By Pan Pan, Penrose Thitsa
Myanmar’s human rights situation is dire more than two years after the military coup, the level of barbarity worse than meted out by the Japanese in World War II.
Myanmar's military junta has committed widespread and systematic human rights violations, according to the National Unity Government (NUG) Human Rights Minister U Aung Myo Min and human rights activist Daw Thinzar Shunlei Yi, speaking to Mizzima.
The military junta is not only targeting anti-junta resistance fighters for arrest, torture, and killing, but they are also targeting civilians.
The statistics are bad. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a non-governmental organization, reported in early April that the Myanmar junta has arbitrarily arrested over 21,200 individuals, including civilians, since the coup. Furthermore, the junta has reportedly killed at least 3,220 people.
NUG Minister U Aung Myo Min describes the unimaginable cruelty witnessed by those who have suffered under the current regime and emphasizes the need for action against the junta to prevent further atrocities, all the while highlighting the importance of justice for the victims.
“Every time I meet people who suffered, the level of cruelty witnessed by them is unimaginable. Even the brutality of the Japanese era seen in the movies pales in comparison to the brutality of the current regime. The first thing in the minds of the people who encountered the Military Council being cruel and killing was that they were very resentful. In addition to resentment, voices calling for the truth are also heard,” U Aung Myo Min said. “It is necessary to take action against the terrorist Military Council as soon as possible to prevent such atrocities from recurring. The feelings about the terrible incidents are so overwhelming that we never want to experience something like these again. But if you listen to all the voices, you will see that they are demanding justice."
Recently, the Human Rights Ministry of NUG reported that from 11 July 2021 to 13 March 2023, the highest number of civilian massacres occurred in Sagaing Region, with a total of 45 incidents, followed by Magway Region, which experienced five incidents. Additionally, two massacres each were reported in Chin and Karenni states and the Yangon Region.
Human rights activist Daw Thinzar Shunlei Yi warns that the violation of human rights and patriarchy have become entrenched issues in Myanmar under the military dictatorship, but advocates for the power of education and knowledge to counteract these issues.
"Under military dictatorships, the violation of human rights is an issue that has been experienced in Myanmar for generations,” said Daw Thinzar. “If the military dictatorship continues, human rights violations will become entrenched and will be stronger. When Myanmar was under military rule for many years, patriarchy started to rise in connection with military ideology. When patriarchy is like a cancer that has taken root in the entire community, no matter how much we try to counter it, as long as the military dictators remain in power, the cancer in our country will only worsen. So, we are still trying to revolutionize these ideas.”
"Knowledge of human rights is a weapon to counter crimes and violations," she stated. "We need to speak more about human rights and educate the public. If various groups try to apply human rights, we can prevent passing on this cancer to the next generation."
NUG Human Rights Minister U Aung Myo Min highlighted the need for the international community to take action against the Burmese military regime's human rights violations, while urging the United Nations Security Council to make more drastic decisions against the Myanmar junta.
"It is a situation where we have to rely on the international community to take action. The domestic situation will not be able to implement any law. The announcement of the UN Human Rights Council, which is now being held in April, will disclose the brutal killings and human rights violations committed by the Burmese military regime, and request to take action to ban the export and sale of weapons, including jet fuel, to the regime. The Security Council needs to take more drastic decisions and take action. The United States has begun work on the recently announced jet fuel embargo. The UK has again imposed economic sanctions. These are direct actions,” he said.
