Fake Peace
“They offer peace to one side so they can free up their troops to fight another. It’s not a sincere offer that might actually lead to a political solution. It is a call for surrender in the guise of peace. This is their old tactic.”
On 22 April, 2022, leader of Myanmar’s illegal military junta, Min Aung Hlaing, in addition to announcing his so-called “year of peace”, called for peace talks with ethnic armed organizations (EAO) – but not all stakeholders to the conflict were invited. In stark contrast to his words, the actions of the military junta on the ground in Myanmar are monstrous, massacring civilians and setting villages alight across Sagaing Region and conducting airstrikes in Karen and Mon States with wanton destruction. Using tactics of old, the military junta is disingenuously using peace talks as a guise to divide EAOs and other revolutionary forces and to induce the international community into believing the junta is genuinely seeking peace.
The timing for the calls to peace are no coincidence.The Myanmar military is suffering terrible losses and casualties on the ground at the hands of the People’s Defence Forces (PDF) and ethnic resistance fighters, as well as a steady stream of defections within all ranks. Padoh Mahn Mahn, spokesperson of Brigade 5 of the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) – the armed wing of the Karen National Union (KNU) – said to Myanmar Now that “They offer peace to one side so they can free up their troops to fight another. It’s not a sincere offer that might actually lead to a political solution. It is a call for surrender in the guise of peace. This is their old tactic.” Shamelessly, the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission issued a statement in support of the junta’s leader Min Aung Hlaing’s peace call, while remaining deliberately silent about the grievous human rights abuses committed by the junta since the attempted coup – once again shielding the junta’s crimes and failing the people of Myanmar.
Additionally, in the lead up to the ASEAN-US Special Summit and the Consultative Meeting on ASEAN Humanitarian Assistance to Myanmar, the junta wants to project cooperation, rather than their usual obstructionism. Yet, EAOs and the people of Myanmar are not fooled by this, with the – Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO), KNU, the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP) and the Chin National Front (CNF) – among those rejecting the invitation on the basis that not all stakeholders were included in the invitation. Additionally, without these stakeholders and other pre-conditions – such as the military exiting politics – they would not be able to reach a robust political solution to Myanmar’s crisis. Some less influential EAOs have accepted this invitation, with three of the four Northern Alliance members remaining silent (Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) and the Arakan Army (AA)).
While the junta professes peace, the reality for civilians on the ground is dire. From 29 April to 2 May the junta troops and military-formed plain clothed militia Pyu Saw Htee burnt down 1,300 homes in a matter of days in Sagaing Region’s Ayadaw, Shwebo and Khin-U Townships, ruining homes and livelihoods. For those who flee from the junta’s onslaught, no place of shelter is safe. Nine internally displaced persons were massacred at a Buddhist meditation center on 2 May in Sagaing’s Oak Pho, Budalin Township, forced to sit in a line and shot execution style by the junta’s Light Infantry Division 77. The nine victims were nearly all elderly, unable to escape the junta’s ambush of the meditation center. Amidst these atrocities, the junta continues to bombard civilians in Karen and Mon States with airstrikes, including on 2 May in Lay Kay, Bilin Township, Mon State, injuring three villagers, destroying eight houses, and a monastery. According to the KNU, 7,000 civilians have been displaced from nine villages in Bilin Township, sheltering in the jungle.
The junta has continued airstrikes in Hpa-pun, Karen State on 1 May, using drones to locate their targets. The junta is using airstrikes from fighter jets in Karen and Mon States because they cannot win on the ground. IDPs are in grave need of humanitarian assistance, yet ASEAN under the chairship of Cambodia is stagnating and only inviting the junta-led Task Force to address the humanitarian crisis – a crisis that is rooted in the junta’s ongoing atrocity crimes. On 11 May, 765 Myanmar, regional and international organizations called on ASEAN to engage with the NUG, EAOs and local organizations in the distribution of humanitarian aid and durable solutions to the Myanmar crisis.
These tactics are a continuation of past behavior, such as manipulating the Panglong Peace process and the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement for their own ends, trying to drive wedges between EAOs, while simultaneously continuing cycles of conflict against ethnic communities when supposedly in a “ceasefire”, particularly in previous two decades in Kachin, Karen, Shan, Chin and Rakhine States. Western countries alone pumped $100 million USD into the peace process during a time when the military had zero political will for a genuine peace process, as demonstrated by the 1 February, 2021 attempted power grab. This peace process was during a period which saw the military junta perpetrate the Rohingya genocide, land grabbing, sexual and gender-based violence in ethnic areas, and brutal conflicts in Rakhine, Kachin and Shan States.
