MYANMAR: Democracy denied
Myanmar’s November general election, which resulted in another resounding win for the National League for Democracy (NLD), had its flaws. The main problem was the inability of some people to vote, in a context of continuing conflict and rights violations and a worsening pandemic. But these legitimate criticisms of the electoral process were not what motivated the army to stage its February 2021 coup.
The public reaction was defiance. Hundreds of thousands of people protested in any way they could. A non-violent civil disobedience movement quickly arose, involving many groups who had not previously taken part in protest.
Since the early hours of 1 February, the military rounded up and detained democratically elected lawmakers and other officials and arrested civil society leaders and activists in an attempt to stifle dissent. The treatment that these prisoners receive defies any international and domestic law standards. If this coup is not overturned, there will be many more political prisoners.
Bo Kyi
