday as ousted lawmakers appointed an acting vice president to take over the duties of detained politicians. In New York, the U.N. Security Council failed to agree on a statement that would have condemned the coup in Myanmar, called for restraint by the military and threatened to consider “further measures.”
Talks on the statement would likely continue, diplomats said, after China, Russia, India and Vietnam all suggested amendments late on Tuesday to a British draft, including removal of the reference to a coup and the threat to consider further action.
The railway staff in Yangon are part of a civil disobedience movement that has crippled government business and included strikes at banks, factories and shops since the army ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government in a coup on Feb. 1.
Security forces have cracked down with increasing force on daily, nationwide protests, leaving the Southeast Asian nation in turmoil. More than 60 protesters have been killed and 1,900 people have been arrested since the coup, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, an advocacy group, has said. Footage posted on social media showed security forces near the railway staff compound. One person involved in the strike said by telephone they feared an imminent crackdown.
“I think they are going to arrest us. Please help us,” said the person, who asked to be identified only as Ma Su rather than their full name.
In a Facebook live broadcast from the area people chanted: “Are we staff united? Yes, we are united” and a commentator claimed police were trying to remove barricades and threatening to shoot.
Details could not be independently verified. Police and army officials did not respond to requests for comment..."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK)
Date of publication:
2021-03-10
Date of entry/update:
2021-03-10
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, The Military's political role, Rail Workers strike
Language:
more
Sub-title:
After over a month of daily protests, anti-coup demonstrators continued to adapt with creative tactics in response to military’s campaign of terror
Description:
"The Myanmar military continued to terrorize peaceful anti-coup demonstrators with lethal force across the country on Monday, killing at least three protesters and severely injuring many others.
The attacks came after soldiers and police came out in force in Yangon on Sunday night in anticipation of another day of mass protests.
Security forces stationed themselves inside hospitals, pagoda compounds and universities in Yangon and other major cities.
Gunfire and stun grenade explosions were heard at night in numerous Yangon townships in what appeared to be a bid to terrorize the city’s population.
But anti-military demonstrators still took to the streets on Monday morning, rallying around yet another call for a general strike, this time to coincide with International Women’s Day.
At a women-led anti-coup demonstration in Sanchaung township, protesters used htameins as flags. Many superstitious soldiers believe that walking beneath the sarong-like garment - or anything else worn by a woman below the waist - diminishes a man’s power.
Protesters have been hanging htameins above roads to delay the advance of security forces, a strategy that uses the military’s own misogyny against them.
At many protest sites in Yangon, security forces broke up demonstrations using teargas and stun grenades.
Protesters once again avoided confrontations with a cat and mouse strategy, retreating when security forces approached but gathering again whenever they had the chance.
Elsewhere in Myanmar, things were more violent. Two were shot dead by security forces in the Kachin capital of Myitkyina, residents and a protest organizer said.
The two victims have been identified as 63-year-old Ko Ko Lay, also known as Cho Tha, and 23-year-old Zin Min Htet. They were both shot in the head.
Security forces also used stun grenades and tear gas while attacking protesters in front of the Saint Francis Xavier Catholic church.
“They died on the scene in front of the church. Both of their heads were crushed by bullets,” the protest organizer told Myanmar Now.
The funeral for Ko Ko Lay will be held on Sunday afternoon in accordance with Islamic tradition, while Zin Min Htet’s body was brought to his house, said Lamai Gum Ja from the Peace-talk Creation Group, a local volunteer organization.
At least ten people were arrested and five severely injured in the attack, he added..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2021-03-09
Date of entry/update:
2021-03-09
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Burma/Myanmar's political parties, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma
Language:
more
Sub-title:
The outlets have reported extensively on protests over the coup over recent weeks, as well as the brutal response by the security forces
Description:
"Myanmar’s military junta has revoked the licences of five media outlets as it seeks to clampdown on independent coverage of anti-coup protests, a major blow to press freedom in the country.
Mizzima, Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), Khit Thit Media, Myanmar Now and 7Day News have each been ordered to close, according to an announcement on state broadcaster MRTV. It said the companies were “no longer allowed to broadcast or write or give information by using any kind of media platform or using any media technology.”
The outlets have reported extensively on protests over the coup over recent weeks, as well as the brutal response by the security forces. Hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets to call for the military to hand power back to the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. Police and troops have responded with lethal force, killing more than 50 people. Rights experts warn the military has adopted a “shoot to kill” approach. On Monday evening, before the junta announced it was to ban several media companies, soldiers and police raided the headquarters of Myanmar Now, a news outlet that scrutinises the Tatmadaw, or military, seizing computers, part of the newsroom’s data server and other equipment.
The offices were evacuated as a precautionary measure on 28 January as talk of a possible coup intensified and were empty at the time, a representative said.
Nearly 1,800 people have been detained during army crackdowns, including dozens of journalists. In one disturbing video shared last week, Kaung Myat Hlaing, a journalist working for DVB in the southern city of Myeik, filmed from his balcony as security forces surrounded his apartment, shouting for him to come down. What sounds like gunfire can be heard in the background. He calls out, urging his neighbours to help him. DVB later confirmed he had been detained. Six journalists, including the Associated Press photojournalist Thein Zaw, have been charged with violating a public order law for covering the coup. They could be imprisoned for up to three years.
DVB said it was not surprised by the cancellation of its licence, adding that it would continue broadcasting on satellite TV and online. “We worry for the safety of our reporters and our staff, but in the current uprising, the whole country has become the citizens’ journalists and there is no way for military authorities to shut the information flow,” executive director Aye Chan Naing told Associated Press.
Since the coup, protesters have flooded social media with footage from protests, and used Facebook Live to document military crackdowns on peaceful demonstrators. The junta attempted to block social media early in February, but many have evaded the restrictions by using virtual private networks (VPNs). At night, however, when the military conducts raids of homes, the junta routinely imposes a nationwide internet shutdown.
On Monday night, security forces blocked around 200 people from leaving a four-street area in Sanchaung township in the country’s largest city, Yangon, according to the UN rights office. The Associated Press reported that door-to-door searches were carried out, with police searching for protesters who had sought shelter in the buildings. Protesters have since been allowed to leave the area. A rights group told Reuters about 50 people had been arrested in Sanchaung after police searched houses, though checks were still being made.
While the protesters were trapped, the UN secretary general, António Guterres had called for their release “without violence or arrests”.
Guterres’s spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric, said the secretary general had been following the developments “very closely”, particularly in the township “where hundreds of peaceful protesters have been barricaded inside residential apartment complexes for hours”.
Sharp loud bangs had been heard coming from the area, according to an AFP reporter, although it was not immediately clear if the sounds were caused by gunfire or stun grenades. Repeated screaming was audible in a live Facebook stream.
Guterres also called the occupation of a number of public hospitals in Myanmar by security forces “completely unacceptable,” the UN spokesperson said..."
Source/publisher:
"The Guardian" (UK)
Date of publication:
2021-03-09
Date of entry/update:
2021-03-09
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
more
Sub-title:
Immediately Produce Another NLD Official’s Forcibly Disappeared Father
Description:
"Myanmar’s junta should promptly and impartially investigate and hold accountable those responsible for the torture and death in custody of a National League for Democracy (NLD) official, Human Rights Watch said today. The junta should also urgently produce U Peter, the forcibly disappeared father of an NLD elected official and all others “disappeared” since the February 1, 2021, coup.
On the evening of March 6, 2021, witnesses saw soldiers and police arrive at the home of Khin Maung Latt, 58, a ward chairman in Pabedan township in downtown Yangon. After forcibly entering his home, the security forces beat and kicked Khin Maung Latt in front of his family, then took him away at gunpoint. The next morning, Khin Maung Latt’s family recovered his body from a hospital after notification by the authorities. The body had severe wounds to the hands and back and was covered in a bloody shroud, a witness said. “Myanmar’s junta runs the security forces and can quickly find out who killed Khin Maung Latt if they want to,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “If they want to show they believe in the rule of law, all those responsible should be held to account. Sadly, Myanmar’s security forces seem intent on using nighttime raids and brutal mistreatment to create fear and break popular resistance to military rule.”
A witness told Human Rights Watch that at 9:15 p.m., four military trucks arrived and stationed themselves on Anawrahta Road between 29th and 30th streets. Soldiers identified as being from the 77th Light Infantry Division lined up on 30th Street, where Khin Maung Latt lived, while others stood on 29th Street. Between 9:15 p.m. and 10.30 p.m., 15 gunshots were heard, the witness said. All the military trucks left at 11 p.m. The authorities informed Khin Maung Latt’s family around 7:30 a.m. on March 7 that they should retrieve his body from the Mingladon military hospital. A member of the Muslim community who helped prepare Khin Maung Latt’s body for a Muslim burial said there were deep wounds on his back and hands consistent with torture..."
Source/publisher:
"Human Rights Watch" (USA)
Date of publication:
2021-03-09
Date of entry/update:
2021-03-09
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Political role of the Tatmadaw, The Military's political role, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar, Human Rights Watch Reports on Burma/Myanmar
Language:
more
Description:
"With live fire being deployed on a widespread basis in Myanmar since a military coup on February 1, the generals who seized power have lived up to fears that they would resort to lethal force against their own citizens. Early restraint in the face of peaceful protesters has been replaced with bullets, and security forces have killed more than 50 people to date. Several victims were killed by shots to the head -- a sign that the troops were shooting to kill as part of their intensifying crackdown that also has included curfews and nightly internet shutdowns, armored vehicles and armed troops on the streets and draconian laws limiting freedom of speech and assembly.
Predictably, the coup and the violence against unarmed civilians triggered international condemnation, new sanctions by the US, the UK and Canada and threats of sanctions from the European Union.
But statements like these have done little more than highlight just how limited the world's diplomatic arsenal is against crises of this nature -- especially when most governments are battling the Covid-19 pandemic or trying to revive their sagging economies and Myanmar's military leaders seem not to care about returning their country to pariahdom. "The army in Myanmar has a long track record of not listening to the outside world, not caring what people think, simply living off, in a vicarious way, the isolation that is then imposed," Southeast Asia expert Michael Vatikiotis told me.
Indeed, it is hard to see how international opprobrium or even sanctions -- a blunt and controversial tool with a limited record of success -- are likely to convince the generals to release the government leaders they're detaining and accept that the military lost last November's election. Nor are measures against the military likely to get backing from China and Russia, which have taken a softer line to responding to the coup. So is there anything that could persuade the generals to back down? Myanmar is a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the political bloc that probably has the most influence over the generals. So far the bloc has failed to unite behind a strong call of action, but it's high time it did. If member countries such as Thailand begin to see a flood of refugees, transforming the unrest into a regional crisis, that could force ASEAN to relax its policy of non-interference in the affairs of member states and take a strong stance against the junta -- something it should do nonetheless for the sake of ASEAN's own credibility..."
Source/publisher:
"CNN" (USA)
Date of publication:
2021-03-09
Date of entry/update:
2021-03-09
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar, Political role of the Tatmadaw
Language:
more
Description:
" Australia has suspended its defence cooperation programme with Myanmar, Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne said, amid an intensified crackdown by the country’s military on massive protests against last month’s coup.
Australia will also redirect immediate humanitarian needs to Rohingyas and other ethnic minorities, Payne said in a statement late Sunday.
“We will prioritise the most pressing humanitarian and emerging needs and seek to ensure our humanitarian engagement is with and through non-government organisations, not with government or government-related entities,” Payne said.
Australia bilateral defence ties with Myanmar’s military are restricted to non-combat areas such as English language training.
Canberra will also continue to demand the immediate release of Sean Turnell, an economist and adviser to deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi, authorities said. Turnell has been detained with limited consular access since the Feb. 1 coup that overthrew Myanmar’s elected government.
Hundreds of people gathered in Australia’s largest city of Sydney over the weekend urging the Australian government to take a strong stance against the coup.
The Southeast Asian country has been plunged in turmoil after the army took over control of the country and detained elected leaders, with daily protests that United Nations said had killed more than 50 people.
“We continue to strongly urge the Myanmar security forces to exercise restraint and refrain from violence against civilians,” Payne said..."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK)
Date of publication:
2021-03-03
Date of entry/update:
2021-03-08
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Human Rights and international relations, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Australia-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"China is willing to engage with “all parties” to ease the crisis in neighbouring Myanmar and is not taking sides, the Chinese government’s top diplomat, State Councillor Wang Yi, said on Sunday. Beijing has said the situation in Myanmar, where the military seized power last month, was “absolutely not what China wants to see” and has dismissed social media rumours of Chinese involvement in the coup as nonsense.
“China is ... willing to contact and communicate with all parties on the basis of respecting Myanmar’s sovereignty and the will of the people, so as to play a constructive role in easing tensions,” Wang told a news conference on the sidelines of China’s annual gathering of parliament.
While Western countries have strongly condemned the Feb. 1 coup, China has been more cautious, emphasising the importance of stability.
China nonetheless agreed to a United Nations Security Council statement that called for the release of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other detainees and voiced concern over the state of emergency. “China has long-term friendly exchanges with all parties and factions in Myanmar, including the National League for Democracy (NLD), and friendship with China has always been the consensus of all sectors in Myanmar,” Wang said.
The NLD is Suu Kyi’s party. Its landslide November victory in national elections has been ignored by the junta.
“No matter how the situation in Myanmar changes, China’s determination to promote China-Myanmar relations will not waver, and China’s direction of promoting China-Myanmar friendly cooperation will not change,” Wang said.
On Saturday, an Israeli-Canadian lobbyist hired by Myanmar’s junta told Reuters that the generals are keen to leave politics after their coup and seek to improve relations with the United States and distance themselves from China.
Some of the protests against the coup, which have drawn hundreds of thousands of people onto the streets, have taken place outside the Chinese embassy in Yangon, with protesters accusing Beijing of supporting the junta..."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK)
Date of publication:
2021-03-07
Date of entry/update:
2021-03-08
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar, Political role of the Tatmadaw, China-Burma relations, Burma/Myanmar's political parties
Language:
more
Description:
"Troops in Myanmar have occupied hospitals and university campuses, and ramped up nighttime raids ahead of a nationwide strike to protest against the military coup, according to local media reports.
It's the latest move by the military junta, which seized power on February 1, to consolidate its control of the country in the face of mass protests and resistance to its increasingly violent rule. More than 54 people have died in crackdowns on protests, including many teenagers and young people, according to the United Nations.