The international community must not repeat the same mistakes of the past and yet again accept the junta’s bad faith posturing towards peace. Instead, they must stand with the people and work towards a solution that ensures that the military steps away from politics and comes under civilian control. Experts have opined that the Myanmar mlitary is a terrorist organisation as defined in national and international law and the their empty peace gestures carries no weight. The junta’s reign of terror can be broken through interntaional community’s support for the NUG, EAOs, civil society, ethnic groups and the people of Myanmar in their long struggle for a genuine federal democracy. Simply put, the international community must not fall into the junta’s ‘peace’ talks trap, and instead step up actions to sever the junta’s access to funds, weapons and legitimacy – to end their reign of terror.
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[1] One year following the 1988 pro-democracy uprising, the former military junta changed the country’s name from Burma to Myanmar overnight. Progressive Voice uses the term ‘Myanmar’ in acknowledgement that most people of the country use this term. However, the deception of inclusiveness and the historical process of coercion by the former State Peace and Development Council military regime into usage of ‘Myanmar’ rather than ‘Burma’ without the consent of the people is recognized and not forgotten. Thus, under certain circumstances, ‘Burma’ is used.
Resources from the past week
Statements and Press Releases
By 637 Myanmar and International Civil Society Organizations and over 220, 000 people
Russia: Stop Arming Burmese Military and Interfering in Internal Affairs
By Burma Campaign UK
Thailand: Video Reveals Thai Soldiers Destroying Cross-Border Footbridge Used by Myanmar Refugees
By Fortify Rights
Atrocity Alert No. 299: Myanmar (Burma), Democratic Republic of the Congo and Accountability
By Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
US tech firms enabling Myanmar junta propaganda
By Justice For Myanmar
Russian truck giant Kamaz in talks to open plant with terrorist junta
By Justice For Myanmar
65 Years of Resistance and Political Leadership: A Commemoration on the 65th Anniversary of KNPP
By Karenni National Progressive Party
KIO ၏ ထုတ်ပြန်ကြေညာချက် (၂/၂၀၂၂)
By Kachin Independence Organization
By Karenni National Progressive Party
By Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Cambodia
Outcomes of the Consultative Meeting on ASEAN Humanitarian Assistance to Myanmar
By Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Cambodia
By National Unity Consultative Council
By National Unity Government
အကြမ်းဖက်မှုတိုက်ဖျက်ရေးဗဟိုအဖွဲ့ ဖွဲ့စည်းခြင်း
By National Unity Government
Response to the Consultative Meeting on ASEAN Humanitarian Assistance to Myanmar
By National Unity Government
Press Statement on World Press Freedom Day
By National Unity Government
By National Unity Government (Ministry of Planning, Finance and Investment)
Statement on the First Anniversary of the Ministry of Human Rights
By National Unity Government (Ministry of Human Rights)
Justice Minister U Thein Oo Condemns Farcical “Trial” of State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
By National Unity Government (Ministry of Justice)
Myanmar: ASEAN must move beyond consensus to facilitate cross-border humanitarian aid
By Progressive Voice, FORUM-ASIA and CIVICUS
Supporting conflict-affected children suffering from malnutrition
By People in Need
By Tanintharyi People’s Voice
By United Nations Myanmar
By United Nations Secretary-General
Reports
Myanmar: Continued resistance against the military coup
By Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project
Household Amenities in Myanmar 2014 – 2019: A MIMU Analytical Brief, May 2022
By Myanmar Information Management Unit
Myanmar Military’s Weaponization of COVID-19 in Tanintharyi Region
By Tanintharyi People’s Voice
Asia and the Pacific: Weekly Regional Humanitarian Snapshot (26 April – 2 May 2022)
By United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
On-The-Ground in Burma: Issue 15
By US Campaign for Burma
Myanmar Emergency Update (as of 4 May 2022)
By United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
WFP Myanmar Market Price Update (March 2022)
By World Food Programme
WFP Myanmar Market Price Update (February 2022)
By World Food Programme
Progressive Voice is a participatory, rights-based policy research and advocacy organization that was born out of Burma Partnership. Burma Partnership officially ended its work on October 10, 2016 transitioning to a rights-based policy research and advocacy organization called Progressive Voice. For further information, please see our press release “Burma Partnership Celebrates Continuing Regional Solidarity for Burma and Embraces the Work Ahead for Progressive Voice.”
