Published on July 20, 2022
- Political Developments
- On July 15, 2022, State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi testified against fraud charges regarding the 2020 national elections that were made against her by the military junta. She denied these charges in a closed trial in Nay Pyi Taw.
- On July 14, 2022, a financial scandal regarding the Burmese military-affiliated political party Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) emerged again when U Maung Myint, a senior USDP official, revealed that USDP spokesperson Dr. Nanda Hla Myint borrowed two billion Kyats (US$1.07 million) from the party.
- In an interview with the acting president of the National Unity Government (NUG), Duwa Lashi La talked about the challenges of garnering international attention and the recent developments regarding the armed revolution against the military regime.
- Ground Situation
- As of July 19, 2022, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), a Burmese human rights advocacy organization, reported that 2,092 individuals have been killed. AAPP also reported that 14,736 individuals have been arrested and 11,668 individuals are still detained by the Burmese military since the coup.
- On July 18, local media reported that clashes between the Arakan Army (AA) and the junta forces took place in northern Maungdaw Township in Rakhine State.
- Clashes between the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the junta forces have been taking place in Hpakant Township in Kachin State since July 17.
- Between July 15-19, at least six junta officials have been killed by local resistance forces in Yangon.
- On July 14, 2022, the junta carried out airstrikes in Depayin Township in Sagaing Township forcing thousands of civilians to flee from their homes.
- On July 14, Mizzima’s freelance reporter Ma Nyein Nyein Aye was sentenced to three years in prison with hard labor under the 505(A) charge. She was arrested on January 15, 2022, while reporting on the ground in Yangon.
- On July 13, at least nine teachers from an online school were arrested by the junta. They were teaching students who are boycotting the junta education system.
- The military regime has been disrupting several roads in Chin State resulting in residents in Matupi and Mindat townships of southern Chin State running out of food supplies.
- During the first half of July, junta forces have been burning more than 150 oil wells in Magway Region in an attempt to cut off support for local PDFs. The local population owns and operates the oil wells. They rely on oil production for livelihood.
- International Responses
- On July 20, 2022, the U.S. Department of Defense withdrew from the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM) Plus Experts’ Working Group on Counter Terrorism. The working group is co-chaired by Burma and Russia. DoD cited the co-chairs’ violation of ASEAN values as the reason. Australia and New Zealand withdrew earlier in the month.
- Junta leader Min Aung Hlaing met with officials from the Russian Ministry of Defense during his visit on the second week of July. He also met with the director general of Russian state energy company Rosatom and signed an MOU with the company to cooperate on nuclear energy skills development.
- On July 13, 2022, the junta forced Pete Vowles, the Chargé D’ Affaires ad interim at the British Embassy in Yangon, to leave the country.
- NUG’s Acting President Duwa Lashi La virtually met with UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet on July 14, 2022.
- According to Justice for Myanmar (JFM), Sandeep Metalcraft, an Indian arms producer, is supplying the Burmese junta with materials for bombs and artillery.
- Business and Economy
- The lengthy approval process by the junta’s approving bodies and foreign exchange crisis are creating shortages in essential medical goods and raising their prices.
- Local media reported that there has been a surge in illegal rare earth mining in Kachin State in northern Burma since the coup. China imports a significant portion of its rare earth minerals from Burma.
- On July 13, 2022, the Central Bank of Myanmar ordered companies and individual borrowers to suspend repayment of foreign loans in an attempt to defend its foreign exchange reserve.