In many districts of the biggest city, Yangon, on Saturday and Sunday, witnesses reported sounds of gunfire and stun grenades. Terrified residents watched and filmed as security forces raided residential areas in the city and made several nighttime arrests. Residents told Reuters police fired shots and did not give reasons for the arrests, which continued into the early hours of Sunday.
One of those detained in the raids Saturday was a party official from Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD). Khin Maung Latt died while in custody, according to advocacy group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) and Reuters.
"On the night of his arrest, Khin Maung Latt was tortured to death in his cell," AAPP said in a news release Sunday. Reports of bruising to Khin Maung Latt's head and body raised suspicions he had been abused, NLD lawmaker Ba Myo Thein told Reuters.
CNN cannot independently verify this reporting and the details surrounding Khin Maung Latt's death are not immediately clear.
Khin Maung Latt had worked as a campaign manager for one of two Muslim lawmakers elected in 2020. Mourners gathered for his funeral on Sunday in Yangon..."
Source/publisher:
"CNN" (USA)
Date of publication:
2021-03-08
Date of entry/update:
2021-03-08
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory
Language:
more
Description:
"In Myanmar, protesters took zo the streets again to continue their demonstrations against last month's military coup and demanding the release of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Tens of thousands participated in the Marches, with the largest protests in the city of Mandalay. It followed police raids targeting opposition leaders, where a number of people were arrested. Witnesses have described hearing shots during those raids. It comes as the Chinese government says it's willing to work with the relevant parties to ease tensions.
There hasn't been a day of rest for protestors since February first, when the military rounded up the country's democratically elected leaders, and told the world they are now in charge. Estimated 50 deaths, one in particular has gripped people around the world.
Mandalay university student Kyal Sin was shot in the head as police opened fire on protesters last Wednesday. Thousands attended her funeral a day later. Giving the three-finger salute that has become a gesture of solidarity among pro-democracy civilians – and a show of defiance against the military.
Kyal Sin hasn't been allowed to rest in peace. Witnesses say her grave was disturbed by soldiers shortly after her burial. They allege her body was subject to a graveside autopsy by military doctors. Only adding to the outrage over her killing.
Kyal Sin's story is no isolated incident. Wednesday was the deadliest day since protests began at the start of February. But UN figures show more than 50 civilian protestors have been killed since the military coup.
Many people say the international community isn't doing enough. Diplomatic efforts so far have failed. The UN's special envoy has urged the security council to act now. But that hasn't stopped one day of violence.
With no signs of the bitter and dangerous standoff easing between civilians and the military, many are wondering when everything will nbe okay on the streets of Myanmar again..."
Source/publisher:
"DW News" (Germany)
Date of publication:
2021-03-07
Date of entry/update:
2021-03-08
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
more
Sub-title:
Western trade groups spurn coup regime's advances but nation's top business organization continues to engage the generals
Description:
"Myanmar businesses are divided over how to respond to the new regime, even as the junta’s attempts to win legitimacy among investors have been rebuffed by major foreign business groups.
Western business groups, namely European, American, British, Italian and French chambers of commerce, rejected the regime’s invitation to meet on March 4. At the same time, major Asian business groups such as the Thai, Hong Kong, Japanese and Chinese have not released any statements of concern since the coup and lethal crackdown on protesters.
The Western chambers’ refusal comes at a time of widespread and rising condemnation against the regime’s brutal crackdown on unarmed protesting civilians, with more than 50 killed as of March 3, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), an independent monitoring group.
Australian business group AustCham Myanmar said on Wednesday it has “serious concern over the increasing use of violence against the people campaigning for a return to democratic Government in Myanmar.”
Yangon, the commercial capital, saw at least up to 32 killed in North Okkalapa township alone, in the eastern part, with witnesses saying they heard what sounded like continuous machine gun fire. Photos in Mandalay have shown fighter jets in the sky, which many citizens assume is to strike fear. Live ammunition was used in seven cities on Wednesday including Yangon, Mandalay, Myingyan, Mawlamyine, Monywa, Pyin Oo Lwin and Hpakant, said AAPP.
“Myanmar will never be the same again,” Cardinal Charles Bo, the Catholic Church’s highest prelate in Myanmar, tweeted in response to the Wednesday massacre..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of publication:
2021-03-06
Date of entry/update:
2021-03-07
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Burma/Myanmar's relationship with the Global Economy, Business and the Military
Language:
more
Description:
"Sky News investigates the killing of a protester in Myanmar after the military opened fire.
Several videos from before and after the shooting give a full picture of how events unfolded.
Zin Ko Ko Zaw was 22 years old. One of at least 38 people killed that day..."
Source/publisher:
"Sky News"
Date of publication:
2021-03-06
Date of entry/update:
2021-03-07
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma
Language:
more
Sub-title:
Demonstrations held in more than half a dozen cities after soldiers and police moved in on several districts in Yangon
Description:
"Tens of thousands of people came out in Myanmar on Sunday in one of the biggest days of protest against the coup, despite overnight raids by security forces in the main city, Yangon, on campaign leaders and opposition activists.
Police fired tear gas and stun grenades in Lashio town in the country’s northern Shan region, according to live video posted on Facebook. A witness said police opened fire to break up a protest in the historic temple town of Bagan, but it was not clear if they were using rubber bullets or live ammunition. There were no immediate reports of casualties. Protests in half a dozen other cities were peaceful.
The biggest turnout in Sunday’s protests was in Myanmar’s second city, Mandalay, where activists staged a sit-in protest after two minutes of silence in honour of people killed by police and the army, video showed.
The United Nations says security forces have killed more than 50 people since daily protests began after the military overthrew and detained elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi on 1 February.
“They are killing people just like killing birds and chickens,” one protest leader said to the crowd in Dawei, in the country’s south. “What will we do if we don’t revolt against them? We must revolt.”
Protests were also held in at least three places in Yangon, where residents said soldiers and police moved into several districts overnight, firing shots. They arrested at least three in Kyauktada township, said residents who did not know the reason for the arrests. “They are asking to take out my father and brother. Is no one going to help us? Don’t you even touch my father and brother. Take us too if you want to take them,” one woman screamed as two of them, an actor and his son, were led off.
Soldiers also came looking for a lawyer who worked for Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy but were unable to find him, a member of the now dissolved parliament, Sithu Maung, said in a Facebook post.
Police could not be reached for comment. A junta spokesman did not answer calls requesting comment.
More than 1,700 people had been detained under the junta by Saturday, according to figures from the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, an advocacy group..."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK) via "The Guardian" (UK)
Date of publication:
2021-03-07
Date of entry/update:
2021-03-07
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
more
Sub-title:
Hopes placed in the UN and the Member States that serve on the Security Council to take action against leaders of Myanmar’s military coup, are waning fast, the UN Special Envoy for the country warned on Friday.
Description:
"Christine Schraner Burgener welcomed the fact that the Council was meeting behind closed doors on Friday to discuss the rising death toll on the streets as daily protests continue but told Ambassadors that “your unity is needed more than ever on Myanmar”.
Power to veto any Security Council statements or resolutions, rests with the five Permanent Members, China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
‘Real heroes’
The Special Envoy said she had been in close contact with people across various communities since the 1 February military takeover, noting that “they, including committed civil servants, are the real heroes and protectors of the nation’s democratic progress.”
But, she added, “the hope they have placed in the United Nations and its membership is waning and I have heard directly the desperate pleas – from mothers, students and the elderly. I receive every day around 2,000 messages, for international action to reverse a clear assault on the will of the people of Myanmar and democratic principles.”
She urged the Council to push further to end the violence, and restore democratic institutions, denouncing the actions by the military, “which continues to severely undermine the principles of this Organization and ignores our clear signals to uphold them.” The envoy noted that around 50 “innocent and peaceful” protesters had now been killed, with scores more injured, with evidence mounting of killings and maiming by military snipers, in contravention of international human rights law.
As of 2 March, she said the UN human rights office OHCHR was reporting that around 1,000 are either detained or unaccounted for, having been arbitrarily taken from the streets.
“The Secretary-General, who remains closely engaged, continues to speak out and has strongly condemned the violent crackdown”, she said, adding: “The repression must stop.”
Be 'resolute and coherent'
“It is critical that this Council is resolute and coherent in putting the security forces on notice and standing with the people of Myanmar firmly, in support of the clear November election results” she said, which overwhelmingly returned the party of jailed leader Aung San Suu Kyi to power.
She praised the stand taken by Myanmar’s ambassador to the UN, Kyaw Moe Tun, who a week ago publicly sided with the protesters against the coup, and has remained in post, despite the efforts of the Burmese military to remove him. He “needs your full support”, she told the Council.
Ms. Schraner Burgener said she had continued to communicate the UN’s “strong dismay and condemnation” for its failure to protect the Burmese people, and said she would continue to engage, with all actors during the crisis..."
Source/publisher:
UN News
Date of publication:
2021-03-05
Date of entry/update:
2021-03-06
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Political analysis of Burma and the region, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar, The UN and Burma - news and commentary
Language:
more
Description:
"For many of Myanmar's ethnic minorities, the bloodshed inflicted across the country's towns and cities this week is a continuation of the oppression they have suffered at the hands of the military for decades.
The Southeast Asian country is home to some of the world's longest civil wars, where myriad ethnic insurgencies have fought the military, central government and each other for greater rights and autonomy. Some of those bloody conflicts have ebbed and flowed in the borderlands for 70 years.
Throughout years of conflict in Myanmar's jungles and mountains, ethnic people have witnessed and been subjected to horrific atrocities including massacres, rape and other forms of sexual violence, torture, forced labor and displacement by the armed forces, as well as state-sanctioned discrimination.
In 2016 and 2017, the military launched a brutal campaign of killing and arson that forced more than 740,000 Rohingya minority people to flee into neighboring Bangladesh, prompting a genocide case to be heard at the International Court of Justice. In 2019, the United Nations said "grave human rights abuses" by the military were still continuing in the ethnic states of Rakhine, Chin, Shan, Kachin and Karen. This week, that brutality played out on the streets of Myanmar's biggest cities, as the ruling junta launched a systematic and coordinated attack on unarmed peaceful demonstrators calling for an end to the February 1 coup. Witnesses, footage and photographs showed police and the military shooting dead anti-coup protesters, beating detainees and reported extrajudicial killings, while images of crumpled bodies laying in pools of their own blood or being dragged through the streets shocked the world.
Determined to fight against those abuses and ensure their distinct voices and demands are heard, ethnic people have loudly joined the nationwide protests, uniting in solidarity against a common enemy. Though many fear further violence and intensified conflict from an unchecked military junta operating with impunity and now firmly in control of the country.
"This fight has been since the beginning of the forming of the country itself. We hope that the current fight against the military coup in 21st century might be a new hope for our people," said Chin activist Sang Hnin Lian..."
Source/publisher:
"CNN" (USA)
Date of publication:
2021-03-06
Date of entry/update:
2021-03-06
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar, Racial or ethnic discrimination in Burma: reports of violations against several groups, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first)
Language:
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Description:
"More than a month on from a democracy-suspending military coup in Myanmar, many see the junta’s increasingly violent crackdown on dissent as approaching a point of no return. As the United States and others press for tougher sanctions on the junta’s leaders, Southeast Asian nations are under pressure to intervene to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe.
With its credibility on the line after past failures to tackle human rights crises in the region, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is still widely seen as the best hope for a diplomatic solution amid uncharacteristic outspokenness from some of its member states who are pushing to build a regional consensus on the need for Myanmar to return to democracy.
But the grouping isn’t speaking with one voice, with some of its members describing the putsch as an internal matter, consistent with the bloc’s long-held tradition of non-interference in members’ domestic affairs. Moreover, the organization’s diplomatic efforts have been met with skepticism by those protesting across Myanmar who are staunchly opposed to any engagement that would confer legitimacy onto Naypyidaw’s generals..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of publication:
2021-03-04
Date of entry/update:
2021-03-05
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Human Rights Reporting (global, regional and Myanmar), Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar, ASEAN-Burma relations
Language:
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Sub-title:
The 82-year-old’s lawyer asked that bail be granted due to Win Htein’s need for ongoing medical care
Description:
"National League for Democracy (NLD) patron Win Htein requested that a Naypyitaw court release him from a detention center on bail on Friday, citing his deteriorating health. He awaits a trial for sedition charges brought against him by Myanmar’s ruling military council.
At 82 years old, Win Htein uses a wheelchair and is reliant on an oxygen supply to help him breathe. He suffers from hypertension, diabetes and heart and thyroid diseases, according to his lawyer, Min Min Soe.
He is charged with violating Section 124-A of the Penal Code, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years.
“We requested that the court hold the trial with him out on bail because he needs constant medical care for those health issues,” lawyer Min Min Soe told Myanmar Now.
At Win Htein’s second hearing on Friday at the Dekkhina District court in Naypyitaw, deputy judge Soe Naing said the court would make a decision regarding the bail request in the next hearing, scheduled for March 19.
Lawyer Min Min Soe also said that officials at the Naypyitaw detention center have not allowed her to meet with her client or to obtain a copy of his medical records to submit to the court. She said that the NLD’s legal team has also requested that the judge allow an open court for her client’s hearings.
The outspoken party stalwart Win Htein was arrested at his home in Yangon on the evening of February 4. He had recently returned from Naypyitaw, where he gave media interviews in which he said the coup was a result of Min Aung Hlaing’s “personal ambition.”
At his first hearing on February 19, Win Htein asked for a sentence to be handed down to him immediately, which was rejected by the judge..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2021-03-05
Date of entry/update:
2021-03-05
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
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Description:
"At least 38 people were killed after Myanmar's security forces opened fire on peaceful protesters in towns and cities across the country Wednesday, in scenes that have been described as "a war zone."
Thousands of protesters across the Southeast Asian nation have taken to the streets over the past four weeks against a military coup on February 1. Security forces have intensified their response in recent days, opening live fire into crowds, and using tear gas, flash bangs and stun grenades on demonstrators.
The United Nations said the total death toll since the coup was now 50, though activists put that total as higher.
"Today was the bloodiest day since the coup happened," Special Envoy Christine Schraner Burgener told a briefing Wednesday. Around 1,200 people have been detained, while many relatives are unsure where they are being held, she said. "Every tool available is needed now to stop this situation," Burgener said. "We need a unity of the international community, so it's up to the member states to take the right measures."
