KNU Concerned Groups says NCA null after coup

By DMG 02 Sep 2021

DMG Newsroom
2 September 2021, Sittwe 

The Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) signed by several ethnic armed groups is null and void since the military seized power in a coup on February 1, the KNU Concerned Group said on September 2. 

“The NCA does not achieve the political goal of ethnic armed groups, and it is a contract that forces them to be under the 2008 Constitution, by making them give up armed rebellion and competing in elections,” said the statement from the group, which is led by the former vice chairperson of the Karen National Union (KNU), Naw Zipporah Sein. 

The statement said the military’s rejection of the 2020 general election results was problematic in this regard. 

The military council has arrested and killed hundreds of anti-coup protesters, opposition political party members, media workers and activists since it seized power on February 1, and has also launched offensive attacks in regions controlled by ethnic armed groups, the statement noted. 

The political stance of the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw and the affiliated National Unity Government (CRPH/NUG) is to end military dictatorship and build a federal democratic union in Myanmar, which is the revolutionary goal of ethnic armed groups as well, it added. 

“The KNU welcomes the CRPH/NUG and supports CRPH/NUG in administrative, political, military and diplomatic movements,” said the KNU Concerned Group. 

A total of 1,043 people were killed and 7,768 were arrested by security forces from February 1 to September 2, according to data from the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP). 

Popular resistance to Myanmar’s military regime continues more than seven months after the coup. 

Among other recent flashpoints of post-coup conflict, the military has been fighting against the NCA non-signatory Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in Kachin State, and the NCA signatory KNU in Karen State.