Statement on the Second Anniversary of the Military Coup
Our Commitment To A Free And Federal Democratic State For The People of Myanmar
Statement No. – 1/2023
1st February 2023
February 1st, 2023 marks the second anniversary of the brutal seizure of power by the Myanmar military Junta in contempt of the people’s will expressed in the multi-party democratic election held on November 8, 2020.
In the 2020 general election, despite the Covid 19 epidemic and various crises, more than 27.5 million people in Myanmar voted in an election that local and international election observers, media and other experts recognized as being a “free and fair” reflection of the will of the people of Myanmar. The international community, including China, India, the European Union, the United States, South Korea, Japan, and Australia as well as ASEAN members, all recognized and saluted the results of the 2020 election.
But since the Coup, using the State Administration Council, the Military Junta has conducted a campaign of terror against its own citizens, arbitrarily arresting and detaining the country’s leaders. It has gone to war with its own people, unleashing lethal violence against peaceful protesters, unlawfully arresting and imprisoning citizens. The Junta has targeted political and civil society leaders, particularly Members of Parliament who have been targets of its vicious campaign to suppress any opposition which has included the torture and murder of MPs. The citizens’ private homes and property have been arbitrarily confiscated, and in some cases, destroyed and arsoned. The broader human tragedy inflicted by the Junta has been the internal displacement of more than 1.5 million people who are in desperate need of food, shelter and medical supplies.
With the clear support of the Junta, drug trafficking and opium cultivation are also on the rise. The personal safety of citizens is at risk as the “rule of law” is ignored by the Military Junta so that crimes such as theft and robbery are more common. But even more horrific is the increasing evidence that the Military Junta has endorsed the use of rape and murder, targeting women and children, as a tactic of terror. Many young activists have been unjustly imprisoned and tortured. The Junta’s executions of pro-democracy activists shocked the world.
The Military Junta through its terrorist State Administration Council is responsible for the conflicts, chaos, murder and vicious misery that has been inflicted on the people of Myanmar throughout these last two long years.
The members of our network say very clearly that anyone who supports the terrorist Junta’s State Administration Council will be viewed as a threat to democracy and human rights. The Myanmar Women Parliamentarians Network states that it will cooperate with citizens and members of pro-democracy groups in any and all efforts to prosecute and punish the members of the State Administration Council for the terror it has unleashed on the citizens of our country and for every crime and violations of the human rights of the citizens of Myanmar.
Additionally, the Myanmar Women Parliamentarians Network will not recognize any actions taken by the Junta though the State Administration Council, including the holding of fake elections.
The Myanmar Women Parliamentarian Network reaffirms our commitment to the people of Myanmar. We will continue to work with you to end the military dictatorship, assist with the prosecution of those who have conducted war crimes, and work to build a new federal democratic state that the citizens of our country deserve.
That is our promise to you, the citizens of Myanmar and our statement to the world community.
We shall succeed.
Myanmar Women Parliamentarian Network
