Myanmar marks 5th anniversary of 2021 military coup
French and Burmese living in Paris, France, staged a demonstration on Friday to mark the fifth anniversary of the military coup. They also called for the international community to ban the sale of jet fuel and weapons to the military in Burma, which ousted the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi on Feb. 1, 2021. A similar protest was held in the port city of Marseille, located in southern France.
“[It’s been] five years since the military junta robbed the people of their vote, their voice, and their future,” Kim Aris, Aung San Suu Kyi’s son, shared on social media yesterday. He called for the freedom of all political prisoners in Burma, including his mother and President Win Myint, who have been held by the military since the 2021 coup. Over 22,000 other political prisoners are being held in prison for opposing the coup.
Over 120,000 people have been killed in fighting between the military and resistance forces with at least 4,638 killed in 9,088 airstrikes nationwide since 2021, according to DVB data. Over five million people have been displaced from their homes in Burma. A total of 30,357 people have been arrested and 22,767 are still in detention, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP).
Number of political prisoners dying in detention reaches 273
At least 74 political prisoners aged between 18 and 35 have died in detention in Burma since the 2021 coup, according to previously unreported data from the AAPP, a human rights monitoring group whose information on Burma is often cited by international rights organizations and U.N. agencies.
The tally was corroborated with the Political Prisoners Network of Myanmar (PPNM), which monitors the country’s prison system. Thaik Tun Oo, the PPNM spokesperson, said that a total of 273 people charged with public incitement and insurrection after the coup have died while incarcerated, which includes political prisoners Wut Yee Aung and Khant Lunn Naing.
Reuters interviewed three associates and relatives of detained students and the two prison monitoring groups, and reviewed letters sent by inmates and correctional authorities. Together, they provide the fullest account to date of the conditions experienced by Wutt Yee Aung and Khant Linn Naing and the circumstances of their deaths. Read more
Union Election Commission releases final results of military polls
Final results in the military’s 2025-26 elections were released by the Union Election Commission (UEC) on Jan. 28-29. It reported that the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) won a majority of seats in Myanmar’s Pyindungsu Hluttaw, or bicameral legislature, during polls which began on Dec. 28 and ended on Jan. 25.
Htin Kyaw Aye, an independent Myanmar election analyst, told DVB that a USDP victory was predetermined by the military regime, which seized power during the 2021 military coup that reversed the results of the 2020 election landslide victory of Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party.
The USDP won 231 out of 263 seats in the Pyithu Hluttaw, or lower house of parliament, and 56 out of 79 seats in the Amyotha Hluttaw, or upper house, following three rounds of voting in separate phases on Dec. 28, Jan. 11, and Jan. 25, according to the UEC results. A Proportional Representation (PR) electoral system was also introduced for the first time. Read more
News by Region
KARENNI—The Interim Executive Council (IEC), a provisional government established in 2023, apologized and vowed to take responsibility for 80 military personnel who escaped from its prison in Mese on Jan. 18. Mese, located 109 miles (175 km) south of the state capital Loikaw, was seized by Karenni resistance forces in November 2023.
“Their plan was to go to Thailand,” Banyar Aung, the IEC secretary-2, told DVB. Around 70 prisoners managed to flee across the border into Thailand, where they were transferred by Thai authorities back to the military in Burma. Eight were killed, while two others were re-arrested, according to the IEC.
NAYPYIDAW—The regime’s National Defence and Security Council (NDSC) stated on Saturday that civil servants and ministry staff who left their positions following the 2021 coup may return to work and have their names removed from a list compiled by the authorities, if they have not committed any crime.
The NDSC statement on Jan. 31 said that former civil servants can report to the offices of the departments where they had previously worked, or to the nearest township administration office. An unknown number of civil servants left their positions to join the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) following the coup.
SAGAING—Residents in Kanbalu Township and the People’s Defence Force (PDF) told DVB that resistance forces seized Kotaungbo village on Friday, after two days of fighting. Kanbalu, located 128 miles (206 km) north of the region’s capital Monywa, is partly under National Unity Government (NUG) control.
A PDF member told DVB that the village’s police station had 100 regime personnel inside. No casualties were reported. The PDF added that regime forces launched a counteroffensive from Kotaungbo village and recaptured Kawlin Township from the PDF on Feb. 11, 2024. Kotaungbo is located eight miles (13 km) south of Kawlin.
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