The ASEAN Civil Society Conference/ASEAN People’s Forum (ACSC/APF) has declared Myanmar’s military regime a terrorist organization and called on regional leaders gathering in Jakarta for this week’s ASEAN summit to cut ties with the junta.
“Today, we designate the Myanmar military as a terrorist organization that threatens the security and stability of the region because it is committing genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity,” said the ACSC/ APF in a statement issued on Sunday.
Myanmar, an ASEAN member, has been plunged into violent turmoil since the 2021 military coup and crackdown triggered a nationwide armed uprising against military rule. The junta has ignored the regional bloc’s five-point peace plan and its demand for a halt to violence. As punishment, the bloc has banned the regime’s leadership from joining ASEAN summits but continues to engage with the junta by allowing its senior military officials and ministers to join regional-level meetings. The ASEAN Air Chiefs Conference will be chaired by Myanmar junta Air Force Chief General Htun Aung in Naypyitaw later this month.
Ahead of the summit this week, ASEAN civil society representatives from Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor Leste and Vietnam said they stand in solidarity with the people of Myanmar who are resisting the military junta’s oppression. They also acknowledged that the military’s 945-day brutal bid to seize control of the nation remains unsuccessful.
The struggle of Myanmar’s people against the culture of impunity, while defending and organizing their own communities, and advocating for genuine political change, serves as a beacon of inspiration for the entire Southeast Asia region, the ACSC/APF said.
“Every day, the people of Myanmar endure the Myanmar military’s terror campaign of nationwide digital surveillance, internet shutdowns, gender-based violence, forced disappearances, aerial bombings, artillery shelling, massacres, beheadings, extrajudicial arrests, detention center torture and prison executions.”
As of September 1, the junta has killed 4,029 people and arrested 24,632 mostly for opposing military rule, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a monitoring group.
The ACSC/APF called on ASEAN leaders gathering today for the Sept. 4-7 summit to deprive the junta of legitimacy by cutting financial and political ties and rejecting its plan for a bogus election. It asked them to impose targeted sanctions and a global arms embargo to block flows of cash, arms, and aviation fuel to the regime; eliminate impunity by holding military leaders accountable for their crimes; and support the revolution of Myanmar’s people by establishing official relationships with legitimate stakeholders including the National Unity Government, National Unity Consultative Council and ethnic revolutionary organizations and civil society.
Civil societies in the region also called on Singapore and Thailand to end complicity with junta crimes as the third and fifth-largest weapons suppliers to the Myanmar military respectively.
