Published on October 12, 2022
- Political Developments
- On October 07, 2022, U Sithu Aung Myint, a well-known journalist was sentenced to three years in prison by a junta court in Insein Prison.
- On October 06, 2022, Toru Kubota, a Japanese documentary filmmaker who has been imprisoned in Insein Prison, has been sentenced to seven years in prison.
- Khin Yi, the new chairman of the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), urged party members to cooperate with the junta on the election planned for 2023.
- At the beginning of October 2022, the junta reshuffled its military leadership. Several favorites of the junta leader were promoted while some generals were made to retire. Some generals were transferred to other branches of the arms services and military-linked organizations like the Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC) or USDP.
- At the beginning of October 2022, Major Myo Min Tun who defected from the military in December 2021 and fled to Mae Sot, returned to Burma and rejoined the military junta. He was the first to rejoin the military and was condemned by five different military defector groups.
- The military junta in a prison court in Magwe Region gave long prison sentences to at least 20 National League for Democracy (NLD) members.
- Ground Situation
- As of October 11, 2022, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), a Burmese human rights advocacy organization, reported that 2,343 individuals have been killed. AAPP also reported that 15,821 individuals have been arrested and 12,623 individuals are still detained by the Burmese military since the coup.
- The NUG announced that they now possess anti-aircraft weapons to defend civilians from junta airstrikes on October 07, 2022. They also stated that they have the technical assistance to create early warning systems to warn civilians ahead of airstrikes.
- Local PDFs bombed the front gates of the junta air force base and No.981st Battalion in Mingaladon Township, Yangon, on September 28, 2022.
- Junta troops in Sagaing Region are raiding and destroying villages near Monywa, the capital of the region. These villages and residents are being targeted for being pro-NLD and for organizing weekly protests against the junta.
- The Karenni Nationalities Defense Force (KNDF) reported that more than 100 junta soldiers were killed in Karenni State in the month of September.
- Between October 01 and October 06, six people linked to the NLD in Nyaung-U Township in Mandalay Region were killed by members of the local Pyi Saw Htee, the pro-military militia.
- On October 03, 2022, 24 PDF groups operating in Mon State’s Thaton District formed a coalition under the command of the Karen National Union (KNU).
- At least 12 civilians and 20 PDF members were killed during the junta’s attacks in Wetlet Township in Sagaing Region between October 08 and October 12.
- International Responses
- On October 06, 2022, EU lawmakers condemned the crackdown on media freedom by the junta and called “for the release of ‘every unfairly detained journalist’”. In their resolution, the EU Parliament condemned the arrests of Htet Htet Khine, BBC freelance producer; Sithu Aung Myint, a Frontier Myanmar columnist; Nyein Nyein Aye, a freelancer and “other journalists, members of the press and media workers”.
- On October 06, 2022, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned three individuals, Aung Moe Myint, Hlaing Moe Myint, and Myo Thitsar, “for their roles related to the procurement of Russian-produced military arms from Belarus for the Burmese regime” along with Dynasty International Company Limited. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said these sanctions follow the regime’s executions of pro-democracy activists and the September 16 assault helicopter attack on a school in Let Yet Kone village that killed at least 11 children.
- Business and Economy
- On October 05, 2022, Puma Energy, the main supplier of aviation fuel to Burma, announced that it is divesting from Burma and selling its local stake to a local private company.