1988?2011 military government of Myanmar
This article is about the military government in Burma set up in 1988. For the military junta established after the 2021 coup d'etat, see
State Administration Council
.
State Law and Order Restoration Council
|
|
Formed
| 18 September 1988
|
---|
Preceding agencies
| |
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Dissolved
| 15 November 1997
|
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Superseding agency
| - State Peace and Development Council
|
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State Peace and Development Council
|
|
Formed
| 15 November 1997
|
---|
Preceding Council
| - State Law and Order Restoration Council
|
---|
Dissolved
| 30 March 2011
|
---|
The
State Peace and Development Council
(
Burmese
:
??????????? ??????????????? ????? ???????????? ???????
[na???ŋa??d??
?ed?a??θajaje
n????
p?????bjo
je
ka????si]
; abbreviated
SPDC
or
???
,
[na??a?p?a?]
) was the official name of the
military government
of
Burma
(
Myanmar
) which, in 1997, succeeded the
State Law and Order Restoration Council
(Burmese:
??????????? ????????????????? ????????????????
; abbreviated
SLORC
or
???
) that had seized power under the rule of
Saw Maung
in 1988. On 30 March 2011,
Senior General
and Council Chairman
Than Shwe
signed a decree that officially dissolved the council.
[7]
SLORC succeeded the
Pyithu Hluttaw
as a legislature and the
Council of State
as a ruling council, after dissolving the state organs of the
Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma
. In 1997, SLORC was abolished and reconstituted as the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC). The powerful regional military commanders, who were members of SLORC, were promoted to new positions and transferred to the capital of Rangoon (now
Yangon
). The new regional military commanders were not included in the membership of the SPDC.
The SPDC consisted of eleven senior military officers. The members of the junta
[8]
wielded a great deal more power than the
cabinet ministers
, who were either more-junior military officers or civilians. The exception was the Defence Ministry portfolio, which was in the hands of junta leader
Senior General
Than Shwe
himself. On 15 September 1993, it established the
Union Solidarity and Development Association
which was replaced by
Union Solidarity and Development Party
on 29 March 2010 in time for the elections.
Although the regime retreated from the
totalitarian
Burmese Way to Socialism
of the BSPP when it took power in 1988, the regime was widely
accused of human rights abuses
. It rejected the
1990 election results
and kept
Aung San Suu Kyi
under house arrest until her release on 13 November 2010.
[9]
The way the junta handled
Cyclone Nargis
was also internationally criticised.
[10]
The council was officially dissolved on 30 March 2011, with the inauguration of the
newly elected government
, led by its former member and Prime Minister, President
Thein Sein
.
[11]
History
[
edit
]
The State Law and Order Restoration Council was formed when the
Burmese Armed Forces
, commanded by
General
Saw Maung
(later self-promoted to
Senior General
Saw Maung, died July 1997), seized power on 18 September 1988 crushing the
8888 Uprising
. On the day it seized power SLORC issued Order No.1/1988 stating that the Armed Forces had taken over power and announced the formation of the SLORC. With Order No. 2/1988, the SLORC abolished all organs of state power that were formed under the 1974 Burmese constitution. The Pyithu Hluttaw (the legislature under the 1974 Constitution), the Council of
Ministers
(the Cabinet), the Council of People's Justices (the
Judiciary
), the Council of People's Attorneys (the Attorney-General Office), the Council of People's Inspectors (the
Auditor
-General Office), as well as the State/Region, Township, Ward/Village People's Councils were abolished.
The SLORC also stated that the services of the Deputy Ministers in the previous
Burma Socialist Programme Party
(
BSPP
) government which it replaced were also terminated. (Under the 1974 Burmese Constitution the Council of Ministers acted as a Cabinet but since the Deputy Ministers were not considered to be formally part of the Council of Ministers, the SLORC made sure that the Deputy Ministers ? together with the Ministers' ? services in the previous BSPP government from whom it had taken over power were also terminated.) The Orders that SLORC issued on the day of its takeover can be seen in the 19 September 1988 issue of
The Working People's Daily
. The first Chairman of SLORC was General
Saw Maung
, later
Senior General
, who was also the Prime Minister. He was removed as both Chairman of SLORC and Prime Minister on 23 April 1992 when General
Than Shwe
, later
Senior General
, took over both posts from him.