CNN reached out to the ruling military regime via email but has not yet received a response. Protesters run from police firing tear gas during a pro-democracy demonstration in Mandalay, Myanmar, on Wednesday.
Protesters have for weeks been demanding the release of democratically elected officials, including the country's leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, who are currently in detention. Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy Party (NLD) won a landslide victory in November elections; military leaders allege voter fraud but have provided no proof for their claim.
Burgener said that in discussions with the military, she had warned that the UN Security Council and members states were likely to take strong measures. "The answer was: 'We are used to sanctions, and we survived those sanctions in the past'," she said.
"When I also warned they will go in an isolation, the answer was: 'We have to learn to walk with only few friends'."
Security forces -- which include members of the military's Light Infantry Divisions long documented to be engaged in human rights abuses in conflict zones throughout the country -- escalated their deadly crackdown on peaceful demonstrators this week. "Today, the country is like the Tiananmen Square in most of its major cities," the Archbishop of Yangon, Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, said on Twitter.
In one brutal instance, Myanmar security forces were caught on camera beating emergency services with the butts of their guns, batons and kicking them in the head, according to activist group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP).
The AAPP released the video on Wednesday and said in a statement that the leaked video was from North Okkalapa, in Yangon. The video provides a glimpse into the brutal methods deployed the security forces..."
Source/publisher:
"CNN" (USA)
Date of publication:
2021-03-04
Date of entry/update:
2021-03-04
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political role of the Tatmadaw, The Military's political role, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians
Language:
more
Description:
"Myanmar security forces dramatically escalated their crackdown on protests against last month’s coup, killing at least 33 protesters Wednesday in several cities, according to accounts on social media and local news reports compiled by a data analyst.
That is highest daily death toll since the Feb. 1 takeover, exceeding the 18 that the U.N. Human Rights Office said were killed on Sunday, and could galvanize the international community, which has responded fitfully thus far to the violence. Videos from Wednesday also showed security forces firing slingshots at demonstrators, chasing them down and even brutally beating an ambulance crew.
The toll could even be higher; the Democratic Voice of Burma, an independent television and online news service, tallied 38 deaths.
Demonstrators have regularly flooded the streets of cities across the country since the military seized power and ousted the elected government of leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Their numbers have remained high even as security forces have repeatedly fired tear gas, rubber bullets and live rounds to disperse the crowds, and arrested protesters en masse. The intensifying standoff is unfortunately familiar in the country with a long history of peaceful resistance to military rule — and brutal crackdowns. The coup reversed years of slow progress toward democracy in the Southeast Asian nation after five decades of military rule.
The Wednesday death toll was compiled by a data analyst who spoke on condition of anonymity because he feared for his safety. He also collected information where he could on the victims’ names, ages, hometowns, and where and how they were killed.
The Associated Press was unable to independently confirm most of the reported deaths, but several square with online postings. The data analyst, who is in Yangon, the country’s biggest city, said he collected the information to honor those who were killed for their heroic resistance. According to his list, the highest number of deaths were in Yangon, where the total was 18. In the central city of Monywa, which has turned out huge crowds, eight were reported. Two deaths each were reported in Salin, a town in Magwe region, and in Mandalay, the country’s second-biggest city. Mawlamyine, in the country’s southeast, and Myingyan and Kalay, both in central Myanmar, each had a single death.
As part of the crackdown, security forces have also arrested hundreds of people at protests, including journalists. On Saturday, at least eight journalists, including Thein Zaw of The Associated Press, were detained. A video shows he had moved out of the way as police charged down a street at protesters, but then was seized by police officers, who handcuffed him and held him briefly in a chokehold before marching him away..."
Source/publisher:
"Associated Press" (USA)
Date of publication:
2021-03-03
Date of entry/update:
2021-03-04
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
more
Sub-title:
Security forces open fire on anti-coup protesters in Yangon, Mandalay and elsewhere
Description:
"At least 33 people have been killed after Myanmar’s security forces opened fire on peaceful anti-coup protesters in multiple towns and cities, in the worst day of violence since the military coup last month.
Police and military have increasingly used lethal violence in an attempt to crush demonstrations, killing at least 40 people since the coup on 1 February.
Crowds have continued to take to the streets daily in defiance of the military junta, with just goggles, hard hats and homemade shields for protection. Protesters are demanding that the military restore democracy and for their elected leaders to be released.
Thinzar Shunlei Yi, a human rights activist based in Yangon, described the military’s use of force against protesters as a “daily slaughter”. Among those who died on Wednesday was a 19-year-old woman shot in Mandalay. Images shared on social media showed her wearing a T-shirt that read “Everything will be OK”. A teenage boy was also killed. Local media reported that he was 14.
Security forces used deadly force in several cities including Monywa, where six people were killed and at least 30 injured, a witness told the Guardian. Hundreds of people had turned out to protest when police opened fire around 11am.
At least eight people were killed in a neighbourhood in Yangon after security forces opened sustained fire with automatic weapons in the early evening, according to Reuters.
A protester who witnessed the crackdown in North Okkalapa township told the Guardian that the firing was continuous. “I’m still going to go to the frontlines. If I get shot and die then so be it. I can’t stand it any more,” he said..."
Source/publisher:
"The Guardian" (UK)
Date of publication:
2021-03-03
Date of entry/update:
2021-03-04
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
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Description:
"The fight for control of Myanmar has now officially arrived at the United Nations.
In a letter seen by CNN, Myanmar's UN Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun has told the international body that he still represents Myanmar, after making an impassioned speech last week rejecting the country's military takeover.
Meanwhile, a deputy ambassador to the UN from Myanmar will claim that he is now the man the military authorities want to represent the country.
Both sides have sent the UN letters to make their case on official letterhead.
Myanmar's democratically elected government was overthrown last month in a military coup that saw civilian leaders including Aung San Suu Kyi detained. For weeks, thousands of people in the country have come out to protest against the coup, risking deadly violence and arrest by security forces.
"The perpetrators of the unlawful coup against the democratic government of Myanmar have no authority to countermand the legitimate authority of the President of my country," Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun wrote in his letter to the UN. But the Myanmar foreign ministry is backing a deputy ambassador to take control of the country's UN representation, according to UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric. "It's a unique situation we have not seen in a long time," Dujarric told reporters on Tuesday of the dueling claims. He added that the UN is "trying to resolve things as quickly as possible."
Myanmar's military leaders first announced Kyaw Moe Tun's removal over the weekend, after he called on UN members to use "any means necessary" to help restore the country's civilian leadership.
"We need further strongest possible action from the international community to immediately end the military coup, to stop oppressing the innocent people, to return the state power to the people and to restore the democracy," he told the UN on Friday.
Kyaw Moe Tun said he was delivering the speech on behalf of Suu Kyi's government, and flashed the three fingered "Hunger Games" salute used by protestors on the streets of Myanmar, prompting a rare round of applause from his UN colleagues at the end.
The new US ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, praised the envoy's "courageous" remarks..."
Source/publisher:
"CNN" (USA)
Date of publication:
2021-03-03
Date of entry/update:
2021-03-04
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar, The UN and Burma - news and commentary
Language:
more
Description:
"Pro-democracy demonstators in Myanmar show no signs of backing down amid the ongoing crackdown by security forces. Police fired tear gas and warning shots to disperse protestors, who have been on the streets every day since the military siezed power over a month ago. Demonstrations are taking place around the country and strikes are planned in at least one state. Diplomatic efforts to ease the crisis stalled on Tuesday as ASEAN countries failed to make a breakthrough in talks with Myanmar's military junta..."
Source/publisher:
"DW News" (Germany)
Date of publication:
2021-03-03
Date of entry/update:
2021-03-04
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar, ASEAN-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"Myanmar security forces opened fire on protests against military rule on Wednesday, killing at least 18 people, a human rights group said, a day after neighbouring countries called for restraint and offered to help Myanmar resolve the crisis. The security forces resorted to live fire with little warning in several towns and cities, witnesses said, as the junta appeared more determined than ever to stamp out protests against the Feb. 1 coup that ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.
“It’s horrific, it’s a massacre. No words can describe the situation and our feelings,” youth activist Thinzar Shunlei Yi told Reuters via a messaging app.
A spokesman for the ruling military council did not answer telephone calls seeking comment.
Ko Bo Kyi, joint secretary of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners rights group, said in a post on Twitter: “As of now, so called military killed at least 18.” In the main city Yangon, witnesses said at least eight people were killed, one early in the day and seven others when security forces opened sustained fire with automatic weapons in a neighbourhood in the north of the city in the early evening.
“I heard so much continuous firing. I lay down on the ground, they shot a lot,” protester Kaung Pyae Sone Tun, 23, told Reuters.
A protest leader in the community, Htut Paing, said the hospital there had told him seven people had been killed. Hospital administrators were not immediately available for comment.
Another heavy toll was in the central town of Monywa, where six people were killed, the Monywa Gazette reported..."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK)
Date of publication:
2021-03-03
Date of entry/update:
2021-03-04
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
more
Sub-title:
UN Security Council Should Impose Targeted Sanctions, Arms Embargo
Description:
"Myanmar’s military junta should order its security forces to end the use of excessive and lethal force against largely peaceful protesters, Human Rights Watch said today. On March 3, 2021, security forces fired live rounds at protesters, killing at least 38 and wounding more than 100 at demonstrations across the country, the United Nations reported.
One of the deadliest incidents took place in Myanmar’s largest city, Yangon, where security forces opened fire on largely peaceful protesters. Security forces fired on some protesters as they attempted to rescue an injured man. Earlier in the day, police detained and brutally beat medical workers. Human Rights Watch reviewed an incident in which a man in custody appears to be shot in the back.
“Myanmar’s security forces now seem intent on breaking the back of the anti-coup movement through wanton violence and sheer brutality,” said Richard Weir, crisis and conflict researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The use of lethal force against protesters rescuing others demonstrates how little the security forces fear being held to account for their actions.”
At a March 3 briefing, the United Nations special envoy on Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener, reported that 38 people had been killed during the day’s violence, bringing the tally of those killed since the protests began a month ago to more than 50. At least four of those killed were children, according to Save the Children. Through the analysis of 12 videos and 15 photographs, Human Rights Watch documented three incidents in which security forces apparently used live fire against protesters along the Thudhamma Road in Yangon on March 3.
In a Facebook live video posted on March 3, Human Rights Watch identified a line of at least five military vehicles positioned on the overpass road that merges into the Airport Road near Okkala Thiri Park on Thudhamma Road. The video shows hundreds of protesters shielding and taking shelter from ongoing gunfire coming from the direction of the overpass..."
Source/publisher:
"Human Rights Watch" (USA)
Date of publication:
2021-03-03
Date of entry/update:
2021-03-04
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar, Human Rights Watch Reports on Burma/Myanmar
Language:
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Sub-title:
Using live gunfire, security forces kill a 37-year-old man and 19-year-old woman in a crackdown on anti-coup protests
Description:
"Two people were shot dead after security forces cracked down on anti-coup protesters using stun grenades and live ammunition in Mandalay on Wednesday afternoon.
The victims have been identified as 37-year-old Myo Naing, who suffered a gunshot wound to the chest, and 19-year-old Kyel Sin, who was shot in the side of the head, emergency workers and family members told Myanmar Now.
No further details about the victims were available at the time of reporting.
At least 11 people were also injured in the shootings by security forces according to reporters who were covering the incident on the ground. Of those injured, two are in critical condition, having suffered gunshots to the forehead and to the back. Emergency medical workers have said that the number of people wounded could be higher, as multiple groups were working to treat them at the scene.
The protests against the military regime started on Wednesday morning with hundreds of school teachers and members of student unions gathered at the corner of 84th and 30th streets in Mandalay.
Soldiers and police officers then used stun grenades and fired their guns into the air to disperse the crowds. The protesters fled into apartment buildings in the area, as well as down side streets.
They gathered again half an hour after the morning crackdown. At around noon, the security forces shot into the crowd with live ammunition to break up the demonstration. Mandalay has seen some of the most violent and lethal crackdowns in Myanmar in recent weeks, with at least 10 people killed in the city.
The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners has estimated that around 30 people in anti-coup protests have been killed by security forces, and more than 1,200 arrested.
Security forces also fired guns and detained hundreds of people in an attempt to crush similar protests in Yangon on Wednesday..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2021-03-03
Date of entry/update:
2021-03-04
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
more
Sub-title:
In a virtual meeting, regional foreign ministers will call for Aung San Suu Kyi’s release and encourage talks between the civilian leader and the military.
Description:
"ASEAN foreign ministers are preparing to hold virtual talks with a representative of Myanmar’s military on Tuesday, as anti-coup protesters returned to the streets in the main city of Yangon defying fresh threats from Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.
Singapore’s foreign minister Vivian Balakrishnan, in a televised interview late on Monday, said the Association of Southeast Asian Nations will tell the military it is appalled by the violence in Myanmar and call for the release of the country’s elected leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, and for the two sides to talk. “Instability in any corner of Southeast Asia threatens and affects the rest of us,” he said, adding that the coup will cause “grievous damage to Myanmar’s society and economy”.
The military’s February 1 power grab has plunged Myanmar into chaos, drawing hundreds of thousands of people on to the streets of cities and towns across the country as doctors, teachers and other civil servants stop work in protest against the coup.
In the bloodiest crackdown yet, security forces opened fire on protesters on Sunday, killing at least 18 and wounding dozens more.
The killings triggered widespread international condemnation, including from the United Nations and a group of ASEAN legislators who said they were “alarmed at the scale of arbitrary arrests and surge in violence in Myanmar”. ASEAN, which comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, also renewed its efforts to open a channel between Myanmar’s military and civilian leaders.
Philippine foreign minister, Teodoro Locsin, indicated on Twitter that ASEAN would be firm with Myanmar and said the regional group’s policy of non-interference in a member’s internal affairs “is not a blanket approval or tacit consent for wrong to be done there”.
He also called Aung San Suu Kyi “Burmese democracy’s only hope”. ‘Illegitimate military-led regime’
But ASEAN’s effort to engage with Myanmar’s military was met with a fierce rebuke from groups in the anti-coup movement.
Sa Sa, a representative of a committee of deposed legislators, said ASEAN should have no dealings with “this illegitimate military-led regime”, while the alumni of ASEAN youth programmes in Myanmar said the bloc should be talking to the international representatives of Aung San Suu Kyi’s administration, not to the military government.
