Today, Wednesday, marks the second anniversary of the military coup carried out by the Myanmar (formerly Burma) army, citing the rigging of the elections that preceded its coup, to tighten its grip on the reins of power, and overthrow the fragile civil facade represented by the civilian government on which the military established the constitution on which it was based, as he reaffirmed However, "military rule" is the constant factor on which political life in this country is based.
On the first of February 2021, the Myanmar army deployed its forces and armored vehicles in the streets of the capital, Naypyidaw, and arrested many people, including State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi.
Army chief Min Aung Hlaing restored power and concentrated legislative, administrative and judicial powers in his hands, while General Myint Soe was appointed interim president.
The military coup that Myanmar witnessed two years ago is not the first of its kind in the history of the country that was ruled by the military for more than 50 years out of 75 years since it gained independence from British colonial rule in 1948. The coup destroyed the nascent democracy that came after 10 years of efforts.
"The main reason for the military coup is the madness of power of the military dictatorship, and its greed to control all sectors of the country forever, regardless of the needs and interests of the people," said Kyaw Htoe, an official with the National League for Democracy in Myanmar.
deterioration
With the country entering its third year under the yoke of the army, the picture is getting darker, and the dire situation appears more critical as the country is living in a civil war, while Western sanctions have failed to have an effect on army generals in that Southeast Asian country, which was considered one of the richest countries in the region. It is now in a deplorable state, and the only beneficiaries of the situation are the army generals.
The reports of human rights organizations agree on a comprehensive response to human rights, as well as the economic, social, cultural, civil and political conditions.
Two years after the coup, the country plunged into chaos, and it is still stuck in a deadly battle of attrition between the ruling military council and the armed resistance forces, which is expected to become more bloody before the general elections that the army announced its intention to hold next August in the country of 54 million. breeze.
Since the army's coup, hundreds of local militias called the People's Defense Forces, or Popular Defense Forces, have sprung up across the country to resist army rule.
The United Nations says more than 1.2 million have been displaced by fighting since the coup, a number that continues to grow by tens of thousands each month.
According to the NGO "Aid for Political Prisoners," security forces have arbitrarily arrested more than 16,000 pro-democracy activists and killed at least 2,300.
Last July, the army executed 4 political prisoners.
San Suu Kyi, leader of the National League for Democracy, is serving a 33-year prison sentence after behind closed doors military trials on charges of corruption, sedition, violation of the Official Secrets Act and other politically motivated charges.
The army carried out indiscriminate ground and air attacks, which resulted in the death of a large number of civilians.
Since the coup, the clashes have displaced more than a million people inside Myanmar, while another 70,000 refugees have fled to neighboring countries.
General Min Aung Hlaing, head of the Myanmar Military Council, attends a meeting on international security in the Russian capital (Reuters - Archive)
economic crisis
Under military rule, the people of Myanmar - an area the size of France - suffer from high commodity prices, power outages and transportation difficulties, as well as widespread crime and lawlessness.
"About 50 percent of our country is in a state of disintegration," says political analyst Than Swe Naing.
In an indication of the decline in confidence in the military council, the value of the local currency (kyat) declined by 50% during the two years to December 2022, according to a report issued by the World Bank last month.
People's livelihood has also become more difficult, and if this continues, the situation will only get worse.
Two years after the coup, Myanmar jumped to rank 17th in the list of the most corrupt countries in the world, according to the latest corruption indicators of Transparency International, replacing Cambodia as the worst country in Southeast Asia in the field of graft for the first time in a decade and ahead of North Korea only in Asia from Where clean government.
Like other dominant armies in most military-ruled countries, the Myanmar army dominates the country's economy, has a vast economic empire, and owns two of the largest economic conglomerates, the Myanmar Economic Union and the Myanmar Economic Company.
Army-owned companies operate in many sectors, including mining, energy, banking, insurance, telecommunications, transportation, tourism and information technology, ensuring an important and continuous source of wealth for the generals.
In addition, most of the land is owned by the government.
The generals have a history of seizing the property they want and turning it over to their favorite companies, and the commander-in-chief of the army has authority over many land-use decisions through the Ministry of the Interior.
The sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council were never applied to Myanmar, due to its close relations with China and Russia.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimates the number of people in urgent humanitarian need for humanitarian assistance at least 17.6 million, as the fighting that has erupted since the coup has led to the internal displacement of more than a million people, while another 70,000 refugees have fled to neighboring countries.
Human Rights Watch says that Myanmar's junta has expanded its use of lethal force and repressive measures to suppress all dissent.
Since the coup, he has called on foreign governments to coordinate the increasing pressure on the SCAF to establish basic freedoms and democratic civil rule.
In this context, a week ago, the German judiciary received a judicial complaint against the generals of the army of this Southeast Asian country accusing them of committing genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity after the coup in early February 2021, and the previous crimes of ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya Muslims in 2017.
The complaint is the latest of its kind, among complaints that seek to use the principle of "universal jurisdiction" to bring Myanmar army generals to justice, and to take legal action under this jurisdiction as an investigation into the actions of the Myanmar generals is already under way at the International Court of Justice, while the case of genocide before the International Criminal Court.
Rights activists have also brought cases before national courts in Argentina, Turkey and Indonesia.
Given the ineffective international response to the coup and the Myanmar military junta's campaign of terror, human rights activists have taken up new legal approaches to bringing the prominent generals to justice, including the principle of "universal jurisdiction".
"Watch" explains that this principle confirms that "every country has an interest in bringing to justice the perpetrators of certain crimes of international concern, regardless of where the crime was committed or the nationality of the perpetrators or their victims."
Looking for legit
In search of legitimacy, the military council hopes to organize new elections before next August, two years after the coup, but observers see this as a risk of provoking new bloodbaths, in light of the continued armed resistance to the coup, as the country is still in the grip of fierce fighting between the armed forces. And the armed opposition, the Burmese army is having difficulty on the ground, and is accused of war crimes and bombing of the civilian population.
Opponents of the military council believe that any elections run by the regime will be rigged and will lead to a civilian government in name only.
"There will be no military solution, and a political solution seems a long way off," Richard Horsey, senior adviser to the International Crisis Group, said of the conflict.