On 15 November 1997, SLORC was abolished and reconstituted as the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC). Most, but not all members of the abolished SLORC, were in the SPDC military regime.
Leadership
[
edit
]
Chairmen
[
edit
]
Chairman
|
Term of office
|
Political party
|
No.
|
Portrait
|
Name
(Born?Died)
|
Took office
|
Left office
|
Duration
|
1
|
|
Senior General
Saw Maung
(1928?1997)
|
18 September 1988
|
23 April 1992
(
deposed
)
|
3 years, 218 days
|
Tatmadaw
|
2
|
|
Senior General
Than Shwe
(b. 1933)
|
23 April 1992
|
30 March 2011
|
18 years, 341 days
|
Tatmadaw
|
Vice Chairmen
[
edit
]
Vice-chairman
|
Term of office
|
Political party
|
No.
|
Portrait
|
Name
(Born?Died)
|
Took office
|
Left office
|
Duration
|
1
|
|
General
Than Shwe
(b. 1933)
|
18 September 1988
|
June 1993
|
3 years, 218 days
|
Tatmadaw
|
2
|
|
Vice-Senior General
Maung Aye
(b. 1938)
|
July 1993
|
30 March 2011
|
17 years, 8 months
|
Tatmadaw
|
Former members
[
edit
]
Ordered by protocol:
- Senior General
Than Shwe
, Chairman of the SPDC,
Commander-in-Chief
of
Defence Services
- Vice Senior General
Maung Aye
, Deputy Chairman of the SPDC, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services,
Commander-in-Chief
of the Army
- Retired General Thura U
Shwe Mann
, Former Joint Chief of Staff of the Army, Navy and Air Force
- Retired General U
Thein Sein
,
Prime Minister
and former
President
- Retired General U Thiha Thura
Tin Aung Myint Oo
, Secretary-1 of the SPDC, Former
Quartermaster General
and ex-
Vice-president
- Major-General
Ohn Myint
, Chief of Bureau of Special Operation ? 1 (
Kachin State
,
Mandalay Region
,
Chin State
,
Sagaing Region
)
- Lieutenant-General
Min Aung Hlaing
, Chief of Bureau of Special Operation ? 2 (
Shan State
,
Kayah State
)
- Lieutenant-General
Ko Ko
, Chief of Bureau of Special Operation ? 3 (
Bago Region
,
Ayeyarwady Region
)
- Lieutenant-General
Tha Aye
, Chief of Bureau of Special Operation ? 4 (
Karen State
,
Mon State
,
Tanintharyi Region
)
- Lieutenant-General
Myint Swe
, Chief of Bureau of Special Operation ? 5 (
Yangon Region
)
- Lieutenant-General
Khin Zaw
, Chief of Bureau of Special Operation ?6 (
Magwe Region
,
Rakhine State
)
- Major-General Hla Htay Win, Chief of Armed Forces
Training
- Retired Lieutenant-General U
Tin Aye
, Former Chief of Military
Ordnance
, Current Head of Election Council
[12]
- Lieutenant-General Thura Myint Aung,
Adjutant General
Human rights abuses
[
edit
]
Western non-governmental organisations, such as the
Burma Campaign UK
, the
US Campaign for Burma
,
Amnesty International
and
Human Rights Watch
have made a variety of serious accusations against the SPDC. Reports by these organisations as well as the United Nations and the
Karen Human Rights Group
alleged gross human rights abuses that took place in Burma under their regime, including:
- Murder and arbitrary executions
- Torture and rape
- Recruitment of child soldiers
- Forced relocations
- Forced labour
- Political imprisonment
Murder
[
edit
]
One of the worst atrocities in Burma took place during the
uprising of August 1988
, when millions of Burmese marched throughout the country calling for an end to military rule. Soldiers shot hundreds of protesters and killed an estimated 3,000 people in the following weeks. During the August and September
demonstrations of 2007
, at least 184 protesters were shot and killed and many were tortured. Under the SPDC, the
Burmese army
engaged in military offensives against ethnic minority populations, committing acts that violated
international humanitarian law
.
