The military seized power
making unfounded claims of widespread and systematic election and voter
irregularities, although international and domestic election observers found
that the election was “credible and reflected the will of the majority of the
voters.”
The junta brought multiple charges against
Aung San Suu Kyi, including for corruption, incitement, and breaching the
Official Secrets Act. Three of her deposed cabinet ministers and an Australian
economic adviser also faced charges under the Official Secrets Act.
Millions took to the streets
across the country in largely peaceful protests to call for the military to
relinquish power, while members of parliament, ethnic minority representatives,
and civil society activists formed the opposition National Unity Government
(NUG). The security forces responded by committing offenses amounting to crimes against humanity against
the civilian population, including torture, severe deprivation of liberty,
enforced disappearances, rape and other sexual abuse, and inhumane treatment.
Journalists, lawyers, medical personnel, anti-junta protesters, civil society
activists, women, and many others continue to be at high risk of arbitrary
arrest.
Between February 1 and
November 1, the police and military killed at least 1,200 protesters and
bystanders, including approximately 75 children, and have detained over 8700 government
officials, activists, journalists, and civil servants.
On March 14, the junta imposed martial law in
several townships across Yangon and began to enforce additional restrictions in
other parts of the country. On May 13, the junta also imposed martial law in
Chin State’s Mindat township
after clashes between security forces and lightly armed opposition militias.
Under martial law orders, direct authority over the townships was transferred
to the respective regional military commanders.
Since the coup, the military
has intensified military operations against ethnic armed groups in some areas,
such as Chin State. The military’s indiscriminate use of artillery and
airstrikes has reportedly injured
and killed civilians, damaged villages, including schools, and forced thousands
to flee.
The security forces have
engaged in widespread and systematic
attacks on civilians throughout Myanmar, including killing
protesters, enforced disappearance of opposition supporters, torture, sexual
abuse, rape of some detainees, and mass political detentions. On February 21,
2021, the junta stated in
the state’s Global New Light of Myanmar:
“Protesters are now inciting the people, especially emotional teenagers and
youth, to a confrontation path where they will suffer the loss of life.”
Many of the 1,200 people killed
by police and military since the coup were protesters and bystanders in cities
and towns across Myanmar, including Yangon, Mandalay, Bago, Monywa, and other
townships in Sagaing Region, Mindat township in Chin State, and many other
locations. International human rights standards permit
law enforcement officials to use lethal force only as a last resort when there
is an imminent threat to life. But in numerous cases in 2021 reported by the
United Nations, Human Rights Watch, other human rights organizations, and media, security
forces fired on demonstrators who were unarmed and posed no apparent threat.
The UN reported that on
March 3, security forces across the country fired live rounds at protesters, killing at least 38 and
wounding more than 100. Killings were also reported in one day in Monywa,
Sagaing Region; Myingyan and Mandalay, Mandalay Region; Salin, Magway Region;
and Mawlamyine, Mon State, according to media reports. On March
13, authorities killed at least nine protesters, including five in the Sein Pan
area of Mandalay, when security forces shot into a crowd.
On March 14 in Hlaing Tharyar township, Yangon, security forces killed an
estimated 66 people, according to the Assistance Association for Political
Prisoners.
The MRTV news channel
announced the day before Armed Forces Day, on March 27, that
demonstrators “should learn from the tragedy of earlier ugly deaths that you
can be in danger of getting shot to the head and back.” On March 27, security
forces followed through on that threat by carrying out violent crackdowns on
protesters in at least 40 towns and cities, killing dozens.
On April 9, military
personnel killed an estimated 82 people in Bago in
a dawn assault on protesters’ barricades and encampments; exact figures have
been difficult to determine due to a strong security presence and lack of
access to the area by reporters or independent investigators.
Many persons detained for
taking part in pro-democracy demonstrations said after their release that
security personnel tortured and otherwise
ill-treated them and others in custody. Methods of torture
included beatings, mock executions with guns, burning with cigarettes, and rape
and threatened rape.