“ASEAN must understand that the coup or the re-election promised by the military junta is utterly unacceptable to the people of Myanmar,” it said it a letter to ASEAN.
Aaron Connelly, a research fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said ASEAN member states were in a difficult position..."
Source/publisher:
"Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
Date of publication:
2021-03-02
Date of entry/update:
2021-03-02
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar, ASEAN-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"The United Nations has condemned the use of lethal force against peaceful protesters in Myanmar. It said at least eighteen demonstrators had been shot dead in the bloodiest day of clashes since military leaders seized power four weeks ago.
Elections in November saw the ruling party, the National League for Democracy led by Aung San Suu Kyi, win a comfortable victory. That threatened the military's hold on power.
On 1st February, generals seized power in a military coup. There have been huge protests leading to a violent crackdown by the security forces.
Reeta Chakrabarti presents BBC News at Ten reporting by South East Asia correspondent Jonathan Head...."
Source/publisher:
"BBC News" (London)
Date of publication:
2021-03-01
Date of entry/update:
2021-03-01
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
more
Description:
"Media in Myanmar are reporting that police have shot dead protestors and wounded several others in a crackdown on protests against the military junta. Tear gas, water cannons and stun grenades were fired into crowds in various locations, while scores of demonstrators were hauled away in police trucks. Authorities are trying to crush weeks of demonstrations against the February 1st military takeover which deposed the civilian government..."
Source/publisher:
"DW News" (Germany)
Date of publication:
2021-02-28
Date of entry/update:
2021-03-01
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
more
Description:
"Police in Myanmar have fired tear gas, water cannon and stun grenades at pro-democracy protesters, killing at least 18 people, the UN has said.
The UN's human rights office said it has received "credible information" that the crackdown on people demonstrating against a military coup included live ammunition being fired into crowds, resulting in the deaths and dozens of injured people.
It is the highest single-day death toll among protesters, who demanded the restoration of Aung San Suu Kyi and her elected government..."
Source/publisher:
"Sky News"
Date of publication:
2021-03-01
Date of entry/update:
2021-03-01
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
more
Description:
"Myanmar police opened fire on Sunday (Feb 28) on protests against military rule, killing at least two people and wounding several on the second day of a crackdown on demonstrations across the country, a doctor and a politician said.
Myanmar has been in chaos since the army seized power and detained elected government leader Aung San Suu Kyi and much of her party leadership on Feb 1, alleging fraud in a November election her party won in a landslide. The coup, which brought a halt to Myanmar's tentative steps towards democracy after nearly 50 years of military rule, has drawn hundreds of thousands onto the streets and the condemnation of Western countries.
Police opened fire in different parts of the main city of Yangon after stun grenades and tear gas failed to disperse crowds.
One man was brought to a hospital with a bullet wound in the chest and died, said a doctor at the hospital who asked not to be identified. The Mizzima media outlet also reported the death. Police also opened fire in the southern town of Dawei, killing one and wounding several, politician Kyaw Min Htike told Reuters from the town. The Dawei Watch media outlet also said at least one person was killed and more than a dozen wounded. Police and the spokesman for the ruling military council did not respond to phone calls seeking comment. Police were also cracking down on a huge protest in the second city of Mandalay and in the northeastern town of Lashio, residents there said.
Junta leader General Min Aung Hlaing said last week authorities were using minimal force to deal with the protests.
Nevertheless, at least five protesters have died in the turmoil. The army said a policeman has been killed..."
Source/publisher:
"CNA" ( Singapore)
Date of publication:
2021-02-28
Date of entry/update:
2021-02-28
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
more
Sub-title:
Join Targeted Economic Sanctions, Global Arms Embargo; Review Aid
Description:
"The Japanese government should take urgent action to pressure the leaders of the military coup in Myanmar to restore the democratically elected government and respect human rights, Human Rights Now, Human Rights Watch, Japan International Volunteer Center, Justice For Myanmar, and Japan NGO Action Network for Civic Space said today.
In a letter to Japan Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi on February 25, 2021, the organizations urged the Japanese government to take joint action with other countries, including imposing targeted economic sanctions against the Myanmar military and companies that it controls, supporting a global arms embargo, and triggering human rights-based conditionals enshrined in Japan’s Official Development Assistance programs and charter. “As a major and influential donor, the Japanese government has a responsibility to take action to promote human rights in Myanmar,” said Teppei Kasai, Asia program officer. “It should urgently review and suspend any public aid that could benefit the Myanmar military.”
The organizations also said in their letter that Japan should join other concerned governments in imposing targeted economic sanctions against the military-affiliated companies, including Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited (MEHL) and Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC), while assisting Japanese companies with direct or indirect ties to the military to terminate their business relationships responsibly..."
Source/publisher:
"Human Rights Watch" (USA)
Date of publication:
2021-02-25
Date of entry/update:
2021-02-28
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar, Human Rights Watch Reports on Burma/Myanmar, Japan-Burma relations
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Sub-title:
Security forces came down hard on protesters on Saturday, arresting dozens as nationwide demonstrations against military rule continue
Description:
"Myanmar’s junta stepped up its campaign to end anti-military protesters in Yangon and elsewhere on Saturday, three weeks after the start of daily protests and rallies against the February 1 coup.
In Monywa, a town in central Myanmar, security forces shot a woman in the chest with live ammunition. An emergency worker told local news outlet 7Day that the woman was in critical condition and has been admitted to a hospital.
No further details were available.
Photos circulating on social media showed security forces, including those in plainclothes, slapping an arrested woman, kicking a man onto a police truck, and violently arresting journalists.
According to the Monywa Gazette, at least 50 people have been arrested in the city since the crackdown began Saturday morning. At least five journalists, including a Myanmar Now multimedia reporter and the chief executive officer of the Monywa Gazette, were among several people arrested by the police during crackdowns in different cities.
The arrested journalists also include an AP videographer, a photographer from local photo news agency MPA, and a reporter from the Chin state capital Hakha.
The whereabouts of the arrested journalists remains unknown.
It was unclear how many people had been rounded up by police on Saturday, but witnesses and journalists on the ground reported dozens of arrests at various locations throughout the day. The violence came a day after Myanmar's envoy to the United Nations, Kyaw Moe Tun, made an emotional appeal at the UN calling on the international community to use “all means necessary” to end the military takeover.
Calling the military an “existential threat for Myanmar as a polity and civilized society,” he concluded his 12-minute speech by raising a three-finger salute in solidarity with the protesters.
In Yangon, police were out in force from early in the day to break up protesting crowds at key rallying points. Using stun grenades, rubber bullets and tear gas, they repeatedly forced protesters to flee into nearby residential areas.
As the police advanced, protesters scattered into side streets, sometimes running into apartment buildings or shopping centres..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2021-02-28
Date of entry/update:
2021-02-28
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
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Description:
"CNA filmed the build-up of Myanmar security forces in Tamwe township, Yangon and the moment they fired warning shots to disperse protesters, prompting many to flee. More on the anti-coup protests on Saturday (Feb 27): https://cna.asia/3uBQK8P..."
Source/publisher:
"CNA" ( Singapore)
Date of publication:
2021-02-27
Date of entry/update:
2021-02-28
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
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Sub-title:
Ambassador breaks with convention to call for the return of state power to the people and to restore democracy
Description:
"Myanmar’s ambassador to the United Nations made an impassioned plea Friday for the international community to take the “strongest possible action” to end the junta’s rule in the country.
Kyaw Moe Tun’s voice cracked with emotion as he spoke out against the military regime that ousted the elected civilian government in a coup on February 1.
It is extremely rare for a representative to break with the rulers of the country they represent during an address at the UN General Assembly.
The ambassador even flashed the three-finger salute that has been used by pro-democracy protesters during street demonstrations against the junta, after concluding his speech with a message in Burmese. “We need… the strongest possible action from the international community to immediately end the military coup, to stop oppressing the innocent people, to return the state power to the people, and to restore the democracy,” he pleaded. Kyaw Moe Tun, his voice trembling, called on all member states to issue public statements strongly condemning the coup during the special meeting on Myanmar.
He appealed for countries not to recognize the military regime or cooperate with it and asked them to demand that the junta respects last year’s democratic elections.
The envoy also urged nations to “take all stronger possible measures” to stop violent acts committed by security forces against peaceful demonstrators..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of publication:
2021-02-27
Date of entry/update:
2021-02-28
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar, The UN and Burma - news and commentary
Language:
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Description:
"State MRTV says he had 'Betrayed the country and spoken for an unofficial organisation'.
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#AlJazeeraEnglish #Myanmar #MilitaryCoup ..."
Source/publisher:
"Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
Date of publication:
2021-02-27
Date of entry/update:
2021-02-28
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
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Description:
"Riot police opened fire to disperse protesters in Myanmar's largest city Yangon. Witnesses say they used guns and stun grenades.
Protesters have been taking to the streets since the elected government was overthrown in a military coup on February 1st. The military has now officially annulled the results from last November's election. Earlier this month it replaced the election commission, which had ruled the party of Aung San Suu Kyi won a landslide victory.
The protest march was quickly gripped by panic as shots rang out in Yangon. Witnesses say police fired rubber bullets and stun grenades to disperse the crowd.
Hundreds of people had turned out once again, blocking roads in Myanmar's commercial center, their defiance openly on display.
But police soon moved in to clear them - banging a warning drum with their truncheons against their shields. And there was an even more severe crackdown in Myanmar's second-largest city, Mandalay - with several people requiring medical treatment for their injuries. There have been daily protests and strikes throughout Myanmar since the military took power on February 1st, despite the threat of a violent crackdown constantly looming.
Elected leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, has not been seen in public since the coup. And her lawyer says he's been allowed no contact. Suu Kyi is due to appear in court on Monday, and time is running out to prepare her defense. Outside her Yangon mansion, a group of supporters gathered to offer prayers for her release..."
Source/publisher:
"DW News" (Germany)
Date of publication:
2021-02-26
Date of entry/update:
2021-02-28
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
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Description:
"Myanmar police shot dead one protester on Sunday and wounded several others as they moved to end weeks of demonstrations against the military coup, according to a local politician and news reports.
Police opened fire in the southern town of Dawei, local politician Kyaw Min Htike said. The Dawei Watch media outlet reported that one person was killed and more than a dozen were wounded.
Police and the spokesman for the ruling military council did not respond to phone calls seeking comment.
Videos posted to social media also captured escalating confrontations between protesters and security forces in the cities of Yangon and Mandalay.
In one video from the Hledan district of Yangon, shots could be heard. Local media reported that at least five people were injured in those clashes. At least five students were arrested at protests elsewhere in downtown Yangon Sunday. Shots could also be heard in a live stream posted on social media by local media from Yangon's Tamwe township, in which crowds of protesters could be seen fleeing from police.
The military intensified its crackdown on anti-coup protesters over the weekend, with hundreds of people reportedly detained.
The clashes come a day after the ruling military junta fired the country's United Nations ambassador for making an impassioned plea at the UN General Assembly for international action to help overturn the coup.
On Saturday, state television MRTV announced UN ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun's removal, saying he had "abused the power and responsibilities of a permanent ambassador" and that he "betrays the country."
Speaking to Reuters following his firing, Kyaw Moe Tun said that he "decided to fight back as long as I can."
Myanmar has seen 22 consecutive days of protests since the country's military seized power in a coup on February 1, ousting the democratically-elected government of civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been detained alongside other government leaders including President Win Myint..."
Source/publisher:
"CNN" (USA)
Date of publication:
2021-02-28
Date of entry/update:
2021-02-28
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
more
Sub-title:
Many businesses are struggling as protests, civil disobedience campaigns and cuts to the internet hit trade
Description:
"Business operations are yet to fully resume following a coup d’etat launched by Myanmar’s powerful military three weeks ago, raising fresh concerns about an economic collapse.
Many businesses are now dealing with low sales, finding it difficult to operate and face an uncertain future as the coup staged by Myanmar’s military approached its third week.
The military regime, however, has been adamant that under its administration it will be business as usual, with Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing stating in his first televised speech on February 8 that agreements made under the previous government will be followed and adding that approaches were being made to the international community to come and invest in Myanmar.
“There will be no change in the foreign policy, government policy and economic policy of the country during the period [where] we are temporarily taking responsibility for the state. We shall continue on the same path as before,” Min Aung Hlaing said on the military-owned Myawady TV channel.
A forecast of Myanmar’s GDP growth has been lowered to 2% from 5% for the 2020/21 financial year by New York-based research group Fitch Solutions due to the coup..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of publication:
2021-02-26
Date of entry/update:
2021-02-28
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
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Sub-title:
Myanmar is not alone in a region where the armed forces continue to play outsized political roles
Description:
"Myanmar’s recent reversion to outright military rule has ended a brief and tentative experiment with electoral democracy and restored the country’s status quo ante as a junta-run dictatorship.
While international condemnation grows around the putsch, Myanmar is not alone in a region where the armed forces continue to play outsized political roles.
While Southeast Asia’s militaries are deeply enmeshed in politics, their political authority could soon grow as the region teeters towards a potential conflict in the South China Sea and as internal strife simmers in various locales.
Southeast Asian states spent US$34.5 billion on defense in 2019, up 4.2% from 2018, according to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) think tank.
A report last year by SIPRI’s Siemon T. Wezeman found that military spending by the ten ASEAN states increased by 33% between 2009 and 2018, “significantly more than the global increases [in] military spending or the growth in most other regions and subregions.” Thailand has seen two military coups in the past 15 years, in 2006 and 2014, both against the democratically elected governments of the Shinawatra siblings.
Thailand is now ruled by the military-civilian hybrid government of Prayut Chan-ocha, the junta leader who took charge in 2014. He faces mounting street-level resistance among protesters who question his democratic legitimacy..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of publication:
2021-02-27
Date of entry/update:
2021-02-28
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar, ASEAN-Burma relations
Language:
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Sub-title:
As the democratically elected leader of Myanmar, State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is still in detention following the military takeover that triggered country-wide protests, violence and arrests, the UN envoy for the country observed on Friday, declaring that “democratic processes have been pushed aside”.
Description:
"Speaking at an informal General Assembly meeting on the Myanmar crisis, Special Envoy Christine Schraner Burgener said, “I told you in 2019 that I would sound the alarm if necessary…This is now the case”.
‘Fragile and fluid’ situation
The situation in Myanmar is “fragile and fluid”, the UN envoy said, calling it “a people’s fight without arms”.
