Junta Brutality and International Community Inaction Prompts Call for Myanmar People's Uprising, Says Sac-M

By Linda Khoo Hui Li BANGKOK, Sept 9 (Bernama) -- After seven months of brutality by the junta and inaction by the international community, Myanmar's frustrated shadow government found it fit to launch “people’s defensive war” against the ruling junta, says Special Advisory Council for Myanmar (SAC-M). It is unfortunate that Myanmar's National Unity Government (NUG), a group of ousted lawmakers and opponents of military rule and representatives of ethnic minority groups, was ultimately forced to take drastic reaction in calling for a people’s defensive war against the junta. SAC-M said in a statement here Wednesday it also understands the NUG and the people’s frustration. Yanghee Lee of SAC-M said in the statement the people have been under attack for seven months now since the Feb 1 coup with the military remaining both intransigent and indifferent towards the people’s suffering. “The junta responded to the peaceful resistance to the coup with sheer brutality, employing horrific tactics that amount to crimes against humanity and war crimes,” she said. SAC-M is made up of an independent group of international experts who have come together in response to the military coup in Myanmar, to support the people of Myanmar in their fight for human rights, peace, democracy, justice and accountability. Marzuki Darusman of SAC-M said the ASEAN special envoy Erywan Yusof has made an ill-judged call this week for a ceasefire in Myanmar. “What should have been emphasised was the immediate cessation of violence like included in the five-point consensus. “A ceasefire is totally different. It does not reflect the situation on the ground and fully meets the interests of the Tatmadaw (the armed forces), which has always used ceasefires to gain a strategic advantage,” he said. Another member of SAC-M, Chris Sidoti, expressed fear for what could happen as a result of NUG’s decision declared “people's defensive war”. “Violence is the cause of the suffering of the people of Myanmar, it is not the solution,” he said. In the same statement, SAC-M said the international community has had ample opportunity to come to the aid of the people of Myanmar but has consistently failed. “ASEAN took six months to merely appoint a Special Envoy and has yet to deliver humanitarian assistance despite promising to do so in April,” it said. In a video posted on Facebook, the acting president of NUG Duwa Lashi La asked all citizens of Myanmar to revolt against the military rule, giving rise to a spectre of more bloodshed in Myanmar after more than 1,000 protestors killed and more than 7,000 detained by the security forces. The military’s chief, Min Aung Hlaing ousted the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi on Feb. 1, claiming her party’s victory in November 2020 elections was due to voter fraud. The junta leader declared himself prime minister in a newly formed caretake government last month. To date, the death toll has topped 1,000, according to the independent Assistance Association of Political Prisoners (AAPP). -- BERNAMA