The junta of Myanmar dismissed two officials at the country’s embassy in Tokyo, Japan, who had joined a boycott in protest against the military coup last February 1 and the violent repression of civil demonstrations. This was reported by the Japanese news agency “Kyodo”, according to which the junta’s foreign ministry revoked the diplomatic status of the two officials in Tokyo and their passport, and denied them entry to the embassy building, where they lived until the beginning of March. Last February the Burmese junta sacked the country’s ambassador to the United Nations, and expelled its envoy to London from the embassy in the British capital.
The victims of the repression in Myanmar by the military junta that took power last February 1st, deposing the leader Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Mynt, have exceeded 800. This is indicated by the data collected by the Association for Assistance to Political Prisoners, according to which at least 802 people were killed during the clashes in the last hundred days. However, the activists themselves warn, the real number of victims could be much higher. The toll includes six people killed yesterday in the state of Chin, in the north-west of the country, and in the two main Burmese cities, Yangon and Mandalay. To the victims must be added 4,120 people who were arrested after the coup, 20 of whom have already been sentenced to death.
Myanmar junta works on alternative “Internet” to control opposition
by Raimondo Bultrini
On February 1st, a few hours after the inauguration of a new parliament, the leaders of the Burmese armed forces took power by arresting Aung San Suu Kyi and the leaders of her National League for Democracy (NLD), which clearly won the legislative elections in 2020. In the following days, thousands of demonstrators took to the streets every day to protest against the military junta, led by General Min Aung Hlaing, and against China, considered the main sponsor of the operation.
The military responded with a harsh repression which, in turn, prompted the various ethnic armed groups active in the peripheral regions of the country to intervene. The latest fierce clashes occurred last week in Mindat, some 100 kilometers from the border with India, with the fledgling Chinland Defense Force attacking a police station and a bank branch. The authorities proclaimed martial law in the city before the army launched the offensive, which used helicopters and artillery to repel the enemy, mostly armed with shotguns.
The US Treasury Department announced new sanctions this week on senior officials involved in last February’s coup. They are, according to a note from the department, of 16 senior officials of the military junta and an entity linked to them. Among those sanctioned are seven ministers and the central bank governor, Than Nyein. The entity subjected to sanctions is the State Board of Directors (Sac), a body that according to the US Treasury was “created by the military to support the overthrow of the democratically elected government”.
“The Burmese military continues to commit human rights violations and oppress the Burmese people,” said Andrea Gacki, director of the US Foreign Assets Control Office.
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