Mohamed-Badr Er-rahaoui. Estudiante de Master de International and Humanitarian Studies en Mohamed V University (Rabat, Marruecos)
ABSTRACT
The military plays a pivotal role in Myanmar politics, beginning with General Ne Win’s coup in 1962, that saw the establishment of the Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP), steering the country toward poverty, oppression and isolationism. The 80s marked the beginning of a dire situation for Democracy and Human Rights as in the 1982 Citizenship Law that denied the Rohingya basic Human Rights, rendered them stateless and exposed them to persecution and exploitation. Followed by an economic turmoil in 1987 that sparked the “8888 Uprising” a year later, from a student-led movement to nationwide protests that saw Ne Win resign just to be replaced with a more violent Sein Lwin, the “Butcher of Rangoon”, intensifying crackdowns. Another coup followed in the same year, establishing the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), perpetuating repression and ignoring the National League for Democracy’s (NLD) 1990 electoral victory. Rebranded as the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) in 1997. Under the pretext of facilitating democratic transition, the junta begun drafting a constitution in 2008, one that will grant them key positions and leverage in the governments to come.
Myanmar experienced a short-lived democratic experiment that begun in the 2012 general elections that saw the NLD entering parliament and their landslide victory in the 2015 elections with Aung San Suu Kyi becoming State Counsellor. However, the hope she brought soon turned into disappointment and condemnation when she appeared at the International Court of Justice in 2019 and defended the military campaigns of 2016 and 2017 that targeted the Rohingya and left 700,000 displaced in tandem with accusation of mass killings and rapes. This democratic experiment was put to an end in 2021 when General Min Aung Hlaing’s coup ousted Suu Kyi, and brought back military rule to Myanmar and driving the country to instability and a civil war.
Myanmar has a long history of military dictatorship, the military initially seized power in 1962 under General Ne Win, establishing the Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP) one party-system, beginning a period of isolationism and widespread poverty, oppression and conflict. The situation became dire in the 1980s, in 1982 the Rohingyas became stateless under the Citizenship law, effectively leaving them without rights or protection, the government logic behind this discrimination is that the Rohingyas are allegedly illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, despite existing evidence of their origins and long existence within the Rakhine State, stripping them from healthcare, education and exposes them to persecution and exploitation. in 1987 they demonetized certain currency notes without compensation, in 1988 begun the «8888 uprising» a student-led protest that was later joined monks, worker and different factions of Burmese society.
The protests forced Ne Win to resign but that was no cause to celebrate as he was succeeded by the infamous «Butcher of Rangoon» Sein Lwin who escalated the crackdowns violently, after he stepped down the military staged another coup and formed the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) that followed on the path of crackdowns, extrajudicial arrests, torture and martial law. They refused to acknowledge a National League for Democracy (NLD) victory in the 1990 general election.
Renamed as the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) in 1997, they claimed that the transfer of power required a new constitution that they begun drafting in 2008 after they «shockingly» excluded the opposition . This «military friendly» constitution guaranteed a fair share of power and influence for the military within the parliament, reserving them 25% of parliamentary seats and key ministries : Defense, Home and Border Affairs. In tandem with the authority to declare a state of emergency
The short lived democratic experiment begun in 2012 after the Nobel laureate, ethnic cleansing defender Aung Suu Kyi won the by-elections* and the NLD officially participated in the parliament as opposition, her spree continued and by 2015 she won the general elections by a landslide victory, and became State Councilor* . In 2016 and 2017 the military lunched a brutal and violent crackdown against the Rohingya minority in the Rakhine State, under the pretext of clearing out Rohingya insurgents but with alarming human rights abuses, displacement of 700k to Bangladesh, mass killings and rapes. Actions that the United Nations described as POSSIBLE GENOCIDE AND ETHNIC CLEANSING.
In 2019, the Gambia brought a case against Myanmar in 2019 under the Genocide Convention, accusing them of genocide against the Rohingyas, citing the military actions in the Rakhine state in 2016 and 2017, that’s where the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate appeared to deny the allegations and defend the military, to the disappointment of human rights advocates and observers.After being sidelined by the NLD in the 2020 general elections, General Min Aung Hlaing staged a coup against Suu Kyi under the pretext of electoral fraud, marking an end to a fragile and short-lived democratic experience and the worsening of the Rohingyas situation and plight