Junta using fear to tighten administrative grip on Myanmar: rights group

By Admin 25 Aug 2023

DMG Newsroom
25 August 2023, Sittwe

The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) has said Myanmar’s military regime has intensified its administrative system through fear of the people as it pushes back against the armed resistance to its rule taking place across the country.

An AAPP official said the regime is still trying to govern the people with fear, arresting and killing those opposing the junta as enemies and, as its territorial control shrinks, committing terrorist acts to regain those areas.

“The people are still fighting against the military dictatorship even today, despite their fear. People’s opposition to the military dictatorship has to be considered the strongest ever,” an AAPP official told DMG via email.

As of August 23, the civilian death toll attributed to Myanmar’s military coup had reached 4,000, according to the AAPP.

The civilian death toll at the hands of the regime has been rising month after month, with 121 deaths last month and 143 between August 1 and 23. According to AAPP statistics, civilians are dying at a rate of six people per day due to anti-regime activities, real or perceived.

Political analysts say the junta chief is committing acts of violence to maintain power, while collateral damage largely redounds to the grassroots and low-level military personnel.

“The junta boss’s actions do not harm him. The soldiers at the bottom suffered a lot. There are many casualties on the side of the military regime, but the victims are the people and the soldiers at the bottom,” said U Than Soe Naing, a political analyst.

AAPP stated that in conflict areas, the military council commonly bombards civilian areas, including use of heavy weapons fire, as well as arresting, killing and interrogating civilians, and using them as human shields.

“The arrest and killing of civilians by the military regime has bolstered the people’s belief in the fight until the military dictatorship is rooted out; the fact is there was no public trust from the beginning,” the AAPP official added.

AAPP said that due to the crimes committed by Myanmar’s military junta, international sanctions against Myanmar are gradually increasing and people are suffering from economic hardship as a result.

AAPP said it is working with the United Nations’ Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM), Myanmar’s human rights special rapporteurs, international governments, and international human rights groups to effectively prosecute the military regime’s crimes via the international justice system.

Junta spokesman Maj-Gen Zaw Min Tun could not be reached for comment regarding the AAPP statement.

Myanmar has been in a state of political and economic chaos since the February 2021 coup, when the military overthrew an elected civilian government. Fighting has been ongoing across the country ever since, with opposition to military rule showing no sign of abating.