Ms. Schraner Burgener strongly condemned the military’s “recent steps” and urged the Ambassadors to “collectively send a clear signal” supporting democracy.
She underscored the urgency in helping to lay the foundations of a “pluralistic democracy”, balanced with the complex domestic challenges of the civilian leadership.
“I have tried again and again to explain the complex situation, namely that the army holds the real power”, the UN envoy said. “Genuine democracy requires civilian control over the military”. Reject regime
Noting that “the takeover has not stabilized”, the UN official upheld that the international community must “not lend legitimacy or recognition to this regime”.
She labeled it a “coup”, calling the military takeover and declaration of the state of emergency “a clear violation of the constitution regardless of what they claim”.
Recalling that the National League for Democracy (NLD) had won the November election with 82 per cent of the vote, Ms. Schraner Burgener emphasized: “There is no justification for the military’s actions, and we must continue to call for the reversal of this impermissible situation, exhausting all collective and bilateral channels to restore Myanmar’s path on democratic reform”..."
Source/publisher:
UN News
Date of publication:
2021-02-26
Date of entry/update:
2021-02-27
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
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Sub-title:
Country needs strongest possible action from global community to end military coup, says Kyaw Moe Tun
Description:
"Myanmar’s UN ambassador, Kyaw Moe Tun, speaking for the country’s elected civilian government ousted in a military coup on 1 February, has appealed to the United Nations “to use any means necessary to take action against the Myanmar military” to restore democracy to the south-east Asian country.
He addressed the general assembly on Friday after secretary general António Guterres’ special envoy on Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener, warned that no country should recognise or legitimise the Myanmar junta. “We need further strongest possible action from the international community to immediately end the military coup, to stop oppressing the innocent people, to return the state power to the people and to restore the democracy,” said Kyaw Moe Tun to applause and praise from western and Islamic counterparts.
Such an address is rare. Kyaw Moe Tun appeared emotional as he read the statement on behalf of a group of elected politicians that he said represented the country’s legitimate government. He ended with a three-fingered salute used by protesters..."
Source/publisher:
"The Guardian" (UK)
Date of publication:
2021-02-27
Date of entry/update:
2021-02-27
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar, The UN and Burma - news and commentary
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Sub-title:
Junta banned from all Facebook and Instagram pages, including all commercial entities linked to the military
Description:
"The Myanmar military has been banned from Facebook and Instagram with immediate effect, as the first pro-military rally took place in Yangon.
In a blog post, Facebook said: “Events since the February 1 coup, including deadly violence, have precipitated a need for this ban,” adding: “We believe the risks of allowing the Tatmadaw (Myanmar army) on Facebook and Instagram are too great.”
The army seized power this month after alleging fraud in a 8 November election won by Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD), and detaining her and much of the party leadership. Facebook said it would also ban all “Tadmadaw-linked commercial entities” from advertising on its platforms.
It said the decision to ban the Myanmar army was due to “exceptionally severe human rights abuses and the clear risk of future military-initiated violence in Myanmar”, as well as the army’s repeated history of violating Facebook’s rules, including since the coup.On the weekend Facebook said it had deleted a page belonging to the military’s propaganda agency, Tatmadaw True News Information Team Page, under its standards prohibiting the incitement of violence.
The military government could not immediately be reached for comment.
Facebook is widely used in Myanmar and has been one of the ways the junta has communicated with people, despite an official move to ban on the platform in the early days of the coup.
In the commercial capital, Yangon, hundreds of pro-military demonstrators marched through downtown towards the central railway station, though the crowd was a fraction of the size of anti-coup protests.
Democracy supporters met them with crossed wrists and banged pots and pans..."
Source/publisher:
"The Guardian" (UK)
Date of publication:
2021-02-25
Date of entry/update:
2021-02-25
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
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Description:
"Huge crowds brought Myanmar's towns and cities to a standstill Monday in a mass strike against the coup, despite a warning from the military junta that protesters will "suffer loss of life" if demonstrations confront security forces.
Activists had called for a historic strike following the most violent weekend since protests against the February 1 coup began, in which police opened fire on protesters in the second largest city, Mandalay, on Saturday, leaving at least two dead. Images from photographers in the country and on social media Monday showed tens of thousands of people packing the streets in Yangon, Mandalay, and Naypyidaw, as well as in towns and cities across the country, including in southeastern Dawei, in Shan state's Taunggyi, in Ayeyarwady's Pathein, Kachin state's Myitkyina, and in one of the country's poorest regions, Chin state.
In an ominous statement Sunday evening, the military junta said it could use lethal force against protesters.
"It is found that protesters have raised their incitement towards riot and anarchy mob on the day of 22 February. Protesters are now inciting the people, especially emotional teenagers and youths, to a confrontation path where they will suffer the loss of life," the State Administration Council -- the name for the military junta now controlling the country -- declared Sunday evening on state broadcaster MRTV. A protester waves the National League for Democracy (NLD) flag while others take part in a demonstration against the military coup in Yangon on February 22.
Video from social media Sunday night and Monday morning showed barbed wire blocking roads to some foreign embassies in the largest city, Yangon, the focus point for many recent protests. Footage also showed what appeared to be police and military vehicles rolling through the streets.
Protesters called for all offices and shops to be closed on Monday, with activists urging all citizens to join the protest, known as the "Five Twos" -- or the 22222 strike -- in reference to Monday's date.
"22.2.2021 will be a big historic day. Keep watching us and pray for us, friends," leading protest activist group, the Civil Disobedience Movement said in a tweet Sunday..."
Source/publisher:
"CNN" (USA)
Date of publication:
2021-02-21
Date of entry/update:
2021-02-25
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political role of the Tatmadaw, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
more
Description:
"Some armed with knives and clubs, others firing slingshot and throwing stones, supporters of Myanmar's military attacked opponents of the coup in downtown Yangon on Thursday (Feb 25), while Southeast Asian governments groped for ways to end the crisis.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since the army seized power on Feb 1 and detained civilian government leader Aung San Suu Kyi and much of her party leadership after the military complained of fraud in a November election. There have been about three weeks of daily protests and strikes and students planned to come out again in the commercial hub of Yangon on Thursday.
But before many opponents of the coup gathered, about 1,000 supporters of the military turned up for a rally in central Yangon.
Some of them threatened news photographers, media workers and witnesses said, and scuffles soon escalated into more serious violence in several parts of the city centre. Some military supporters were photographed with clubs and knives. Some threw stones and fired catapults, witnesses said, and several people were beaten by groups of men.
Video footage showed several apparent supporters of the military, one wielding a knife, attacking a man outside a city-centre hotel.
Emergency workers helped the man as he lay on the pavement after his attackers moved off but his condition was not known. "Today's events show who the terrorists are. They're afraid of the people's action for democracy," activist Thin Zar Shun Lei Yi told Reuters.
"We'll continue our peaceful protests against dictatorship."
The violence will compound worries about a country largely paralysed by protests and a civil disobedience campaign of strikes against the military..."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK) via "CNA" ( Singapore)
Date of publication:
2021-02-25
Date of entry/update:
2021-02-25
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
more
Sub-title:
Weapons Transfers Fuel Junta, Abuses
Description:
"The United Nations Security Council should urgently impose a global arms embargo on Myanmar in response to the military coup and to deter the junta from committing further abuses, 137 nongovernmental groups from 31 countries said today in an open letter to council members. Governments that permit arms transfers to Myanmar – including China, India, Israel, North Korea, the Philippines, Russia, and Ukraine – should immediately stop the supply of any weapons, munitions, and related equipment. Since the February 1, 2021 coup, the Myanmar military has detained civilian leaders, nullified the November 2020 election results, and installed a junta, the State Administration Council, under a manufactured “state of emergency.” In the ensuing weeks, Myanmar security forces have used excessive and at times lethal force against demonstrators; arbitrarily detained activists, students, and civil servants; and imposed rolling internet shutdowns that put lives at risk.
“Given the mass atrocities against the Rohingya, decades of war crimes, and the overthrow of the elected government, the least the UN Security Council can do is impose a global arms embargo on Myanmar,” said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. “Supplying any equipment to the military enables further abuses and bolsters the junta’s ability to repress Myanmar’s people.” The groups’ call reinforces UN Secretary-General António Guterres’s vow to “do everything we can to mobilize all the key actors and international community to put enough pressure on Myanmar to make sure that this coup fails.” The UN special rapporteur on Myanmar has called for a global arms embargo, while he and the deputy high commissioner for human rights have voiced support for targeted UN sanctions.
Security Council members should draft a resolution that bars the direct and indirect supply, sale, or transfer to the junta of all weapons, munitions, and other military-related equipment, including dual-use goods such as vehicles and communications and surveillance equipment, as well as barring the provision of training, intelligence, and other military assistance, the groups said. This should be accompanied by a robust monitoring and enforcement mechanism, including close scrutiny of sales to third parties that may be likely to resell such items to Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
"Human Rights Watch" (USA)
Date of publication:
2021-02-24
Date of entry/update:
2021-02-25
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar, The UN and Burma - news and commentary, Human Rights Watch Reports on Burma/Myanmar
Language:
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Sub-title:
Given its own history of transition from military rule, Indonesia is probably the nation best placed to lead the bloc’s diplomacy on Myanmar.
Description:
"Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi is spearheading an effort to get the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to get more involved in resolving the political situation in Myanmar.
Retno flew to Brunei yesterday and is scheduled to visit Singapore today for talks aimed at building a consensus within ASEAN on unfolding political crisis inside the country.
Her visit comes just over two weeks after the Myanmar military, or Tatmadaw, seized power, arresting State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and abrogating her party’s landslide victory at national elections in November. The coup has been followed by an escalating nationwide civil disobedience campaign that has brought the country’s government to a standstill.
“Many countries, including Indonesia, have raised concerns,” Retno said in a statement from Brunei. “Raising concerns is one thing, but the question is: What can Indonesia and ASEAN do to help Myanmar get out of this delicate situation?” Her tour came after Indonesian President Joko Widodo and Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin agreed to instruct their foreign ministers to talk to Brunei, this year’s chair of ASEAN, about setting up a special meeting to address the political crisis in Myanmar.The coup looms as an important test for ASEAN, which claims to occupy a position of diplomatic centrality in Asian diplomacy, but has often been sluggish in its response to regional crises. This is because of ASEAN’s decision-making process, which is based on the principles of consensus – meaning that any ASEAN member state can veto a course of action – and an allergy to any hint of “intervention” in member states’ internal affairs..."
Source/publisher:
"The Diplomat" (Japan)
Date of publication:
2021-02-18
Date of entry/update:
2021-02-19
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar, ASEAN-Burma relations
Language:
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Description:
"Foreign ministers of the so-called Quad grouping of countries seen as a forum to stand up to China in Asia agreed that democracy must be restored quickly in Myanmar and to strongly oppose attempts to upset the status quo by force, Japan’s foreign minister said on Thursday. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his counterparts from India, Japan and Australia met virtually for the first time under the Biden administration and discussed Myanmar, COVID-19, climate, and Indo-Pacific territorial and navigation issues, the State Department said in a statement.
“We’ve all agreed on the need to swiftly restore the democratic system (in Myanmar),” and to strongly oppose all unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force, Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi told reporters.“I stressed that, with challenges to existing international order continuing in various fields, the role we, the countries that share basic values and are deeply committed to fortifying free and open international order based on the rule of law, play is only getting bigger,” Motegi said.
The State Department said Blinken and his counterparts discussed counterterrorism, countering disinformation, maritime security and “the urgent need to restore the democratically elected government in Burma.”
They also addressed the “the priority of strengthening democratic resilience in the broader region,” it said..."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK)
Date of publication:
2021-02-18
Date of entry/update:
2021-02-19
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar, Burma/Myanmar's Foreign relations, general
Language:
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Sub-title:
The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar has warned of the potential for a sharp uptick in violence on Wednesday, as protests continue against the 1 February military takeover of the government.
Description:
"Following reports that a “secretive trial” of State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint began on Tuesday, Special Rapporteur Tom Andrews said in a statement that he is “terrified” that violence could break out, as additional soldiers have been deployed in towns and cities, including the commercial hub Yangon, where demonstrations are planned.
“In the past, such troop movements preceded killings, disappearances, and detentions on a mass scale,” he said.
“I am terrified that given the confluence of these two developments – planned mass protests and troops converging – we could be on the precipice of the military committing even greater crimes against the people of Myanmar”, he added.
Mr. Andrews issued an “urgent call” on all governments, individuals and entities that may have influence on Myanmar military authorities to use that influence “to convince the junta that rallies planned for Wednesday must be allowed to proceed without detentions or violence.” ‘Repression must end immediately’
“Continued repression of the people of Myanmar's basic liberties and human rights must end immediately”, he stressed.
In the statement, Mr. Andrews also reiterated that those in the chain of command, regardless of rank, can be held liable for any atrocities committed against the people of Myanmar, and that they “must disobey orders to attack”.
Of course, we cannot rely on the Myanmar military to avoid bloodshed out of a moral or legal obligation alone, he added, underscoring : “that is why it is so imperative that all those with influence demand that the junta restrain itself from further violence and arbitrary arrests”.
International business community urged to act
The Special Rapporteur also called on the international business community to take “immediate action”.
He urged them to call their interlocutors in State Administrative Council – the body set up to govern Myanmar following the military takeover – and to “stress to them that you [the businesses] will be forced to suspend or cease business in Myanmar if they continue down this violent path".
“Specifically stress to them that under the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, businesses and investors should suspend or terminate activities with the Myanmar junta when the risk of involvement in serious human rights abuses can no longer be reasonably managed”, the rights expert said.
“I, and many others, would argue we have long passed that threshold. Please implore them to use restraint. Implore them to return power to the people of Myanmar”, Mr. Andrews added..."
Source/publisher:
UN News
Date of publication:
2021-02-17
Date of entry/update:
2021-02-19
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
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Sub-title:
Inspired by protesters in Hong Kong and Thailand, Myanmar’s youth aim to grab the world’s attention as they fight to remove the generals.
Description:
"In the background, mohawked and leather-jacketed punks wave red and black flags and raise three fingers, a symbol of resistance derived from popular film series, The Hunger Games, and adopted by Myanmar’s anti-coup protesters.
“We just wanted to create something that can inspire people,” Hnin told Al Jazeera about the clip. “This song is meant for this moment.”
Hnin met other members of Rebel Riot in 2015 during student strikes in Yangon. They started hanging out “and somehow I became a punk, I guess.”
