Three years ago today, the military in Burma (or Myanmar, as the junta prefers to call it) plunged the country back into hell. On 1 February 2021, Burma’s army, led by commander-in-chief General Min Aung Hlaing, seized power in a coup. After a decade of apparent liberalisation, which saw political prisoners released, space for civil society and independent media open up and democratic elections held, the clock was turned back on the country by more than ten years.
Hlain’s army overthrew the democratically-elected civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi, throwing her and many of her ministers and parliamentarians in jail. They also arrested thousands of activists and journalists and unleashed one of the most severe military offensives the country had ever faced, even after seven decades of civil war.
The military is committing barbaric atrocity crimes at a level of intensity not previously seen
Aung San Suu Kyi, who should now be approaching the end of her second term in government, instead languishes in prison.
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