The junta has taken into
custody more than 100 politicians, election officials, journalists, activists,
and protesters, and refused to confirm their whereabouts or conditions of
detention in violation of international law. Security forces frequently detained family members,
including children and older people,
when they were unable to find the individual they sought to arrest.
Threats to Rohingya
Authorities have been
committing the crimes against humanity of apartheid,
persecution, and severe deprivation of liberty against 600,000 Rohingya
remaining in Rakhine State. Most Rohingya had fled the country following the
military’s campaign of killings, rape, and arson that resulted in crimes
against humanity and genocidal acts in 2017.
Approximately 130,000
Rohingya have been confined to open-air detention camps in central Rakhine
State since being displaced by ethnic cleansing in 2012, in violation of their
fundamental right to return home. They are denied freedom of movement in what
amounts to arbitrary and discriminatory deprivation of liberty.
Following the coup,
restrictions on humanitarian access increased,
leading to preventable deaths
and illnesses in Rohingya camps and villages. In late May, nine children
reportedly died Rakhine
State following an outbreak of acute watery diarrhea.
Threats to Women’s and Girls’ Rights
Women have led and taken
part in mass protests as part of the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) against
the junta. Female protesters were some of the first killed by
security forces and arbitrarily detained. Many women reported being beaten by
security forces during their arrests, and some reported credible allegations of
sexual violence and humiliating treatment by
security forces during their detention.
Trafficking of women and
girls remains a serious problem in Shan and Kachin States, where conflict and
economic desperation has made them vulnerable to being lured to China under
false promises and sold into sexual slavery and forced reproduction as
“brides.”
The NLD government, prior to
the coup, was unable to pass the Prevention of Violence Against Woman Law.
While the law had been criticized for falling well short of international
standards, the absence of targeted legislation has stalled efforts to prevent
gender-based violence, assist survivors, and bring perpetrators to justice.
Freedom of Expression and Media
As of October 25, Myanmar’s junta had arrested 98 journalists, 46
of whom remained in detention, according to the Assistance Association
for Political Prisoners. Six journalists had been convicted, including five for
violating section 505A of the penal
code, a new provision that makes it a crime to publish or
circulate comments that “cause fear” or spread “false news.” In such
prosecutions, “false news” appears to be any news that the authorities do not
want to reach the public.
On March 8, the junta stripped media licenses from
five local outlets: Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), Khit Thit Media, Mizzima,
Myanmar Now, and 7Day. On May 4, authorities banned two other outlets, the
Kachin-based 74 Media and the Shan-based Tachileik News Agency, and also banned
satellite television.
Also, on May 4, authorities
arrested US journalist Danny Fenster, the managing editor of Frontier Myanmar, and detained him on politically
motivated charges. On November 12, a court sentenced him to 11 years’ hard
labor, but he was permitted to leave the country on November 15.
On June 30, the Ministry of
Information issued a warning to
journalists to stop describing the SAC as a “junta” or face prosecution.
Internet Shutdowns
In the weeks following the
coup, the junta imposed nationwide internet shutdowns from 1 a.m. to 9 a.m.,
which were later lifted, but authorities continued to
block many websites and throttled internet speeds throughout the year.
Blocks to mobile data and networks also continued across 22 townships where
anti-junta opposition resulted in heavy clashes between the Myanmar military
and pro-democracy militia groups.
Threats to Humanitarian Aid
Increased fighting between
the Myanmar military and ethnic armed groups in the border areas in Chin,
Kachin, Karen, Kayah, and Shan States has increased strain on access and
limited humanitarian aid to those areas. The UN said, in July, at least 3
million people needed humanitarian aid—an increase of 2 million since February
1—and food shortages were reported in parts of Chin and Rakhine States.
Anti-Junta Militias
Militias have formed around
the country since the coup to oppose the junta and target security forces. Many
of the militias have adopted the title of People’s Defense Forces, the same
name the NUG adopted for the nationwide force it created. However, not all the
recently formed People’s Defense Forces are linked to the NUG or take orders
from its command structure.
