661 Civil Society organisations have sent an open letter to Finland and Switzerland calling on them not to engage with the Myanmar junta’s peace process it is trying to carry out with ethnic armed organisations.

Below is a copy of the letter:

To

Minister Elina Valtonen Ministry for Foreign Affairs Government of Finland

Councillor Ignazio Cassis Federal Department of Foreign Affairs Government of Switzerland

10 November 2023

Finland and Switzerland must stop lending legitimacy to Myanmar military junta and its sham peace efforts

Dear Minister Valtonen and Councillor Cassis,

We, 661 civil society organizations, call on the Governments of Finland and Switzerland to end all engagements with and support of the Myanmar military junta, particularly its sham peace efforts. We urge Finland and Switzerland to instead support the people of Myanmar’s ongoing efforts towards inclusive federal democracy and sustainable peace.

First, we have learned that the Government of Finland, through the CMI – Martti Ahtisaari Peace Foundation, recently invited members of the Myanmar military junta’s so-called Peace Committee to a secret meeting in Helsinki, Finland, and met with them there – all while the junta is deliberately targeting and killing civilians across the country.

By bringing junta representatives to Helsinki, the Finnish Government has signaled its recognition, acceptance, and support of the junta – in complete violation of democratic principles and, most importantly, the will of the people of Myanmar.

Let us be clear: The people of Myanmar are not merely in a political disagreement with the illegal and illegitimate military junta. Since its failed coup of 1 February 2021, the junta has killed at least 4,174 people,

as of 6 November 2023, and over 1.7 million people have been internally displaced. In recent months, the junta has ramped up its use of airstrikes to terrorize and murder Myanmar civilians across the country. From May to August 2023 alone, the junta launched 272 airstrikes, amounting to at least two airstrikes per day – killing 72 civilians and injuring 163, as well as damaging schools, medical facilities, and religious buildings.

By supporting and lending legitimacy to the murderous junta, the Finnish Government has failed to uphold its international obligations to protect the people of Myanmar and has undermined Myanmar people’s resistance movement in defense of democracy and human rights. Finland’s actions have also undermined international sanctions targeting the junta and emboldened the junta to continue its mass atrocity crimes against Myanmar civilians with blanket impunity.

Second, we have also learned that the Government of Switzerland, in conjunction with the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue and Swisspeace, organized a workshop on the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) peace process in Naypyitaw from 16 to 18 October 2023.

By supporting the junta’s futile and sham NCA efforts, the Swiss Government not only lends legitimacy to the junta, but also prolongs the junta’s relentless violence that is attempting to force the people of Myanmar back under military dictatorship.

The failed NCA is completely irrelevant in addressing Myanmar’s multi-faceted crisis. In fact, support for the NCA emboldens the junta and worsens the unfathomable devastation in Myanmar, as the military is the source of violence and the root cause of the crisis. As declared by three original signers of the NCA, the military junta’s illegal coup attempt and its use of extreme violence against civilians have violated and invalidated the NCA, particularly its principle of non-violence.

From its start, the NCA has never been a praiseworthy, genuine peace deal, as its original process was deeply flawed and exclusive. Today, the ethnic armed organizations that continue to engage with the junta’s futile NCA efforts do not hold territory, have significant troop numbers, nor hold the mandate to represent their people. Any actions of the junta related to the NCA are thus illusory and invalid, and must be denounced by the international community.

Third, we have further learned that Switzerland and Finland are trying to provide humanitarian assistance through the Technical Secretariat Center (TSC), a working group of the Joint Ceasefire Monitoring Committee (JMC), in collaboration with a few other countries.

Humanitarian aid provided through junta-controlled channels, such as the JMC and the TSC, will not reach the people in need and will instead lend legitimacy to the illegal junta, bolster its violence against civilians, and whitewash its mass atrocity crimes.

Switzerland and Finland know very well that the military currently controls both the JMC and the TSC, as it has in the past. When the JMC was first formed, the pre-existing civilian ceasefire monitoring was banned, and today, the junta’s control overrides any civilian voices more so than ever before. Indeed, since their formation, the JMC and the TSC have never functioned to aid civilians – and never will.

Rather than deliver aid to the people, the junta will only continue to weaponize the aid provided through the TSC, blocking aid deliveries, attacking humanitarian workers, and lining its pockets to continue its violence. Aid provision through the TSC also stands to hinder other avenues for aid delivery, namely cross-border channels that support locally led, frontline humanitarian responders throughout Myanmar.

Overall, we are appalled to learn that Switzerland and Finland are pursuing these unethical initiatives that allow the junta to continue its war of terror against Myanmar’s people. In asymmetric conflict, the oppressor – here, the military junta – cannot be an equal or trusted partner at any negotiation table. As European history has shown us, the privilege to join peace efforts and deliver humanitarian aid must not be afforded to brutal oppressors who have no interest in genuine peace or cessation of violence.

Therefore, we call on the Governments of Finland and Switzerland to stop lending legitimacy and recognition to the junta and instead fully support the people of Myanmar. To do so, Finland and Switzerland must immediately cease any engagement with the junta, including the aforementioned initiatives, which are an insult to Myanmar’s people who have endured decades of immense suffering from the military’s violence.

To align with the will of Myanmar people, Finland and Switzerland must also join ongoing international efforts to actualize justice for Myanmar people and hold the military accountable for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. Relatedly, we call on Finland and Switzerland to denounce the military junta’s sham NCA-related peace efforts, and instead provide financial and political support to Myanmar people’s efforts to build sustainable and inclusive peace from the bottom up.

For Myanmar to achieve sustainable peace, not only must the military be held accountable under international law, but also the junta’s access to weapons and foreign currency must end. Therefore, we further call on Finland and Switzerland to strongly recommend a UN Security Council resolution that refers the crisis in Myanmar to the International Criminal Court or establishes an ad hoc tribunal and that imposes a global arms embargo, as well as robust, targeted economic sanctions against the military junta.

In tandem, Finland and Switzerland must end all partnerships with the junta and junta-controlled or -linked entities for the provision of humanitarian aid. Humanitarian aid should instead be provided directly to local ethnic and community-based organizations, including through cross-border channels to enhance locally led humanitarian response efforts.

Through a strong people’s resistance movement across the country, the Myanmar people are aiming to dismantle the military junta and end the military’s violent oppression. It is high time that Finland and Switzerland stand unequivocally on the side of the people of Myanmar.