The Special Advisory Council for Myanmar: Military not in control of the country

09 September 2022
The Special Advisory Council for Myanmar: Military not in control of the country

The Myanmar military does not have effective control of the country, and is incapable of governing it, according to a briefing paper by the Special Advisory Council for Myanmar, a group of independent international experts.

According to the paper, released on 5 September, the National Unity Government (NUG) is the legitimate government of Myanmar and it has the greatest claim to effective control of the country.

The NUG is at the centre of a democratic revolution shaped by organisations opposed to the Myanmar military junta, or resistance organisations. These organisations are the de facto authorities across more of the territory of Myanmar and for more of the population than the junta and are administering a growing range of government functions.

The junta only has stable control of 22 per cent or 72 out of 330 townships in the country which equates to only 17 per cent of Myanmar’s land area, because many of these are small urban townships.

The Special Advisory Council for Myanmar believes that the democratic revolution is solidifying around a shared vision of federal democracy and has a viable pathway to ending decades of oppression by the military. The mass uprising of Myanmar people against a return to autocratic military rule continues to build in intensity and is not going to cease anytime soon.

The junta does not have effective control of Myanmar. It neither has full control of the country’s territory nor of its people. It is unable to effectively administer the functions of government and shows no signs of establishing a permanent order. The military’s strategy to gain control is focused on committing mass atrocities and causing humanitarian suffering amongst the civilian population.

The junta is losing what control it does have at an increasing rate. The conflict’s trajectory currently favours the democratic revolution as both armed and non-violent resistance to the junta continues to build. International support is required to put the country more decisively on a path to peace, stability and civilian rule.

The Special Advisory Council for Myanmar calls on the international community to not recognise the junta and instead make it a priority to recognise the NUG as the legitimate government of Myanmar.

The Special Advisory Council for Myanmar is “an independent group of international experts working to support the peoples of Myanmar in their fight for human rights, peace, democracy, justice and accountability.”

Its members are: Yanghee Lee, a former UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar; Marzuki Darusman, a former Chair of the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar: and Chris Sidoti, a former member of the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar.