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A photo from Kachin Baptist Convention facebook account marking the condolence ceremony for the rape and murder of two Kachin schoolteachers from Kaung Kha village in Kutkai Township, northern Shan State / Photo: Kachin Baptist Convention Facebook page
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Events over the past few weeks have left ethnic people's trust in the political will of the Myanmar[1] Government and Army to engage in a process to achieve sustainable peace and national reconciliation to hit a nadir. From Rakhine State in the west, Kachin and Shan State in the north, and Karen and Karenni State in the east, tensions are rising in the weeks leading up to the third 21st Century Panglong Conference. In spite of the most recent news that the the New Mon State Party (NMSP) and the Lahu Democratic Union (LDU) will sign the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) soon, one of the largest and most influential ethnic armed organizations, the Karen National Union (KNU), has already decided it will not attend the upcoming Panglong Conference, citing concerns over the Myanmar Army's position that Security Sector Reform is the same as Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration. The wording and meaning of these two concepts has been a sticking point and for the Myanmar Army to unilaterally decide on an interpretation of this contentious issue has contributed towards distrust in their intentions at the upcoming conference. Given that the previous Panglong conferences did not achieve anything substantive, it is understandable there is doubt over the real meaning of participating, as KNU Secretary, Padoh Saw Ta Doh Moo pointed out, saying "we accept the UPC [Union Peace Conference otherwise known as the 21st Century Panglong Conference] as always, but we don't want to face a similar experience in the future, given that the last UPC dragged on just to show that it was held." Another point raised by the KNU was the restrictions and obstacles placed by the Myanmar Army on the holding of state-level consultations in Shan State and Rakhine State – one component of the peace process that is meant to collect public opinion and contribute to discussions at the Panglong Conferences – resulting in such meetings not being able to be held.
In Karenni State, trust in the Myanmar Army has been substantially weakened by the killing of three Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP) soldiers and one villager at one of their bases in December 2017, despite the bilateral ceasefire that exists between the Myanmar Army and the KNPP. The situation was exacerbated when five peaceful demonstrators who were protesting these killings in the state capital, Loikaw, were arrested and charged under the Peaceful Assembly Law. A subsequent protest demonstrating against the imprisonment of the five initial protesters resulted in further three people facing a lawsuit, however, the Loikaw Township court subsequently dismissed the charges.
In northern Myanmar, the annual dry season offensive by the Myanmar Army has displaced over a thousand people in Kachin and northern Shan State, while it shelled the Kachin Independence Organization's de facto capital, Laiza, on Christmas Eve, inflicting not just physical injury and death, but also psychological wounds on the Kachin people, who are largely Christians. This is not a new tactic – the Myanmar Army has precedent for launching attacks against Christian Kachin communities at Christmas time. In Shan State, the Shan State Army – North released a statement after its central committee meeting that pointed to the fact that it has been attacked by the Myanmar Army over 500 times since it signed a bilateral ceasefire six years ago. It is not just offensives that local communities need to be concerned about. The three-year anniversary of the rape and murder of two ethnic Kachin school teachers in northern Shan State by the Myanmar Army troops reminds us that human rights violations that the country's most powerful institution inflict on the local populations in ethnic areas are done so with impunity. To this day, no one has been brought to justice for the brutal acts against the two innocent school teachers.
Furthermore, in crisis-hit Rakhine State, the murder of seven demonstrators and arrest of two prominent ethnic Rakhine figures on the commemoration of the fall of the Rakhine Kingdom has exacerbated an extremely tense and volatile area. Leading up to the shootings and arrests, conflict with the Arakan Army had been increasing and alleged exhortations by the Arakan National Party leader, Aye Maung, to take up the armed struggle at a public event before he was arrested demonstrate how far from peace Rakhine State is.
Peace and national reconciliation was expressed by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's Government as a priority. But decades of broken trust resulting from the military oppression of successive regimes and governments can never be rebuilt through more offensives, arrests, and human rights violations committed against ethnic people. The Myanmar Government and particularly the Myanmar Army must address this by making compromises for peace; and thus far, no such compromises have been made by either party. Peace conferences and lofty talk may appear to be progress to international donors that are giving financial and political backing to the Government-led process, but the reality is that trust has been further eroded, and for many local communities in many ethnic areas, nothing has changed and in some areas the situation has in fact become worse. After years of a fractious largely unproductive peace process, the Myanmar Government and Army must demonstrate genuine political will towards addressing the historical injustices and achieving sustainable peace and national reconciliation based on the principles of equality, equity and self-determination. Lastly, the international community's support must be contingent on such commitments. |
