_ By S. N. Oo 

The Military Regime of Burma, under Than Shwe has been in power for nineteen years and the Generals and their followers are celebrating their great success. 

 What Success?.

1.       Than Shwe has successfully joined the ranks of the most evil and worst dictators of the world.  

2.       Like his predecessor Ne Win, Than Shwe shut Burma away from the outside world for several years to improve the regime’s military power, and propaganda machine. During this period the Generals were already brainwashing their own citizens as well as the international Governments and communities with distorted facts and lies. The large extent of the population purges in SPDC Myanmar is possible only because they have managed to incorporate tens of thousands of people into the regime either by force, bribe or brainwashing. As seen recently they have brainwashed thugs to behave like them. 

3.       Using force and guns to terrorise innocent citizens and deprive them of freedom and basic human rights. 

4.        Like Ne Win, Than Shwe put all oppositions, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Khun Htoo Oo, the Leaders of the 88 students in prison and many others because they are a threat to them. In 1988 they gunned down uncountable number of students for demonstrating peacefully. Peaceful demonstrations are not allowed as shown recently. 

5.       In making life of citizens unbearable, by causing huge number of deaths, continual hunger, exhaustion from back breaking forced labour. Only rarely, did the SPDC carry out killings in public. Yet people certainly knew about the disappearance, internments and killing of all sorts of the regime’s victims. 

6.       Using rape as a weapon of war. Even a girl of seven was raped by the SPDC soldiers. Well documented in the “License to Rape”.  

7.       Destroying societies and family units, and creating uncountable number of orphans.  

8.       In taking away the ancestral lands and livelihood of thousands of Shan farmers in the Rice Bowl of the Shan State starting from 1997, resulting in an exodus of Shan fleeing to Thailand as documented by the Amnesty International and Shan Human Rights Foundation. The same occurred in Karen and other ethnic areas. 

9.       Causing conflict, enmity and distrust between the Burmans and other ethnic nationals by putting the blame on the latter that they were intending to destroy the Union of Burma.; it was the military regime that destroyed the Union as they dishonoured the “Panglong Agreement” and abrogated the “1948 Constitution”. 

10.   They have not only destroyed the Union of Burma but also its Constitution, Law and Order, environment, education and most important of all the soul and spirit of the people.  

11.   One of the SPDC’s well known policy is in Myanmar, there should be only one language, one culture and one religion, and therefore intentionally they committed ethnic cleansing; they sought to destroy other ethnic, national, racial or religious groups … in whole or in part, the term used in the United Nations Convention as Genocide. 

12.   And many, many more…… 

Since the military regime took over power they have continually destroyed the livelihood of thousands of people in rural areas, and in some areas there is no means of survival at all. The se people flee to neighbouring countries to become refugees, while others hide in the jungle as IDP, eating anything they can find. When seen by the SPDC soldiers they are being shot at, some are wounded and some died on the spot. Now, the difficulty of survival has reached every corner of the country, even in towns and cities.    

By looking at the above list the military has committed a vast amount of heinous crimes against humanity. These years under the military regime will definitely be recorded as the longest, darkest and most terrifying period in the history of Burma. 

 One minute they murder people and perform evil deeds, and the next they pray and offer food and robes to monks. I wonder what advice our Lord Buddha will give.