Situation Update On Burma (June 22, 2022)

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Published on June 22, 2022

• As of June 21, 2022, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), a Burmese human rights advocacy organization, reported that 2,000 individuals have been killed, 14,213 individuals arrested, and 11,151 individuals are still detained by the Burmese military since the coup.
• Political Developments
  • On June 17, Dr. Zaw Myint Maung, the Mandalay Region Chief Minister under the NLD government and vice-chair of the NLD, was sentenced to 21 years in prison on five counts of corruption by a junta court in Mandalay. He was previously imprisoned for 18 years by the previous military regime. 
  • In response to the UN’s statement that it was deeply troubled by the execution orders of U Ko Jimmy and Ko Phyo Zeya Thaw who are prominent NLD activists and politicians, two members of the junta leader’s advisory board publicly defended the execution order. Daw Yin Yin Nwe, the 70-year-old ex daughter-in-law of late military dictator General Ne Win, and Daw Yin Yin Oo, the daughter of late president Dr. Maung Maung who ruled Burma for a month following the 1988 nationwide uprising, wrote on their social media accounts supporting the execution orders.
  • On June 19, Burmese people nationwide celebrated the 77th birthday of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, calling for her release. She had been in detention in an undisclosed location in Burma’s capital since the coup.
  • The KNU announced that they will not participate in peace talks with the junta as long as they remain involved in politics. The KNU said that they will only participate in peace negotiations if the junta removes itself from politics and federal democracy and transitional justice are implemented.
  • On June 18, the NUG welcomed the panel discussion on the root causes of human rights violations and abuses against the Rohingya Muslims and other minorities in Burma. In an official statement, the NUG expressed its appreciation for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights’ remarks and panelists. 
  • The junta continues to invite EAOs to its peace talks. Major EAOs including the KNU, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), Karenni National Progressive Party, and Chin National Front, have rejected the invitation in April. Arakan Army (AA) had also rejected an earlier invitation to peace talks.
  • On June 14, AA spokesperson Khaing Thukha said that the junta is preparing for war in Rakhine State. Despite the relative stability in the state since the informal ceasefire between the junta and AA in 2020, recent increases in armament and military activities by the junta are being seen as the junta’s preparation for war. 

• Ground Situation
  • On June 19, tens of thousands of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh held demonstrations and rallies, demanding repatriation back to Burma. Despite a ban on protests, 23 Rohingya refugee camps participated in these rallies.
  • On June 17, two women were killed and one man was injured when artillery shells hit the Zup Awng internally displaced persons (IDPs) camp in Kutkai Township in Shan State. According to the locals, the junta forces fired the artillery.
  • On June 16, the junta forces arrested ten civilians in Rakhine State in what appears to be a retaliation against the Arkan Army (AA) for AA arresting one junta soldier in Ponnagyun Township. 
  • On June 14 and 15, 18 members of the junta forces and pro-military Pyu Saw Htee militia group were killed in attacks carried out by local PDFs in Magwe and Sagaing Region.
  • According to a press release by the United League of Arakan and Arakan Army (AA), hundreds of junta forces have surrendered to AA since February 2021. 
  • On June 14, the junta’s airstrikes and arson attacks forced about 3,000 civilians to flee their homes in Wetlet Township in Sagaing Region. Junta forces deployed aerial bombs and artillery to fight local resistance forces which also destroyed houses and killed civilians.
  • On June 14, Justice For Myanmar (JFM), reported that the junta used mobile SIM cards issued by junta-owned Mytel, a telecom operator, to surveil its troops. Such efforts are in place to curb further defections from the junta forces.
  • On June 12, junta security forces detained more than 40 anti-junta protestors and their relatives. Local media reported that detainees are being held in local police stations and interrogation centers. These arrests and detention highlight the increased military intelligence operations conducted against anti-regime forces.
  • On June 11 and 12, two elderly civilians from Pakokku Township in Magwe Region were killed by the junta forces. The first victim was beaten until his insides were crushed and the second victim was burned to death as the junta forces set fire to her home.
  • On June 10, five civilians were tortured and killed by the junta forces in Myaing Township in Magwe  Region. Victims include two striking teachers (one of whom was five months pregnant), a striking nurse, and two members of the local resistance forces. 
• International Responses
  • According to a report by the UN Special Rapporteur Tom Andrews, at least 382 children have been killed or injured by armed groups, with 59 percent of the cases occurring “during targeted or indiscriminate attacks by the military”. The report also states that the junta has “arbitrarily detained over 1,400 children since the coup and at least 274 remain behind bars” while more than 250,000 children have been displaced due to junta attacks. 
  • The Junta spokesman General Zaw Min Tun said that the ASEAN Special Envoy Prak Sokhonn will not be allowed to meet with Aung San Suu Kyi on his second visit to Burma on June 29 and 30. Sokhonn will only be allowed to meet with ethnic armed groups currently holding peace talks with the junta. This goes against Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and other ASEAN leaders’ calls for meetings with Suu Kyi and officials from the NUG.
  • The Indian border state of Mizoram is issuing ID cards to nearly 30,000 refugees who have fled from Chin State due to military rule. Many Chin residents have fled across the border to India in fear of escalating violence.
  • No representatives from the military junta were invited to the 24th ASEAN-India gathering in New Delhi on June 16 and 17. India continues to state that it will stand behind ASEAN’s decisions on Burma. 
  • Junta Defense Minister General Mya Tun Oo will be representing Burma at the 16th ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM) on June 22 in Phnom Penh. Despite calls from 677 Burmese, regional, and international civil society organizations opposing the invitation Cambodian director-general of the General Department of Policy and Foreign Affairs at the Defense Ministry General Nem Sowatch, rejected the calls and said that it is “necessary to invite all ASEAN members” and that they have “consensus from eight ASEAN countries” to invite General Mya Tun Oo. 
  • On June 16, the UK imposed sanctions on three Burmese and three Russian companies that supplied aircraft parts to junta forces. Myanmar New Era Trading Co. Ltd., Synpex Shwe Co. Ltd., Sky Aviator Co. Ltd, JSC Gorizont, Sins Avia Trading House LLC (CNS Aviation), and Ural Avia LLC in Russia are listed on this sanctions list. 
• Business and Economy 
  • On June 18, RASS, a Russian state-owned news agency, reported that Inter-RAO, a Russian energy company, had been invited by the Burmese junta to study the potential projects in upgrading the country’s energy system. 
  • On June 16, the junta announced the ban on importing foreign-made cars to prevent further decline in the country’s foreign currency reserves. 

In early June, the junta’s Ministry of Electricity and Energy (MOEE) awarded solar power contracts to Venus Essential Myanmar Co., a company with ties to the son of junta leader Min Aung Hlaing.