[13]
Recruitment of child soldiers
[
edit
]
It has been alleged that the SPDC forcibly recruited children ? some as young as 10 ? to serve in its army, the
Tatmadaw
. It is difficult to estimate the number of
child soldiers
used to serve in the Burmese army, but there were thousands, according to
Human Rights Watch
[14]
[15]
the Child Soldiers Global Report 2008
[16]
and
Amnesty International
.
[
citation needed
]
The
UN Secretary-General
named the SPDC in four consecutive reports for violating international standards prohibiting the recruitment and use of child soldiers.
[17]
Forced relocations
[
edit
]
Human Rights Watch
reported
[18]
that since
Cyclone Nargis
in May 2008, the Burmese authorities expelled hundreds, if not thousands, of displaced persons from schools, monasteries, and public buildings, and encouraged them to return to their destroyed villages in the
Irrawaddy Delta
. The authorities emptied some public buildings and schools to use as
polling
stations for the 24 May
referendum
on a new constitution, despite pleas from
United Nations Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon
to postpone the referendum and focus their resources on
humanitarian relief
. The SPDC was alleged to have evicted people from dozens of government-operated tented relief camps in the vicinity of the former capital
Yangon
, ordering the residents to return to their homes, regardless of the conditions they face.
The forced evictions were part of government efforts to demonstrate that the
emergency relief
period was over and that the affected population were capable of rebuilding their lives without
foreign aid
. People who were forced from their homes by Cyclone Nargis are considered to be
internally displaced persons
under international law. Under the UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, the Burmese government was urged to ensure the right of "internally displaced persons to return voluntarily, in safety and with dignity, to their homes or places of habitual residence, or to resettle voluntarily in another part of the country."
Forced labour
[
edit
]
According to the
International Labour Organization
(ILO), despite the new quasi-civilian government taking power in Burma, forced labour continues to be widespread in Burma. It is imposed mainly by the military, for portering (that is, carrying of provisions to remote bases, or on military operations), road construction, camp construction and repair, and for a range of other tasks. In March 1997, the
European Union
withdrew Burma's trade privileges because of the prevalence of forced labour and other abuses. The same year, the ILO established a Commission of Inquiry to look into allegations of forced labour, coming up with a damning report the following year.
In November 2006, the
International Labour Organization
(ILO) announced it was to seek at the
International Criminal Court
[19]
"to prosecute members of the ruling Myanmar junta for crimes against humanity" over the allegations of
forced labour
of its citizens by the military. According to the ILO, an estimated 800,000 people are subject to forced labour in Burma.
[20]
Political imprisonment
[
edit
]
Even before the large-scale demonstrations began in August 2007, the authorities arrested many well-known opponents of the government on political grounds, several of whom had only been released from prison several months earlier. Before the 25?29 September crackdown, more arrests of members of the opposition party
National League for Democracy
(NLD) took place, which critics say was a pre-emptive measure before the crackdown.
Mass round-ups occurred during the crackdown itself, and the authorities continued to arrest protesters and supporters throughout 2007. Between 3,000 and 4,000
political prisoners
were detained, including children and pregnant women, 700 of whom were believed still in detention at year's end. At least 20 were charged and sentenced under
anti-terrorism legislation
in proceedings which did not meet international fair trial standards. Detainees and defendants were denied the right to legal counsel.
[21]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
The Adaptation of Expressions Law
(2). 18 June 1989.
- ^
The Law Relating to Adaptation of Expressions, 2011
(1(b),2(a)). The State Peace and Development Council. 27 January 2011.
- ^
"???? ?????????????????????"
[2008 Constitution].