Describing themselves as a community more than a band, the collective are known not only for their music but for street-level social initiatives, such as handing out food to Yangon’s homeless.
Hnin says that being a part of Rebel Riot allows her to share her voice, which she says goes against the grain of what is expected from young women in Myanmar. “One of the things is you can’t get angry. You need to be quiet, you need to be patient, you need to be polite,” she said. “But women have anger. They have things they don’t agree on. So, that’s the reason why we are doing this, why I am doing this – to show that it’s ok to be angry, it’s ok to explode and be aggressive.”
Tens of thousands have taken to the streets since the military detained civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and seized power on February 1 – the day the country’s new parliament was due to sit. The generals have declared a year-long state of emergency and promised new elections, but have given no timeframe.
The protests have not only featured mohawked punks, but also young people dressed as ghosts, superheroes and anime characters. Marginalised groups including the LGBTI community have also played a prominent role.
Source/publisher:
"Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
Date of publication:
2021-02-19
Date of entry/update:
2021-02-19
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
more
Description:
"Since "day one" of the military coup, Burmese actress Paing Phyo Thu -- one of the country's highest-paid stars -- says she has been on the streets opposing the ruling junta.
One of Myamar's highest-paid actresses, she has been offering financial help to striking staff who have given up their jobs to take part in the growing civil disobedience movement, known as CDM.
But on Thursday, the Myanmar Academy Award winner and her director husband, Na Gyi, went into hiding after his name appeared on an arrest list, along with a number of other celebrities who have been accused of using their platform to oppose the coup. A police statement on Wednesday said Na Gyi, two other prominent directors, two actors and a singer, were wanted for "using their popularity and encouraging responsible civil servants to participate in CDM, encouraging civil servants to participate in protests."
The notice from the governing State Administration Council said information on the whereabouts of the actor Payeti Oo, Director Ko Pauk, actor Lu Min, director Wine, director Na Gyi and singer Anatga was needed by the Myanmar Police Force.
They are being sought under a section of the country's penal code that was amended this week by coup-leader Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, in an apparent effort to target protesters, journalists and critics of the takeover. Section 505a makes it a crime to "hinder, disturb, damage the motivation, discipline, health, conduct" of government employees and military personnel and "and cause their hatred, disobedience, or disloyalty" toward the government or military.
Paing Phyo Thu said that while "we know that it's very dangerous to speak out like this," she won't stop -- despite the arrest warrant and being forced into hiding. Paing Phyo Thu has gone into hiding with her husband Na Gyi after a warrant for his arrest was issued.
"We can talk about our opinions, we don't mind because since day one of the military coup, we've been talking about it on our social media platforms because we want the audience to know that we're with them and nobody likes this. It's such an unfair thing," she said..."
Source/publisher:
"CNN" (USA)
Date of publication:
2021-02-18
Date of entry/update:
2021-02-18
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
more
Sub-title:
Protesters accuse China of backing Myanmar’s generals, but analysts say Beijing does not favour a return to military rule.
Description:
"“If this is an internal affair, why are you helping the junta?” read another.
The nearly-daily rallies at the gates of the Chinese mission forced a response from China’s ambassador to the country, Chen Hai, who said on Tuesday that “the current development in Myanmar is absolutely not what China wants to see”.
Beijing was “not informed in advance of the political change in Myanmar,” Hai said, dismissing as “ridiculous” rumours that China was helping the military consolidate its rule by flying in technical personnel and troops. Part of the speculation about Beijing’s alleged backing for the military’s power grab stems from China’s refusal to unequivocally condemn the coup, which took place just weeks after a meeting between China’s top diplomat Wang Yi and Min Aung Hlaing, Myanmar’s commander-in-chief and current head of the military government.
During the January 12 meeting in Myanmar’s capital, Naypyidaw, the senior general – who is said to harbour presidential ambitions – repeated his claims that widespread fraud had occurred in a November election that returned civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) to power.
The coup has brought Myanmar’s experiment with democracy to a halt, only a decade after the end of nearly 50 years of strict military rule. It prompted mass protests and international condemnation, with the United States has already imposed targeted sanctions on the generals who led the coup. Other countries are expected to impose similar curbs although campaigners want to avoid a return to the punishing sanctions that were enforced following the military’s crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in 1988, as well as its refusal to honour the results of an election that the NLD won in 1990..."
Source/publisher:
"Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
Date of publication:
2021-02-18
Date of entry/update:
2021-02-18
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
more
Sub-title:
Demonstrators reject army claim that majority of country support military junta
Description:
"More than a hundred thousand people have poured on to the streets in Myanmar to voice their anger against the coup and reject an army claim that it has majority support.
At a demonstration in Myanmar’s main city, Yangon – the largest there since the deployment of troops on Sunday – protesters marched with red flags signalling their loyalty to the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi and carried signs denouncing the military.
Major junctions were blocked by a “broken down” rally, where drivers left their cars parked across the roads, with bonnets open, and by sit-down protests.
Mass demonstrations were also held in the second-largest city of Mandalay, where students, engineers and farmers were among thousands who took to the streets, and in the capital, Naypyidaw. The demonstrations followed claims from a military spokesperson on Tuesday that protests would dwindle and that 40 million of the country’s 53 million population backed its power grab.
The military, which once ruled the country for half a century, reiterated its promise to hold fair polls during the press conference, but protesters are unconvinced and have gathered daily to demand the immediate release of Aung San Suu Kyi and other politicians from her party, the National League for Democracy. She is now in house arrest. “I want Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, my president U Win Myint and other leaders freed immediately,” said a retired teacher, who was among those protesting in Yangon. “We want our democracy back.” About 1,000 university staff and students gathered outside the Secretariat, a sprawling colonial-era building that once served as the administrative centre for British Burma, to demand the release of their leaders..."
Source/publisher:
"The Guardian" (UK)
Date of publication:
2021-02-17
Date of entry/update:
2021-02-17
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
more
Sub-title:
Junta holds first press conference and describes coup as lawful, as internet shut for second night
Description:
"Myanmar’s military regime has filed a new charge against the deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi and shut down the internet for a second night as it tries to quell a popular revolt against the coup it launched at the beginning of the month.
The junta held its first press conference on Tuesday, seeking in part to limit the economic and diplomatic fallout of its takeover, which it described as lawful. It said it would hold an election soon and denounced protesters for allegedly inciting violence and intimidating civil servants.
“Our objective is to hold an election and hand power to the winning party,” Brig Gen Zaw Min Tun, spokesman for the ruling council, told the news conference which the military broadcast live on Facebook, a platform it has banned.
The military has not given a date for a new election but it has imposed a state of emergency for one year. Zaw Min Tun said the military would not hold power for long. “We guarantee … that the election will be held,” he said He denied rumours that the military was working with IT specialists from China to ringfence the country’s internet, arguing the state had the capacity to do so itself, and said commercial and diplomatic agreements struck under previous civilian-led governments would be honoured.
Some local media outlets boycotted the conference, arguing it legitimised an illegal coup, as well over concerns that tough questions might lead to repercussions from a military that is facing credible accusations of committing genocidal violence in the country’s borderlands..."
Source/publisher:
"The Guardian" (UK)
Date of publication:
2021-02-16
Date of entry/update:
2021-02-16
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies
Language:
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Sub-title:
An increased use of force and the reported deployment of armoured vehicles to major cities throughout Myanmar have sparked the deep concern of UN Secretary-General António Guterres.
Description:
"In a statement issued on Sunday by his spokesman, Stéphane Dujarric, the UN chief called on the military and police of Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, to ensure that the right of peaceful assembly is “fully respected” and demonstrators are “not subjected to reprisals”.
“Reports of continued violence, intimidation and harassment by security personnel are unacceptable”, he spelled out.
The unfolding situation follows a military takeover on 1 February.
The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Thomas Andrews, tweeted, “it’s as if the generals have declared war on the people of Myanmar: late night raids; mounting arrests; more rights stripped away’ another Intrnet shutdown; military convoys entering communities”.
“These are signs of desperation. Attention generals: You WILL be held accountable”, he underscored. Call for respect
Ongoing arrests of political leaders, government officials, members of civil society and media representatives are “deeply concerning”, as are internet restrictions and communication restraints, according to Mr. Guterres who upheld that they “must not be disrupted" to ensure the right to freedom of expression, which includes access to information.
He reiterated his call on Member States “collectively and bilaterally” to exercise influence regarding the protection of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of the people of Myanmar and reaffirmed the Organization's “unwavering support” to their pursuit of “democracy, peace, human rights and the rule of law”.
“The Secretary-General calls on the military authorities urgently to allow the Special Envoy, Ms. Christine Schraner Burgener, to visit Myanmar under agreeable conditions and to assess the situation firsthand”, concluded the statement..."
Source/publisher:
UN News
Date of publication:
2021-02-14
Date of entry/update:
2021-02-15
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar, The UN and Burma - news and commentary
Language:
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Sub-title:
Armoured vehicles on streets of Yangon as people continue protests for restoration of civilian government.
Description:
"NetBlocks, which tracks Internet disruption, said on Twitter that connectivity was being restored, but that social media remained restricted for many users. The system was shut down for eight hours from 1am (18:30 GMT).
The military seized power on February 1, the day Myanmar’s parliament was due to begin a new session following elections in November, which were won by the National League for Democracy (NLD) in a landslide.
Detaining NLD founder and civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi as well as senior members of her government, the generals said they were forced into the coup because of alleged election fraud. Election officials have said there is no evidence of fraud. The United Nations and a number of western countries including the United States have condemned the coup, and on Friday the US imposed the first new sanctions on military chief Min Aung Hlaing and other senior generals.
In a statement late on Sunday, following reports of shots being fired in the northern state of Kachin and the deployment of armoured vehicles to various cities in Myanmar, United Nations’ Secretary General Antonio Guterres said he was “deeply concerned” about the situation in the country. The Secretary-General reiterates his call on Member States collectively and bilaterally to exercise influence regarding the protection of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of the people of Myanmar, ” he said in a statement released through his spokesman Stephane Dujarric.
On Monday, more than a dozen police trucks with four water cannon vehicles were deployed near the Sule Pagoda in Yangon, which has been one of the city’s main centres for protest..."
Source/publisher:
"Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
Date of publication:
2021-02-15
Date of entry/update:
2021-02-15
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
more
Description:
"Security forces in Myanmar pointed guns toward anti-coup protesters and attacked them with sticks on Monday, seeking to quell the large-scale demonstrations calling for the military junta that seized power earlier this month to reinstate the elected government.
More than 1,000 protesters rallied in front of the Myanmar Economic Bank in Mandalay, the country’s second-largest city, when at least 10 trucks full of soldiers and police arrived and immediately started firing slingshots toward the protesters, according to a photographer who witnessed the events.
The soldiers and police then attacked the protesters with sticks, and police could be seen aiming long guns into the air amid sounds that resembled gunfire. Local media reported that rubber bullets were also fired into the crowd, and that a few people were injured. Police were also seen pointing guns toward the protesters.
In the capital, Naypyitaw, protesters gathered outside a police station demanding the release of a group of high school students who were detained while joining in anti-coup activities.
One student who managed to escape told reporters that the pupils — thought to range in age from 13 to 16 — were demonstrating peacefully when a line of riot police suddenly arrived and began arresting them. It wasn’t clear exactly how many students were rounded up, but estimates put the figure at between 20 and 40.
Earlier Monday, Myanmar’s military leaders extended their detention of deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi, whose remand was set to expire and whose freedom is a key demand of the crowds of people continuing to protest the Feb. 1 coup.
Suu Kyi will now be remanded until Feb. 17, when she will likely appear in court by videoconference, according to Khin Maung Zaw, a lawyer asked by Suu Kyi’s party to represent her. The Nobel laureate remains under house arrest on a minor charge of possessing unregistered imported walkie-talkies.
Suu Kyi’s extended detention is likely to further inflame tensions between the military and the protesters who have taken to the streets of cities across the Southeast Asian nation seeking the return of the government they elected..."
Source/publisher:
"Associated Press" (USA)
Date of publication:
2021-02-15
Date of entry/update:
2021-02-15
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
more
Sub-title:
Protests against military coup continue despite overnight internet blackout and extra soldiers deployed
Description:
"Troops have joined police in forcefully dispersing marchers in the city of Mandalay in northern Myanmar, as protests against the military coup continued despite the deployment of extra soldiers in some areas and an eight-hour internet blackout overnight.
Images and reports from the city on Monday showed police and soldiers using rubber bullets and slingshots to disperse protesters. A student union in the city said several people had been injured.
Myanmar resurfaced online at about 9am local time on Monday after an internet-monitoring service showed a dramatic fall in connectivity from midnight. There were fears the blackout might be used as cover for mass arrests or violence.
There was no sign of that on Monday, but the country woke to extra troops on the streets of many cities including the former capital Yangon, where the new forces on the ground included the 77th light-infantry division which, during pro-democracy protests in 2007, was accused of ramming demonstrators and using live ammunition against them. Protests continued in the city despite the show of force, albeit in numbers smaller than the peaks of Friday and the weekend. Students and Buddhist monks demonstrated in front of the troops, and a banner reading “We do not want military government” was stuck to an army vehicle outside Yangon’s central bank.
“Patrolling with armoured vehicles means they are threatening people,” said 46-year-old Nyein Moe, among the more than 1,000 gathered in front of the central bank in Yangon. “People are marching on the streets and they don’t care to be arrested or shot. We can’t stop now. The fear in our mind is going away.” There was a fresh rally in the southern city of Dawei, too, a verified live stream on Facebook showed, with hundreds of protesters accompanied by a marching band..."
Source/publisher:
"The Guardian" (UK)
Date of publication:
2021-02-15
Date of entry/update:
2021-02-15
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
more
Sub-title:
US warns of ‘military movements’ in Yangon and expects internet to be cut in next 12 hours
Description:
"The US embassy in Myanmar has warned of “military movements” in the country’s main city, Yangon, and has said it expects the internet to be interrupted over the next 12 hours.
The warning came after the appearance on Sunday of three Tatmadaw armoured vehicles on the streets of the commercial capital and the site of major daily protests against the military’s coup on 1 February.
The expected outages, which have not been confirmed by the Norwegian telecommunications firm that runs the country’s communication grid, have raised fears of a possible crackdown overnight.