These militias began
conducting small-scale attacks against the military in July. In Sagaing and Magway Regions
and Chin State,
intense fighting between the militias and the military reportedly killed
hundreds of troops. The military responded with increased raids and by burning
villages. Some militias have carried out unlawful bombings of buildings and targeted killings of
civilian supporters of the military.
On September 7, acting NUG
President Duwa Lashi La declared a “defensive war” against the military junta.
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
Myanmar’s penal code
punishes “carnal intercourse against the order of nature” with up to 10 years
in prison and a fine.
The opposition NUG reported
that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people have been
particularly vulnerable to sexual violence in custody. One transgender woman
recounted after her release that she was raped in custody with
an object, tortured, and severely beaten.
Covid-19 and Attacks on Healthcare Workers
By November 2021, just 13 percent of
Myanmar's 54 million population was fully vaccinated. A total 17,998 deaths were
recorded by the Ministry of Health between March 2020 and October 2021,
although the actual numbers are likely much higher.
The junta has harassed, arbitrarily arrested,
and attacked medical professionals,
sometimes as they treated injured protesters.
Healthcare workers were early leaders of the opposition Civil Disobedience
Movement and refused to work in government hospitals as a form of protest. In
the nine months following the coup, at least 260 healthcare workers were
attacked while trying to administer medical aid, and 20 killed. The
AAPP said 76 remained in detention in
September, and as many as 600 healthcare workers had outstanding arrest
warrants against them. Many have been forced to work underground in makeshift
mobile clinics to treat Covid-19 patients or have gone into hiding to evade
arrest. The UN Country Team in Myanmar has said that attacks on healthcare
workers have jeopardized the Covid-19 response and prevented patients from
receiving health care.
Key International Actors
In February, the UN Human
Rights Council held a special session and adopted by consensus a resolution
deploring the removal of the elected government and calling for the
unconditional release of all those arbitrarily detained. A further resolution
was adopted at the council’s March session “condemning in the strongest terms”
the military deposition of the civilian government, and highlighting the need
for accountability.
In June, the United Nations
General Assembly passed a resolution strongly condemning the February 1 coup.
The General Assembly also made several important recommendations, including
calling for all members states to prevent the flow of arms into Myanmar. The UN
Security Council did not follow up and pass a legally binding resolution of its
own that would impose a global ban on the transfer of weapons and dual-use
technologies to Myanmar.
Canada, the European Union,
the United Kingdom, and the United States have imposed targeted sanctions
against Myanmar’s top military officials and members of the junta,
conglomerates, and companies owned or controlled by the military. However,
foreign governments did not impose sanctions on oil and gas revenues, the
junta's main source of revenues.
In October, the US Congress
introduced the BURMA Act 2021,
supporting authorization of further targeted sanctions and recommended the US
government make a Rohingya genocide determination. The European Parliament also supported
recognizing the NUG as the legitimate government of Myanmar and urged further
EU sanctions against military-owned businesses. While the EU expressed support for
the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as a mediator with the
Myanmar military, it also condemned the coup in “the strongest terms.”
The UN-backed Independent
Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM) is mandated to build case files to
support efforts to hold individuals legally accountable for serious
international crimes. The IIMM is “closely monitoring” events and is collecting
evidence of such crimes committed
following the coup, and said if substantiated, the alleged violations could
amount to crimes against humanity.
On April 24, ASEAN
negotiated a five-point consensus plan with
the military, and appointed Brunei diplomat Erywan Yusof as
special envoy. The military’s failure to implement the five-point plan led
ASEAN to exclude junta
leader Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing from its October summit.
At the International
Criminal Court, the prosecutor is investigating Myanmar for the crimes against
humanity of deportation and persecution,
based on the completion of these crimes in Bangladesh, an ICC member, following
the 2017 ethnic cleansing campaign against the Rohingya. In July, citing
Article 12(3) of the ICC Statute, the NUG lodged a declaration with the ICC
accepting the court’s jurisdiction over crimes committed in Myanmar since July
1, 2002.
Gambia’s case alleging
Myanmar’s violation of the Genocide Convention continued before the
International Court of Justice, with Myanmar raising preliminary
objections to the court’s jurisdiction and the admissibility of
Gambia’s application.
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