Published on June 28, 2022
- As of June 27, 2022, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), a Burmese human rights advocacy organization, reported that 2,032 individuals have been killed. AAPP also reported that 14,304 individuals have been arrested and 11,241 individuals are still detained by the Burmese military since the coup.
- Political Developments
- On June 27, ASEAN Special Envoy on Burma Prak Sokhonn urged the junta to not hold Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in solitary confinement in prison ahead of his visit to Burma this week. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was transferred to solitary confinement from house arrest on June 22.
- On June 27, the Arakan Army (AA) accused the junta of failing to protect civilians at the Burma-Bangladesh border after a local school headmaster Bo Win and teacher Ohnmar Kyaw were kidnapped in Maungdaw Township in Rakhine State on June 16.
- On June 22, the former Naypyitaw Council chairman and mayor Dr. Myo Aung was sentenced to 15 years in prison on five corruption charges in Naypyitaw Prison.
- On June 21, the NUG announced that the People’s Defense Forces (PDF) are becoming more organized and professionalized resembling a professional army.
- On June 20, the former Yangon Region finance minister and former deputy mayor of Naypyitaw under the NLD government, U Ye Min Oo, was sentenced to 15 years in prison on five corruption charges by a junta court in Naypyitaw. Additionally, he faces other charges including a criminal breach of trust that could lead to life imprisonment if found guilty.
- Ground Situation
- On the weekend of June 26 and 27, more than 7,000 civilians fled from their homes as junta forces shelled and burned indiscriminately in Thaton Township in Mon State.
- On the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture on June 26, Burmese rights groups stated that nearly one hundred Burmese civilians have been tortured to death by the junta since the coup.
- On June 24, local PDF forces destroyed the main power cable supplying power to the Chinese Wanbao Mining Company in Salingyi Township in the Sagaing Region. The junta forces retaliated by raiding 20 villages nearby which forced about 10,000 civilians from their homes.
- On June 23, locals reported that the Arakan Army detained a junta naval captain in Rakhine State’s capital, Sittwe.
- On June 22, a skirmish between local PDFs and the junta forces led to the death of 25 junta soldiers and its allied militia members in Tamu Township in Sagaing Region. Five PDF members were injured in the fight.
- After the AA seized some members of the military junta, the junta abducted at least 20 residents in Mrauk-U in the Rakhine state and carried out security checks in Mrauk-U on June 22. Tensions continue to rise between the two armies in the region.
- On June 22, at least eight PDF members were killed and three captured by the junta troops in a clash in Magway Region’s Pwintbyu Township. PDF members were transporting weapons when the skirmish took place.
- On June 22, the military junta troops from the Chinese mining firm Wanbao killed two villagers and torched homes at Salingyi Township, Sagaing Region.
- On June 20, thousands of villagers fled their homes after the junta troops fired artillery into Yinmabin Township in Sagaing Region.
- International Responses
- On June 23, Tom Andrews, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, called on ASEAN to do more in pressuring the Burmese junta and to engage with NUG during his visit to Malaysia. He also commended Malaysia’s leadership on the matter, especially Foreign Minister Saifuddin’s call for a policy of “non-indifference” over “noninterference”.
- On June 20, Nicholas Koumjian, Head of UN’s Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar, stated that the junta’s decision to execute its political opponents may constitute “one or more crimes against humanity or war crimes.”
- On June 20, 459 civil society organizations (CSOs) called on France to not authorize TotalEnergies’ use of exemptions to the EU sanctions on MOGE. While MOGE was sanctioned by EU in February 2022, an exemption would allow the French government to approve the transfer of funds from TotalEnergies to MOGE for remaining operations.
- Christine Cipolla, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Regional Director for the Asia Pacific, visited Burma from June 15 to 18 and met with members of the SAC. She raised concerns over the worsening conflict and violence in Burma and called for the resumption of ICRC visits to prisons.
- On June 26, US President Biden released a statement for International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, which included a short statement on Burma mentioning security forces “torturing and killing those who support democracy, including through electrocution, rape, and other forms of sexual violence”.
- Business and Economy
- NUG’s Ministry of Planning, Finance, and Investment (MOPFI) announced the launch of Digital Myanmar Kyat (DMMK), a digital currency on June 26. MOPFI also launched NUG-Pay, the platform to use the DMMK.
- A junta delegation of ministers from the commerce and energy sectors attended the 25th St Petersburg International Economic Forum in Russia between June 15 and 18. The delegation met with a Russian state-owned nuclear energy agency to discuss energy production using nuclear technology.
- Justice for Myanmar (JFM) and Myanmar Now reported that Gulf Petroleum Myanmar (GPM) had been appointed by the junta to take over the operation of the Yetagun Gas Project. Previously, Yetagun Gas Project was operated by Petronas before they decided to divest.