The US urged its citizens to “shelter-in-place” on Sunday evening local time after three armoured vehicles were sighted in the city for the first time since the 1 February military coup. The embassy also said there was a “possibility of telecommunications interruptions overnight between 1am and 9am” (1830 to 0230 GMT).
The internet was blocked last Saturday as the protest movement was taking shape but restored after 24 hours.
Mostly young demonstrators have used the internet to organise, document their protests and capture the police response including firing rubber bullets at crowds and in some instances the use of live ammunition.
Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of Myanmar’s major cities for a ninth day of anti-coup demonstrations on Sunday.
Security forces fired to disperse protesters outside a power plant in the northern state of Kachin, footage broadcast live on Facebook showed, although it was not clear if they were using rubber bullets or live ammunition. Hundreds of people had gathered late on Sunday outside a power plant that soldiers had occupied in the city of Myitkyina. As darkness fell, riot police accompanied by troops arrived to drive away the crowds, the footage showed.
A convoy on motorbikes and in cars drove through the capital, Naypyidaw. In the south-eastern coastal town of Dawei, a band played drums in shadows cast by awnings as crowds marched under the hot sun. In Waimaw, on the banks of the Irrawaddy River in Kachin, crowds carried flags and sang revolutionary songs.
Many of the protesters nationwide held up images of Aung Sun Suu Kyi’s face. Her detention, on charges of importing walkie-talkies, is due to expire on Monday. Her lawyer, Khin Maung Zaw, could not be reached for comment.
More than 384 people have been detained since the coup, the monitoring group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners said, in a wave of mostly night-time arrests..."
Source/publisher:
"The Guardian" (UK)
Date of publication:
2021-02-14
Date of entry/update:
2021-02-14
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
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Sub-title:
Amid crackdown, protesters aim is to take away the coup leaders’ power by stopping all governance mechanisms from working.
Description:
"Starve the government of legitimacy and recognition; stop it from functioning by staging strikes; and cut off its sources of funding. That is the strategy emerging from a mass movement in Myanmar aimed at toppling the new military dictatorship.
As protesters defying the February 1 coup brave beatings, arrests, water cannon, and even live ammunition, activists hope a “no recognition, no participation” approach can sustain pressure even if demonstrations are stamped out with violence. “The immediate aim is to take away the military’s power by stopping all of its governance mechanisms from working,” said Thinzar Shunlei Yi, who like many activists is now in hiding to avoid arrest.
“It will disable the military’s ability to rule.”
Myanmar’s fragile 10-year experiment in democracy was snuffed out in early February when soldiers arrested civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, President Win Myint, and other top officials in early morning raids as military chief Min Aung Hlaing seized power. A civil disobedience movement began almost immediately and amassed support from broad swaths of society. Trains have ground to a halt, hospitals have closed, and ministries in the capital, Naypyidaw, are believed to be straining amid mass walkouts.
Many thousands including nurses, doctors, lawyers, teachers, engineers, farmers, railway staff, civil servants, factory workers and even some police officers, have gone on strike or defected in a bid to cripple the new military government..."
Source/publisher:
"Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
Date of publication:
2021-02-13
Date of entry/update:
2021-02-13
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
more
Sub-title:
Thousands take to the streets again as junta releases 23,000 prisoners and detains more opponents overnight
Description:
"Facebook has imposed widespread restrictions on Myanmar’s military rulers to prevent them spreading “misinformation”, as tens of thousands again took to the streets in what was set to be the biggest day of protests against the coup so far.
The social network site said on Friday that it would reduce the distribution of all content and profiles run by Myanmar’s military, saying the generals have “continued to spread misinformation” after they seized power and detained civilian leaders in a coup.
The measures were not a ban, Facebook said in a statement, “but are aimed at reducing the number of people who see the content” and will apply to an official page run by the army and one by a military spokesperson. They would also cover “any additional pages that the military controls that repeatedly violate our misinformation policies”. The pages would no longer appear on news feeds as “recommended”.
The social media giant said it had also suspended the ability of Myanmar government agencies to send content-removal requests to Facebook through the normal channels used by authorities across the world.
“Simultaneously, we are protecting content, including political speech, that allows the people of Myanmar to express themselves and to show the world what is transpiring inside their country,” said Rafael Frankel, Facebook’s director of public policy. Hundreds of thousands of people have been protesting across Myanmar since the army overthrew the civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi and detained most top leaders on 1 February.
Friday saw hundreds of separate marches in Yangon alone as people marked the Union day public holiday with what appeared to be the biggest show of defiance since the military takeover.
Witnesses said there were hundreds of separate marches, each with around 2,000 participants, and all converging on focal points such as Hledan, Sule pagoda and the Russian and Chinese embassies. One march consisted of the fans of rival English football teams joining together to vent their anger.
One student protester outside the Russian embassy said: “We don’t want to join the main rally at Sule pagoda because we are worried the military will go there. The military won’t do anything outside an embassy because it will hurt their image so we feel safer here..."
Source/publisher:
"The Guardian" (UK)
Date of publication:
2021-02-12
Date of entry/update:
2021-02-12
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
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Description:
"Myanmar’s coup leader used the country’s Union Day holiday on Friday to call on people to work with the military if they want democracy, a request likely to be met with derision by protesters who are pushing for the release from detention of their country’s elected leaders.
“I would seriously urge the entire nation to join hands with the Tatmadaw for the successful realization of democracy,” Senior General Min Aung Hlaing said using the local term for the military. “Historical lessons have taught us that only national unity can ensure the non-disintegration of the Union and the perpetuation of sovereignty,” he added. In addition to the military commander’s message published Friday in the Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper, the new junta also announced it would mark Union Day by releasing thousands of prisoners and reducing other inmates’ sentences.
Min Aung Hlaing’s Feb. 1 coup ousted the civilian government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and prevented recently elected lawmakers from opening a new session of Parliament. It reversed nearly a decade of progress toward democracy following 50 years of military rule and has led to widespread protests in cities around the country.
The military has said it was forced to step in because Suu Kyi’s government failed to properly investigate allegations of fraud in November elections, though the election commission has said there is no evidence to support those claims.
The rallies against the coup — now daily occurrences in Myanmar’s two largest cities, Yangon and Mandalay — have drawn people from all walks of life, despite an official ban on gatherings of more than five people. Factory workers and civil servants, students and teachers, medical personnel and people from LGBTQ communities, Buddhist monks and Catholic clergy have all come out in force.
On Thursday, people from Myanmar’s ethnic minority groups, who are concentrated in far-flung, border states, joined in — a striking show of unity in a country where some groups have resented the Burman majority’s control and have also had their differences with Suu Kyi. But their deep mistrust of the military, which has brutally repressed their armed struggles for more autonomy, has made them uneasy allies with her party.
The protesters are unlikely to be swayed by Min Aung Hlaing’s call for unity, which come on Union Day, a national holiday celebrating the date in 1947 that Myanmar, then known as Burma, when many of the country’s ethnic groups agreed to unify following decades of British colonial rule..."
Source/publisher:
"Associated Press" (USA)
Date of publication:
2021-02-12
Date of entry/update:
2021-02-12
Grouping:
Individual Documents
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Sub-title:
Analysis of video evidence shows police firing live rounds at protesters and shooting one woman in the head.
Description:
"Analysis of images from the protest showed a member of the police carrying a Myanmar-made BA-94 or BA-93 clone of the Uzi sub-machine gun, the human rights group said, contradicting the military’s claim that security forces only deployed non-lethal weapons during Tuesday’s protest.
The video of the shooting captured the exact moment the young woman, identified as Mya Thwe Thwe Khaing, was hit in the head by a bullet. According to local media, the 19-year-old has lost significant brain function and only has a slim chance of survival. Amnesty verified the video and said the alleged police gunman could be seen standing at or close to the other side of the road from where the woman was shot.
She was sheltering from water cannon with other protesters behind a bus stop when she was hit.
“The social media materials we have verified show that police recklessly targeted protesters, with no respect for their lives or safety whatsoever,” said Sam Dubberley, head of Amnesty’s Crisis Evidence laboratory.
“The serious injuries sustained by this young woman were caused by the Myanmar police firing live ammunition directly towards peaceful protesters,” he added.
The shooting took place a day after coup leaders threatened to “take action” against protesters.
After the young woman was hit, more gunshots could be heard in the video, which also captured fire bursts coming from weapons wielded by the police. Amnesty also verified the exact location of the shooting as being on Taungnyo Road, just southeast of the Thabyegone Roundabout in Naypyidaw.
Dubberley urged government forces to “immediately stop” the “unnecessary and excessive use of force”, adding that, as protests continue, people’s right to peacefully express their grievances should be respected..."
Source/publisher:
"Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
Date of publication:
2021-02-11
Date of entry/update:
2021-02-12
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
more
Description:
" The United States on Thursday (Feb 11) slapped sanctions on the leaders of Myanmar's military government, warning that more punishment could come even as the generals in Yangon ordered demonstrators to get back to work or face "effective actions".
As Myanmar was preparing for a seventh consecutive day of anti-coup rallies, the US Treasury Department announced it was blocking any US assets and transactions with 10 current or former military officials held responsible for the Feb 1 coup. Demonstrations condemning the ouster of civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi have largely been peaceful, although security forces earlier in the week used tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets on protesters, with isolated reports of live rounds being fired.
In the most significant concrete action, President Joe Biden announced his administration was cutting off the generals' access to US$1 billion in funds in the United States.
Targets of US sanctions announced Thursday include Army chief General Min Aung Hlaing, who now holds legislative, judicial and executive powers in Myanmar. Min Aung Hlaing was already under US sanctions over the campaign against the mostly Muslim Rohingya minority. Also targeted are military leaders in the new cabinet such as Defence Minister General Mya Tun Oo, as well as three gem exporting companies controlled by Myanmar's military. "We are also prepared to take additional action should Burma's military not change course," Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said, using Myanmar's former name.
"If there is more violence against peaceful protesters, the Burmese military will find that today's sanctions are just the first," she said..."
Source/publisher:
"AFP" (France) via "CNA" (Singapore)
Date of publication:
2021-02-12
Date of entry/update:
2021-02-12
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association: standards and mechanisms, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
more
Description:
"A young woman was shot in the head by Myanmar’s security forces during protests, Amnesty International has confirmed after investigating footage showing the attack. This evidence also contradicts Myanmar military claims that security forces were not carrying lethal weapons.
A video shared on social media of the shooting, which happened in the capital of Nay Pyi Taw on 9 February, was verified by Amnesty International’s Crisis Evidence experts. According to media reports, the woman has lost significant brain function and has only a slim chance of survival.
The Myanmar military’s ‘True News Information Unit’ said in a statement that security forces only deployed non-lethal weapons. However, images show a member of the police (pictured above) wielding a Myanmar-made BA-94 or BA-93 Uzi clone, a Myanmar-made variant of this sub-machine gun.
In the verified coordinates of the image, the alleged police gunman is standing at or close to the other side of the road from where the woman was shot. The distressing video captures the exact moment the young woman, named on social media as 19-year-old Mya Thwe Thwe Khaing, is hit in the side of her head by a bullet as she turns away from security forces. She had been sheltering with protesters from water cannons behind a bus stop when she was shot.
“The serious injuries sustained by this young woman were caused by the Myanmar police firing live ammunition directly towards peaceful protesters,” said Sam Dubberley, Head of Amnesty International’s Crisis Evidence Lab.
“The social media materials we have verified show that police recklessly targeted protesters, with no respect for their lives or safety whatsoever. Their abhorrent use of lethal force against protesters is unlawful, and must be independently, thoroughly and promptly investigated..."
Source/publisher:
"Amnesty International" (UK)
Date of publication:
2021-02-11
Date of entry/update:
2021-02-11
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
more
Sub-title:
The brazen seizure of power by the military has energised the population and produced a public display of cross-party unity
Description:
"little over a week after the Myanmar military seized power and arrested Aung San Suu Kyi and dozens of other ministers and activists, a counter-movement has taken hold across the country. The military’s efforts to thwart the spread of demonstrations – by the downing of internet connections and by use of intimidation and violence, including the shooting of one protester, Mya Thwe Thwe Khine, this week – have been in vain. Mass gatherings have spread from cities in the centre to far-flung towns in the north-east, close to the border with China. Against lines of armed riot police, protesters have so far held their ground.
Aung San Suu Kyi remains in detention, her location unknown. The charges she faces – among them possession of illegally imported walkie-talkies – are clearly a ruse intended to prolong her confinement while the military finds a way to stymie her popular influence. On Tuesday night, police raided the headquarters of her National League for Democracy (NLD) party, whose landslide win in elections in November set in motion the train of events that led to the military’s coup. It is likely they were looking for evidence to incriminate other party members, or indeed criminalise the party altogether, in an attempt to weaken its organising power. Upon seizing power, the military declared a year-long state of emergency, which it hopes will give it space to develop a strategy for control of the country well into the future. In that time, the generals may seek out ways to condition Aung San Suu Kyi and her colleagues – via negotiation, incentives or threat – into becoming a less assertive political force. Otherwise they will move to banish the party from formal politics altogether. The NLD’s dramatic win in November 2020 was evidence both of the continued emboldening of its support base, despite repeat efforts by the military to undermine Aung San Suu Kyi during her five years as state counsellor, as well as the glaring unpopularity of the military, whose party won only 33 of 476 seats..."
Source/publisher:
"The Guardian" (UK)
Date of publication:
2021-02-11
Date of entry/update:
2021-02-11
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
more
Sub-title:
A woman who was severely injured while protesting against Myanmar's military coup is in a critical condition.
Description:
"She was hurt at a protest on Tuesday in the capital city of Nay Pyi Taw, which saw police trying to disperse protesters using water cannon, rubber bullets and live rounds.
Rights groups and news outlets say the woman was shot in the head.
There have been reports of serious injuries as police have increased their use of force, but no casualties so far.
Tens of thousands have turned out in street protests against the coup, which overthrew Aung San Suu Kyi's democratically-elected government last week, despite a recent ban on large gatherings and a night curfew.
Demonstrations re-started on Wednesday morning, for a fifth consecutive day, with a large group of civil servants gathering in Nay Pyi Taw to protest.
Pools and princesses: Myanmar protesters go all out
Myanmar coup: What is happening and why?
'We have no weapons - so I fight with a pen' Video of shooting
On Tuesday, police had used water cannon in Nay Pyi Taw against protesters, who refused to retreat.
