According to the United Nations, the 2021 military coup in Myanmar displaced 566,100 people, 1% of the total population, raising the total number of internally displaced people to 912,700. At least 1,600 civilians have been killed (nearly 1,800 according to AAPP Burma), including some 100 children. The military regime arrested over 13,000 people in the past 15 months. It has been reported that the Burmese military is actively blocking aids to displaced people, worsening a humanitarian crisis that gets very little coverage on international media.
Today’s blue shirt campaign, is a way to bring some attention back to the struggle of the thousands of political prisoners who remain in prison, victims of an authoritarian regime that seeks to crush anyone opposing it, and that is not afraid of torturing and executing innocent civilians.
Recently it has been reported that Chan Min Naung, an aid worker who turned into a pro-democracy activist after the coup, was tortured to death in Yangon. He was part of a group that allegedly killed a military informant. A member of the Resistance told RFA: “They stabbed him in the back of his left palm,” Dee Par said. “They sliced his hands and ears and pulled his hair out. They also broke his legs and arms and left him in the rain tied to a post. They kicked him in the groin and carried on with their questioning.
“We later learned that Chan Min Aung was decapitated and cut into pieces and buried,”
POLITICS, ECONOMY AND OTHER NEWS
• The National Unity Government (NUG, the democratic government that opposes the military regime), released an annual report of the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management.
• Dr Htar Htar Lin and Dr Soe Oo, who managed the Covid-19 vaccination program under the civilian government, have been sentenced to 3 and 2 years of prison for alleged corruption. Dr Htar Htar Lin was arrested a few months after the coup, along with her 7-year-old son Mg Aung Thukhamein Lin. She transferred funds back to the donors to prevent the military regime to seize them.
• The dead body of Daw Soe Soe, the wife of the NLD’s vice-chairman for Mandalay district, was found dumped in front of a fire station, six days after she was arrested and tortured by the military. (Source: DVB)
• The whereabouts of Ma Aye Nandar Soe, the 23-year-old chairwoman of Sagaing University of Education Students Union, is still unknown after she was detained in September last year. She was last seen in February at a Mandalay interrogation camp where she was tortured and denied medical treatment, according to fellow detainees who were jailed after being held at the interrogation camp. (Source: The Irrawaddy)
• Three detained after soldiers ram truck into Yangon anti-coup protest. Junta soldiers drove a vehicle into a crowd of protesters in Yangon on Wednesday afternoon, missing the marchers but smashing into a car carrying three women taking part in the demonstration, a witness told Myanmar Now. (Source: Myanmar Now)
• Hundreds of Rohingya migrants from Myanmar broke out of a detention centre in northern Malaysia on Wednesday 20 April, with six killed on a highway as they escaped, authorities said. (Source: Mizzima)
• Finnish technology giant Wärtsilä Corporation in partnership with sanctioned arms broker, Myanmar Chemical and Machinery (MCM) won two contracts from the junta to construct and operate two hybrid gas and solar power plants in Myingyan and Magway (Source: Mizzima)
• The junta-controlled Central Bank of Myanmar (CBM) has named those exempt from its controversial regulation that foreign exchange earned by citizens must be converted into kyats at the official rate within one working day. t said foreign direct investments approved by the Myanmar Investment Commission, investments operating in special economic zones, foreign diplomats in Myanmar, their family members, foreign diplomatic and United Nations staff and citizens holding UN laissez-passer are exempt. Diplomat-level foreign staff from the International Committee of the Red Cross, International Labor Organization and other international non-governmental organizations and development agencies, such as the Japan International Cooperation Agency, and international airlines are also exempted.(Source: The Irrawaddy)
• Myanmar coup leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing met with former dictator Than Shwe earlier this month, having failed to see his old boss since last year. (Source: The Irrawaddy)
• Historic sculptures have been stolen from two pagodas in Bagan, a Unesco World Heritage site, according to heritage specialists. A three-headed Brahma stone sculpture at Pagoda 418 and stone sculptures from Pagoda 716 are missing (Source: The Irrawaddy)
SAGAING
• Tantse: the Burmese military launched an airstrike on Inwa and Gadit villages forcing residents to flee. The number of victims has not been reported yet. There was no current fighting at the time of the attack
• Chaung U: Khit Thit Media reports raids by regime troops
• Yinmarpin: a civilian was killed by regime troops in Nga Nang Village
KACHIN STATE
• Laiza: University entrance exams started today under the administration of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO)
SHAN STATE
• Mongkung: in Tong Keng village, two men, Loong Sam and Loong Lam, stepped on a landmine while they were hunting on April 16th. Loong Sam died due to his injuries. Landmines were plented during clashes between the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS/SSA) and Shan State Progressive Party (SSPP/SSA). DVB reported that more than 300 members of the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS) defected to the Shan State Progressive Party (SSPP)
• Phaikhun township: the Burmese military shelled a Resistance base in Loi Paw on April 18th
• Namsan: residents of Nam Mot village have been forced to work for the construction of a military outpost.
MAGWAY
• Pauk: regime troops raided a village setting houses on fire
• Htilin: clashes between Resistance fighters and regime soldiers in Kyin Village
YANGON
• Kamayut: a series of bomb explosions near a police station hit several policemen Two civilians who were standing near the place of attack have been killed when regime troops started shooting randomly after the blasts.
• Mingaladon: Resistance groups attacked military-controlled Myanmar Brewery
COVID DAILY (as reported by the military-controlled Ministry of Health. Real figures are believed to be higher than officially reported)
• 20 new cases and 0 new deaths
AAPP Burma daily update (arrests and killings connected to the attempted military coup only, does not include events related to armed conflict). Since February 1st:
• 1,779 killed (+0)
• 13,326 total arrests (+11)
• 1,977 evading warrant (+0)
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