Constitutional Tribunal of the Union of Myanmar, Online Law Library
(in Burmese). March 2018.
Archived
from the original on 22 April 2022
. Retrieved
17 March
2022
.
?????????????????????????????????????????????? ???? ???????????????????????? ????????? ?????????????????????????????????? ??-?-???? ?????????? ??????????????????
- ^
"Population Pyramids of the World from 1950 to 2100"
.
Archived
from the original on 24 July 2022
. Retrieved
24 July
2022
.
- ^
"Population Pyramids of the World from 1950 to 2100"
.
Archived
from the original on 24 July 2022
. Retrieved
24 July
2022
.
- ^
"Population Pyramids of the World from 1950 to 2100"
.
Archived
from the original on 24 July 2022
. Retrieved
24 July
2022
.
- ^
Shwe Yinn Mar Oo; Soe Than Lynn (4 April 2011).
"Mission accomplished as SPDC 'dissolved'
"
.
The Myanmar Times
. Archived from
the original
on 16 September 2011
. Retrieved
21 August
2011
.
- ^
Leibenluft, Jacob (2 June 2008).
"Who's in the Junta? The mysterious generals who run Burma"
. Slate.
Archived
from the original on 3 June 2008
. Retrieved
2 June
2008
.
- ^
"Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi released"
. Al Jazeera. 13 November 2010.
Archived
from the original on 31 May 2012
. Retrieved
14 November
2010
.
- ^
Klug, Foster (12 May 2008).
"Bush says world should condemn Myanmar"
. Associated Press.
Archived
from the original on 13 May 2008
. Retrieved
13 May
2008
.
- ^
Wai Moe (30 March 2011).
"Than Shwe Officially Dissolves Junta"
.
The Irrawaddy
. Archived from
the original
on 3 April 2011
. Retrieved
30 March
2011
.
- ^
"Myanmar: Junta Member Resigns From Parliament"
.
The New York Times
. 16 February 2011.
Archived
from the original on 24 June 2021
. Retrieved
25 February
2017
.
- ^
Pearson, Elaine (6 August 2008).
"Burma: No Rights Reform 20 Years After Massacre | Human Rights Watch"
. Hrw.org.
Archived
from the original on 11 November 2015
. Retrieved
13 October
2009
.
- ^
"Burma: World's Highest Number of Child Soldiers"
. 16 October 2002.
Archived
from the original on 25 April 2014
. Retrieved
4 December
2016
.
- ^
"The Plight of Child Soldiers in Burma"
. 2 November 2007.
Archived
from the original on 5 April 2013
. Retrieved
4 December
2016
.
- ^
"Child Soldiers Global Report 2008"
.
Archived
from the original on 22 February 2013
. Retrieved
3 May
2010
.
- ^
"Children and Armed Conflict, Report of the Secretary-General, 26 October 2006 UN Doc. A/61/529 S2006/826"
(PDF)
.
Archived
(PDF)
from the original on 1 May 2011
. Retrieved
3 May
2010
.
,
"Report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict in Myanmar to the Security Council, 16 November 2007, UN Doc. S/2007/666"
(PDF)
. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 3 May 2011.
,
"Report of the Secretary-General on Children and armed conflict to the UN Security Council, 21 December 2007, UN Doc. A/62/609-S/2007/757"
(PDF)
. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 3 May 2011.
,
"Report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict in Myanmar 1 June 2009 UN Doc. S/2009/278"
(PDF)
. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 3 May 2011.
- ^
"
"I Want to Help My Own People"
"
. 29 April 2010.
Archived
from the original on 4 July 2014
. Retrieved
4 December
2016
.
- ^
"Human Rights in Myanmar"
. Archived from
the original
on 22 March 2006.
- ^
"ILO cracks the whip at Yangon"
. Archived from
the original
on 4 April 2005.
- ^
"Amnesty International Report 2009 | Working to Protect Human Rights"
. Thereport.amnesty.org. 9 October 2009. Archived from
the original
on 17 April 2009
. Retrieved
13 October
2009
.
External links
[
edit
]