One Year Of The Military Junta In Power In Myanmar

On February 1, 2021, the Burmese military stages a coup and took over Myanmar. What followed can only be described as brutal crackdown to suppress opposition to its rule, including mass killings, torture, sexual violence, arbitrary arrests targeting protesters, journalists, lawyers, health workers, and political opposition. In January 2022, Human Rights Watch classified these crimes as crimes against humanity. This is in addition to the allegations of atrocities against the Rohingyas that the military stands accused of, currently investigated by the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Myanmar’s military stands accused of atrocities against the Rohingya Muslims, which include killing, causing serious bodily and mental harm, inflicting conditions that are calculated to bring about physical destruction, imposing measures to prevent births, and forcible transfers, are genocidal in character because they are intended to destroy the Rohingya group in whole or in part in violation of the U.N. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (the Genocide Convention).

The new report from Human Rights Watch finds that since the military coup, peaceful protests met with disproportionate response, including: “excessive and lethal force, including live ammunition, grenades, and so-called less-lethal weapons. Police and soldiers massacred protesters in cities and towns across the country. The security forces have killed nearly 1,500 people since the coup, including at least 100 children.” Targeted and indiscriminate attacks on civilians and civilian objects continue throughout the country. In one of the recent attacks, on December 24, 2021, at least 39 people, including four children and two humanitarian workers, were killed in Myanmar’s Kayah State. Reports suggest that between February 1 to November 30, 2021, security forces allegedly killed at least 31 health workers and arrested 284. Since the coup, over 400,000 people have been internally displaced by fighting and unrest.

According to the data collected by the Assistance Association of Political Prisoners (AAPP), the military junta has arbitrarily detained over 11,000 activists, politicians, journalists, and others. At least 120 journalists were arrested, with tens remaining in detention and awaiting charges or sentencing. At least 15 journalists have been convicted, predominately for violations of section 505A of the Penal Code, criminalizing publishing or circulating comments that cause fear or spread false news. Military tribunals have sentenced 84 people to death in summary proceedings. Similarly, many political leaders, including President U Win Myint and State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, have been facing proceedings in several courts.

All these proceedings raise several concerns in relation to their failings to abide by international fair trial standards.

Security forces have subjected many detainees to torture and ill-treatment. Human Rights Watch reported “routine beatings, burning with lit cigarettes, prolonged stress positions, and gender-based violence.” Furthermore, at least 150 people have died in custody, in many cases at military-run detention centers.

The human rights violations scorecard of the Burmese military since the military coup on February 1, 2021, cannot be ignored. States and international organizations must use all their leverage to put pressure on the military junta to stop the abuses, including with Magnitsky targeted sanctions and other legal and political steps. The ongoing atrocities perpetrated by the military junta must be included in the investigation by the ICC as they do and will continue to lead to forcible displacement, including to Bangladesh, the very reason the ICC managed to engage on the situation in the first place.