30th March, 2021 #day58

 

There are indications that the Spring Revolution is about to accelerate in different way. The brutality of the junta has united people with different backgrounds and groups with different intentions. Until now, anti-dictatorship movement has been mainly led by unarmed civilians in the cities. Only a few battalions of some ethnic armed groups have been attacking military bases in support of the movement. Today, three powerful ethnic armed organisations - the Arakan Army, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, and the Ta'ang National Liberation Army - known as the Northern Alliance released a statement today saying that they would join the people in the Spring Revolution if the junta did not immediately stop its extreme violence. It also said that they would work with other armed groups and is reviewing their unilateral ceasefire which will be expired tomorrow, March 31. These three groups are so powerful that they deliberately attacked security outposts and buildings, including the Defence Services Technological University in Pyin Oo Lwin, Mandalay Region, on 15 August 2019, killing fifteen including soldiers and police. Therefore, if they join militarily, it will surely be another crisis for the junta. The CRPH also welcomed the statement and invited them to work together for the success of the movement.

In Karen State, the junta has been conducting airstrikes for four days in a row destroying villages and schools. Tens of thousands of people have been displaced by the attacks and more than 3000 people have fled to Thailand. Even though the Thai prime minister promised to help the refugees, authorities again returned 520 Karen refugees to Myanmar’s side today, according to Karen Information Centre. According to local media outlets, about 20 junta’s troops were killed in a car crash near the KNU 7th Brigade controlled area in Hlaing Bwe Township. These soldiers are from the 408th Light Infantry Battalion of the 8th Brigade. Some have speculated that the crash may have been caused by a KNU’s ambush. The Irrawaddy reports that seven civilians were killed when a fighter bombed a KNU gold mining block in Shwe Kyin Township, Bago Region, around 12 p.m. today. The 5th Brigade of the KNU recently releases a statement saying that thousands of soldiers have entered KNU-controlled areas, they has no choice but to defend itself, and the military has repeatedly violated the NCA agreement. The next day the KNU 5th Brigade attacked a military post in Mudaw (Papun) District on May 27th, the state media accused the leader of the 5th brigade of defying the its headquarter. However, one of the KNU secretary, Padoh Saw Tun Tun, told the KIC that the junta was trying to divide the KNU as it always does.

The Irrawaddy reports that about 20 civilians were killed and about 50 were injured in a violent crackdown in the South Dagon yesterday. The death toll, however, is estimated at 100. A soldier's status circulating on Facebook, mocking that around 100 people had been killed and that even the bodies could not be retrieved. A paramedic told the Irrawaddy that most of the injuries were caused by grenades. This morning, residents found the body of a man who had been burned at the intersection of Ward 56 in South Dagon. Before that, residents in Mandalay saw soldiers burning an injured man alive. The Irrawaddy reports that about 15 people have been killed nationwide last night and today. According to the AAPP, the confirmed death toll has risen to 521 as of March 30.

The National Unity Government will be formed on April 1st and repeal the current 2008 constitution, the CRPH’s spokesman Maung Tin Thit told Myanmar Now. The government will use the Federal Democracy Charter as an interim constitution. He said that this Charter is based on the constitution drafted by the Federal Constitution Drafting Committee (FCDCC). The FCDCC, which is made up of representatives from the elected NLD MPs from the 1990 election and ethnic armed organizations, took 18 years to draft this federal democratic constitution. He added that the CRPH would gain international recognition after the formation of the unity government and there could be international support for the establishment of a federal army.