Warning shots were reportedly fired into the air before rubber bullets were fired at the crowd - but doctors later said it appeared live ammunition had hit protesters.
According to BBC Burmese, who spoke to an unnamed medical officer from a Nay Pyi Taw hospital, one woman suffered a serious head injury and another demonstrator had chest injuries. The woman is now in intensive care.
According to a report by Human Rights Watch, a doctor from the hospital said the woman had a "projectile lodged in her head and had lost significant brain function".
The unidentified doctor said the woman's wound was consistent with that of live ammunition, and that a metal bullet had penetrated the back of her right ear. A man wounded at the same protest also appeared to have similar injuries.
A separate report by Fortify Rights quoted a doctor who said the woman was brain dead from an "imminently fatal gunshot wound to the head"....."
Source/publisher:
"BBC News" (London)
Date of publication:
2021-02-10
Date of entry/update:
2021-02-10
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
more
Description:
"Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, who himself first seized power in a coup, said on Wednesday (Feb 10) that he had received a letter from Myanmar's new junta leader asking for help to support democracy.
Prayut, who overthrew an elected prime minister in 2014 and stayed in office after a 2019 election which his rivals said was badly flawed, told reporters in Bangkok that he had always supported democracy in the neighbouring country. Min Aung Hlaing's army overthrew elected civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Feb 1 and detained her, alleging fraud in an election last year that her party won in a landslide. The electoral commission had dismissed the army's claims.
READ: Myanmar anti-coup protests resume despite bloodshed
READ: Myanmar military raids Aung San Suu Kyi's party offices as UN slams violence
"We are supportive of the democratic process in Myanmar, but what is most important today is to maintain good relations because it impacts the people, the economy, border trade, particularly now," Prayut said. "Thailand supports the democratic process. The rest is up to him to see how to proceed," he said.
Since the coup, Myanmar has been convulsed by the biggest protests in more than a decade as Aung San Suu Kyi's supporters challenge the coup that halted a tentative decade-long transition to democracy..."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK) via "CNA" ( Singapore)
Date of publication:
2021-02-10
Date of entry/update:
2021-02-10
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar, Thailand-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
" After grabbing power in a February 1 coup that has been resisted by massive demonstrations and condemned by the US, EU and UN, Myanmar’s military regime would appear to have few cards to play to win acceptance.
But one the coup-makers amazingly think they can play is the plight of Muslim Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, who were driven across the border during brutal military campaigns in 2016-17, and those who have remained behind in Myanmar.
Shortly after overthrowing Aung San Suu Kyi’s democratically elected government, the new military regime sent a letter to Bangladesh’s government through its ambassador in Myanmar to explain their reasons for the coup, namely unsubstantiated allegations of fraud at the November 2020 election Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) resoundingly won. In the letter, the full contents of which has not been made public, the military regime also mentioned a possible solution for solving the Rohingya crisis. That prompted Bangladesh’s Foreign Minister Abdul Momen, quoted by the Dhaka Tribune on February 6, to say “these are good news. It’s a good beginning.”
Inside Myanmar’s Rakhine state, several local military commanders have visited Muslim-inhabited areas close to the Bangladesh border and a camp for internally displaced Rohingyas in the state capital Sittwe..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of publication:
2021-02-09
Date of entry/update:
2021-02-10
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Political role of the Tatmadaw, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
more
Sub-title:
Protests swell across country, with dozens of police officers choosing to join protesters in call for reversal of coup
Description:
"Protesters have turned out in huge numbers across Myanmar, a day after police instigated the most violent scenes yet in demonstrations against a military coup that removed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
An estimated 100,000 people gathered in the commercial capital Yangon on Wednesday, according to witnesses, with many more marching across the country.
A day earlier, tens of thousands demonstrated in major cities and smaller towns in defiance of a ban on gatherings in some areas, with police using water cannon, rubber bullets and live rounds against them. One woman remains in a critical condition after being shot in the head in the capital Naypyidaw. In Loikaw, the state capital of Kayah, about 40 police joined protesters on Wednesday and held a banner saying: “Members of Myanmar police force (Kayah state) stand with civilians.”
Other officers waved posters that read: “We do not need military dictatorship” and raised three-finger salutes, a symbol of resistance against the military.
At a separate protest in the city of Mawlamyine, a single officer moved to join protesters. On Tuesday, about 20 police switched sides at four different sites – at Pathein, Naypyidaw, Myeik and Magway. Protesters in Yangon have largely adhered to a curfew imposed from 8pm to 4am under section 144 of Myanmar’s colonial-era Penal Code – turning instead to pot and pan banging from the safety of their homes – but have defied the ban on large gatherings.
The United States and United Nations condemned the use of force against protesters, who demand the reversal of the coup and the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and other detained leaders of her National League for Democracy (NLD) and activists..."
Source/publisher:
"The Guardian" (UK)
Date of publication:
2021-02-10
Date of entry/update:
2021-02-10
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
more
Sub-title:
The United Nations in Myanmar has voiced strong concerns over Tuesday’s reported use of force by security forces against demonstrators protesting the military takeover and arrests of elected leaders and politicians.
Description:
"“I call on the security forces to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the right to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression”, Ola Almgren, UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator in Myanmar, said in a news release.
“The use of disproportionate force against demonstrators is unacceptable”, he added.
The UN office in the country cited reports from capital Nay Pyi Taw, Mandalay and other cities, of numerous demonstrators having been injured, some of them seriously, by security forces in connection with the ongoing protests.
Mr. Almgren reiterated UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ call on the military leadership to respect the will of the people of Myanmar and adhere to democratic norms, with any differences to be resolved through peaceful dialogue
Over the weekend, the UN human rights office (OHCHR) also called on the security forces in Myanmar to ensure people’s right to peaceful assembly is fully respected and that demonstrations are not subjected to reprisals.
The military takeover, last Monday, followed escalating tensions between the military and the government after the November 2020 elections, which was won by Aung San Suu Kyi-led National League for Democracy (NLD).
The polls were only the second democratic elections in Myanmar since the end of nearly five decades of military rule.
Uphold children's rights: UNICEF
The UN Children's Fund UNICEF released a statement on Tuesday through it's office in Yangon, expressing deep concern regarding the impact of the crisis in Myanmar on children’s wellbeing, and reminded all parties of their obligations to uphold all children’s rights as enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), to which Myanmar is a State Party, and under its own Child Rights Law enacted in July 2019..."
Source/publisher:
UN News
Date of publication:
2021-02-09
Date of entry/update:
2021-02-10
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
more
Description:
"Myanmar's new military junta, which overturned the results of democratic elections when it seized power last Monday, has warned the public not to "destroy" democracy following three days of protests.
In a statement on the government-run MRTV channel, the military warned that "democracy can be destroyed" without discipline, and that people who "harm the state's stability, public safety and the rule of law" could face legal action.
It came as concerns are growing that the junta will crack down on tens of thousands of people protesting against the February 1 coup, after the military imposed a curfew and restrictions on public gatherings in the second largest city, Mandalay, amid threats to use live ammunition against demonstrators.
Notices have been issued to several townships in Mandalay imposing a curfew from 8 p.m. until 5 a.m., according to official notices posted to social media and translated by CNN. Public gatherings of more the five people, joining marches on foot or in a car, and public speeches have been prohibited in parts of the city, the notice said, citing that people are at risk of causing a riot by carrying out "worrisome behaviors that could affect the public peace and rule of law."
Those arrested could face prosecution under Section 144 of the Criminal Code for "unlawful assembly." Section 144 has been used in the past as a way to stop lawful protests and to justify violent crackdowns on mass demonstrations.
For a fourth straight day Tuesday, thousands of people gathered in the capital, Naypyidaw, against the military takeover and called for the release of detained civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other elected lawmakers.
Riot police used water cannon against protesters who had assembled near a barricade on a main road in the capital. The demonstrators could be heard chanting "people's police." Police warned on loudspeakers that force could be used if the protesters did not leave the area..."
Source/publisher:
"CNN" (USA)
Date of publication:
2021-02-09
Date of entry/update:
2021-02-09
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
more
Sub-title:
Police use water cannon on protesters in the capital and arrest 27 in Mandalay
Description:
"Opponents of Myanmar’s military coup have defied bans on big gatherings to rally for a fourth day following the biggest demonstrations in the country in more than a decade.
The 1 February coup and detention of elected civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi sparked outrage across the south-east Asian country of 53 million, and a growing civil disobedience movement affecting hospitals, schools and government offices. On Monday the army announced bans on gatherings in certain cities and towns and a curfew.
But on Tuesday morning large crowds again gathered near Sule Pagoda in downtown Yangon. One witness estimated there were tens of thousands on the streets by mid morning.
The protest in Yangon was largely peaceful but police fired water cannon on demonstrators in the capital Naypyidaw and in Bago. In the second-biggest city of Mandalay police arrested at least 27 anti-coup demonstrators, including a journalist, media organisations said.
A journalist from the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) said he was detained after filming the rally. He said people were beaten. Two media organisations also confirmed the arrests.
In Yangon martial law and rumours of incoming soldiers had created an atmosphere of unease, but protesters were determined. Pyae Phyo, 33, was gathered with his friends from the Myanmar Seamen Union under the shade of a tree near Sule Pagoda.
“Because of last night’s martial law announcement I thought people may not come,” he said. “But they have come. I am so proud of my people. Every day we will come here. Every day we aren’t free we will protest peacefully for our real leaders, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and president U Win Myint.”..."
Source/publisher:
"The Guardian" (UK)
Date of publication:
2021-02-09
Date of entry/update:
2021-02-09
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
more
Description:
" As thousands of protesters again take to the streets across Myanmar in escalating protests against last week’s military coup, some have been met with force by the police for the first time.
Videos on social media showed police firing water cannon at protesters in the isolated capital of Naypyidaw, as they demanded an end to military rule and the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, the country’s leader and founder of the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD), who is under house arrest in the city. On Sunday, some protesters were also dispersed by warning shots fired into the air in Myawaddy, on the border with Thailand. So far however, there have been no reports of force in Yangon where huge crowds were again gathering on Monday. At the colonial-era City Hall in Myanmar’s largest city, hundreds were on the streets, with more police at hand and water cannons again on standby. Crowds were also forming elsewhere in the city, including the Hledan Center where youth activists have been demonstrating for the past three days.
Their placards urged the police to stand with the protesters, as part of a growing civil disobedience movement that has already won support from doctors, teachers and other government workers..."
Source/publisher:
"Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
Date of publication:
2021-02-08
Date of entry/update:
2021-02-08
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
more
Description:
" Myanmar’s military government imposed a curfew and bans on gatherings of more than five people in the country’s two biggest cities on Monday as protests against last week’s coup showed no sign of abating.
The decrees covering Yangon and Mandalay were issued on a township-by-township basis, and those which have become public so far have the same restrictions. At least seven have been issued, and more are expected for other areas.
Rallies and gatherings of more than five people, along with motorized processions, are banned, and a 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. curfew is imposed. The measures are effective until further notice.
The decrees say they were issued in response to people carrying out unlawful actions that harm the rule of law.
Demonstrations against the coup had intensified Monday and spread to more parts of the country.
Police fired a water cannon at hundreds of protesters in Myanmar’s capital who were demanding the military hand power back to elected officials. Protesters also rallied at a major downtown intersection in the country’s largest city, Yangon, raising a three-finger salute that is a symbol of resistance and carrying placards saying, “Reject the military coup” and “Justice for Myanmar.”
There were also reports of new demonstrations in towns in the north, southeast and east of the country, as well as in the city of Mandalay, where there was a procession of marchers and motorbikes.
The growing wave of defiance — particularly in the capital Naypyitaw, where such protests are unusual — was striking in a country where demonstrations have been met with severe force in the past. That resistance is being seen in Naypyitaw, whose population includes many civil servants and their families, could speak to the level of anger among people who had only begun to taste democracy in recent years after five decades of military rule..."
Source/publisher:
"Associated Press" (USA)
Date of publication:
2021-02-08
Date of entry/update:
2021-02-08
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
more
Sub-title:
Senior General Min Aung Hlaing says the military will hold an election and hand over power to the winning party.
Description:
"Myanmar’s military ruler has said the military will hold a new election and transfer power to the winner, as protests against last week’s coup continued to grow.
Addressing the country on live television for the first time since the February 1 putsch, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing called on the public to prioritise facts and not feelings and repeated the claim that there were irregularities in November’s election that were ignored. Monday’s remarks to the nation were his first since he removed Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government in a move that has sparked widespread protests. Tens of thousands of people joined a third day of street demonstrations in towns and cities across Mynamar to denounce the military for its seizure of power.
Police warned protesters to disperse or face force to stifle the demonstrations against the coup and the arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi, whose National League for Democracy (NLD) party won the November election.
The detention of the country’s civilian leader and dozens of other members of the NLD ended 10 years of civilian rule in Myanmar and triggered international condemnation.
The generals had previously tried to justify their takeover on the grounds of election fraud and had promised a new poll.
Min Aung Hlaing reiterated that position in his address on Monday, saying the military government would form a “true and disciplined democracy” different to previous eras of military rule..."
Source/publisher:
"Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
Date of publication:
2021-02-08
Date of entry/update:
2021-02-08
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political role of the Tatmadaw
Language:
more
Description:
"The military coup in Myanmar has gone past the point of no return, according to a confidential U.K. foreign office assessment, in a sign that major democracies expect to have limited ability to influence the events unfolding inside the country.
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The bleak view last week from a senior British diplomat concludes the coup is irreversible, and that army chief Min Aung Hlaing will seek to crush ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s pro-democracy party in order to install himself as president. The assessment, the broad outlines of which were shared with Bloomberg News, also cites the risk that anti-coup protests -- with tens of thousands subsequently demonstrating on the weekend -- could turn bloody. With Suu Kyi and former President Win Myint in detention and facing criminal charges, the British conclusion is that a leaderless National League for Democracy will likely start to fracture. That will allow the military, which seized power on Feb. 1, to dominate in an election it has promised to hold following a one-year state of emergency.
Nations including the U.K., the U.S. and Australia have condemned the coup, which followed Suu Kyi’s landslide win in an election in November that outside observers deem to have been largely free and fair. Some countries have raised the prospect of renewed sanctions on Myanmar, which has made only tentative efforts in recent years to open up its economy to outside investment...."
Source/publisher:
"Bloomberg News" (New York)
Date of publication:
2021-02-08
Date of entry/update:
2021-02-08
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
more