30 March 2021

International Tibet Network, together with the undersigned organisations and supporters, express extreme concern about the recent military coup and violent crackdown in Burma [1] which aim to dismantle a democratically elected government.

Since 1 February, the Burmese military has imposed a state of emergency under the authority of the Commander-in-Chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing and has detained scores of individuals, including State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, other senior figures from the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD), as well as political activists and human rights defenders.

The violent crackdown and the rounding up of opponents sends a chilling message that the Burmese military are unwilling to tolerate any and all dissent. The telecommunications blackout imposed by the military has simultaneously curbed freedom of expression and information by shutting down communications systems, places the people of Burma at even greater risk.

For years, UN and other human rights experts have called for Senior General Min Aung Hlaing to be investigated and prosecuted for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes perpetrated as part of a widespread and systematic attack against the Rohingya population in northern Rakhine State.
As Tibetan freedom campaigners we hold a common desire with Burmese democracy activists for genuine democracy; a desire shared by millions around the world and firmly grounded in respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.

We send our solidarity support to all those protesting for freedom in Burma, including human rights defenders, and echo their calls for justice and a people-led, democratic Burma. Despite the violent clampdown, the Burmese Military have failed to quash the demonstrations and the aspirations of the people of Burma for democracy and liberty.

We, the undersigned, call on the Burmese Military to immediately:

• Lift the state of emergency and return the state power to the democratically elected NLD. This will be the indicator as the first step to restore democracy and peoples’ sovereignty in Burma.
• Immediately release all persons detained since the start of the 1 February 2021 coup and end all harassment and threats on journalists and human rights defenders.
• Restore nationwide and overseas communications including landlines, mobile and internet as an act of accountability and transparency and ensure unfettered access to humanitarian organisations and independent human rights monitors to the country.
• End the sweeping changes to internet regulations that allow mass surveillance and monitoring and are a serious threat to basic rights.
• Ensure peoples’ right to peace and non-violence and immediately stop any attacks and violent conflicts in ethnic/indigenous land and territories across Burma.

We also call on governments to launch a diplomatic effort to undertake coordinated sanctions on military owned companies, and military leaders. We strongly encourage World Leaders to use all relevant multilateral and bilateral forums, including the UN Human Rights Council and Third Committee, to subject Burma’s human rights record to the utmost scrutiny and critical engagement.

NOTE: In line with Burma Campaign UK we use Burma as this is what Burma’s democracy movement prefers and state that the dictatorship had no legitimacy and therefore no right to change the name of the country to Myanmar. We do however take no specific position as it is for the Burmese people to democratically determine the future and name of its country.

Signed by the following International Tibet Network Member Groups: