Let this marking of Myanmar's coup anniversary be the last

Two days ago, as I was walking around the exhibition area of the International Religious Freedom (IRF) Summit in Washington, D.C., a piece of paper taped to the end of a table caught my eye. On it was a photograph of my friend Reverend Dr Hkalam Samson, former president of the Kachin Baptist Convention in Myanmar.

Reverend Samson has been in jail for the past year and is serving a six-year prison sentence. I temporarily removed the piece of paper, took a photograph with it, and shared it on social media. We need to increase our efforts in the campaign to #FreeReverendSamson — and renew our efforts to #FreeMyanmar.

And today is a good day to renew our fight.

Three years ago today, the military in Myanmar seized power, completely illegally, overthrowing a democratically-elected civilian government. Under the coup leader, commander-in-chief General Min Aung Hlaing, the military plunged the country into a new nightmare of brutality, inhumanity, torture, repression and war.

Myanmar has already endured repeated coups, successive military dictatorships, and civil war for much of the past 75 years or more.

Indeed, apart from a brief period of fragile democracy at the start of independence and in between Ne Win’s two regimes, Myanmar has been ruled directly or indirectly by the military ever since independence. Even in the decade of liberalisation and quasi-democracy which ended with the 2021 coup, the military pulled the strings.

"An estimated 158 people have been sentenced to death by military courts and at least four have been executed"

Yet for the past three years, Feb. 1 has been etched on my heart and seared in my mind as one of Myanmar’s darkest days. The consequences of that coup have been unbelievably and heartbreakingly dire and tragic for the people of Myanmar.

People I have known personally have been jailed, displaced and driven into hiding and exile.

An estimated 158 people have been sentenced to death by military courts and at least four have been executed, such as the wonderful Ko Jimmy and Phyo Zeya Thaw, whom I met several times.

The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) reports that there are almost 20,000 political prisoners in Myanmar’s jails today. At least 4,474 people have been killed since the coup.

The United Nations claims that over two million people have been displaced within Myanmar since the coup — and the actual figure is higher. Thousands have fled to neighboring countries.

Late last year, a UN report detailed 22 documented incidents of mass killings, the burning of entire villages, and over 687 airstrikes against civilians between April 2022 and July 2023 alone. Over 75,000 houses and other buildings have been burnt since the coup, across 106 townships in 12 states and regions. Many churches have been destroyed, damaged or desecrated.

The humanitarian crisis is also urgent. Half the population lives in poverty. As many as 18.6 million people are in urgent need of assistance.

Under Min Aung Hlaing’s regime, the military has resorted to airstrikes against unarmed civilians with unprecedented scale and severity. They are also committing atrocity crimes with extraordinary barbarity.

"The military has found itself on the back-foot as the armed opposition movement has gained ground"

The junta’s crimes against civilians, according to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk, include “burning them alive, dismembering, raping, beheading, bludgeoning” and “using abducted villagers” as human minesweepers.

The junta is, as Turk described it, “inhumanity in its vilest form”.

Myanmar’s democratically elected leader — who won an overwhelming re-election mandate in November 2020 — should be heading towards the tail-end of her second term in government.

Instead, 78-year-old Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi is in prison, denied access to her family, friends or the international community. Concerns about her health have been met with refusal by the junta to allow her medical treatment outside prison.

And yet, despite all this, there is cause for hope.

In a David and Goliath battle, and despite being armed by China and Russia, the military has found itself on the back-foot as the armed opposition movement has gained ground.

The armed opposition movement is like David in terms of its lack of ammunition, stockpiles, military hardware — and like David in terms of sheer guts, courage, determination and strategic precision.

Since October last year, the opposition has captured dozens of towns, many in strategically important locations including key trading posts along Myanmar’s borders.

"The answer is straightforward. It involves cutting the lifelines to the junta and providing lifelines to the people"

Min Aung Hlaing’s military is struggling to recruit troops — and faces increasing dissent, dissatisfaction and despair within the ranks. Tens of thousands of soldiers have deserted, defected or simply refused to fight.

There is now serious talk that the regime might collapse. We must prepare, both to encourage that to happen and to know what we do next.

To me the answer is straightforward. It involves cutting the lifelines to the junta and providing lifelines to the people.

That means cutting off the flow of funds, arms, and fuel to the military, to prevent or at least impede their ability to bomb, shoot and kill.

It means further targeted, better-coordinated sanctions.

It needs the provision of cross-border aid, to reach those most in need who cannot be reached from inside Myanmar.

It requires accountability for the military’s crimes, and an end to impunity — if we can convince our political leaders to pursue these options.

Myanmar’s regime has its back to the wall. Soon it will be on its knees.

The opposition forces in Myanmar have barely more than a slingshot, but with a clear aim and the support of the world, they can knock the regime out the way David knocked out Goliath.

But they need — and without any doubt — deserve our support.

They need the United States, UK, EU, Australia, and Canada to act to cut the lifelines to the regime and provide lifelines to the people.

They need the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) to be more robust.

They need Pope Francis and all of us to pray.

I became a Catholic in Myanmar, inspired, baptized and received into the Church by Myanmar’s Cardinal Charles Bo nearly 11 years ago. I have visited Myanmar and its borders more than 50 times, written three books on Myanmar, and been deported from the country twice. I love Myanmar deeply.

I want to go back to Myanmar, to see my friends — in freedom.

So, let’s get to work, and make this Feb. 1 the last time we simply mark the anniversary of the coup — and instead — the start of the first year in which the coup is buried and Myanmar’s freedom and hope begins.

*The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official editorial position of UCA News.