Aung San Suu Kyi, the de facto leader of the country, was detained along with President Win Myint and dozens of other high-ranking figures in their National League for Democracy (NLD) during pre-dawn raids. Hours later, the military declared that power had been turned over to Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing, in response to groundless allegations of electoral fraud. A state of emergency was declared for a year.
While the dramatic overthrow of Suu Kyi’s government has attracted international attention, ongoing disruptions to internet access and communications mean that many in Myanmar are still unclear about what is happening.
Facebook, by far the country’s largest online platform, confirmed to CNN that as of Thursday morning its services were “currently disrupted for some people,” as independent monitors captured widespread filtering of Facebook, WhatsApp and other platforms, even as basic internet. returned in some areas.
Limited access to news and the Internet can affect people’s ability to get information or organize responses through social media. At one point on Monday, the only operational TV channel was the Myanmar military television network Myawaddy TV. On Wednesday, some channels, such as DVB TV, were still off the air.
On Wednesday, US State Department spokesman Ned Price said Washington was “troubled” by reports of an arrest warrant against Suu Kyi.
“We call on the military to immediately release all detained civilian and political leaders, journalists and human rights activists and return the democratically elected government to power,” Price said, adding that President Joe Biden considered the military’s actions. as a “direct attack on the country’s transition to democracy and the rule of law”.
Military control
Myanmar – also known as Burma – was ruled for more than 50 years by successive isolationist military regimes that plunged the country into poverty and brutally suppressed any dissent. Thousands of critics, activists, journalists, academics and artists were routinely imprisoned and tortured at the time.
Suu Kyi gained international fame during her decades-long struggle against military rule. When her party, the NLD, won a landslide in the 2015 elections and formed the first civilian government, many pro-democracy supporters hoped it would break with the military rule of the past and hoped Myanmar would continue to reform.
The NLD reportedly had another decisive victory in the November 2020 general election, putting it in power for another five years and hoping for some military figures that an opposition party they had backed would democratically take over. .
The sudden takeover came as the new parliament was due to open and after months of increasing friction between the civilian government and the powerful military known as the Tatmadaw over alleged election irregularities. The country’s electoral commission has repeatedly denied that massive voter fraud has taken place.
Hundreds of NLD lawmakers were detained on Monday in the capital, Naypyitaw, where they had traveled to take a seat. The junta has since removed 24 ministers and deputies from the government and appointed 11 of its own allies as replacements to take up their roles in a new government.
Analysts have suggested that the coup was more about the military’s attempt to reassert its power and the personal ambition of Army Chief Min Aung Hlaing, who was due to step down this year, than serious claims of voter fraud.
“With his mandatory retirement within a few months, with no route to a civilian leadership role, and amid worldwide calls for criminal prosecution in The Hague, he was cornered,” said Jared Genser, an international human rights lawyer formerly a pro bono. advice to Suu Kyi, wrote for CNN this week.
Protests and strikes
So far, opposition to the coup has been relatively limited, both due in part to communication difficulties and long memories of previous brutal defeats by the military, as the country ruled with an iron grip for so long.
Doctors have pledged to strike despite the coronavirus pandemic still haunting Myanmar, and there are scattered calls for protests and work stoppages online, some in the name of the NLD.
Assistant doctors at Yangon General Hospital released a statement pledging their participation in the “civil disobedience movement” stating that they will not work under an army-led government and calling for the release of Suu Kyi.
Video showed medical workers in Yangon outside the hospital on Wednesday dressed in their scrubs and protective gear, while wearing red ribbons.
Myanmar’s Ministry of Information warned the media and the public on Tuesday not to spread social media rumors or create unrest, and urged people to cooperate with the government following Monday’s coup.
“Some media outlets and the public are spreading rumors on social media that hold rallies to stir up noisiness and make statements that could cause unrest,” the statement said. “We want to urge the public not to perform these acts and to notify the public to cooperate with the government in accordance with existing laws.”
Fear of the military could be a powerful preventive tool against concerted action.
“When the military was last in charge, political prisoners like me were rounded up, sent to prison for decades, placed in solitary confinement and tortured. We are concerned that if this state of emergency is not reversed, similar things will happen again.”, says Bo Kyi, co-founder of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, and a former inmate herself.
“There is a fear that the military could continue to prosecute officials, activists and take down ordinary people. But we have hope that Burma can get back on its democratic path.”