Following the February 2021 military coup, thousands in Myanmar have been arbitrarily arrested, detained, and attacked including human rights defenders, trade unionists, journalists, political and student activists, poets, writers, and monks.
As documented by the CIVICUS Monitor, many are facing baseless charges and there have also been reports of torture and ill-treatment during interrogation, and of deaths in custody. The following are some of the human rights defenders and activists who have been detained by the junta.
Updated January 2023
LGBTQI+ activist Sue Sha Shinn Thant
Sue Sha Shinn Thant was arrested in Mandalay in October 2021. She is a transgender woman who has campaigned for the Prevention of Violence Against Woman Bill in Myanmar. She was a union-level representative in the Mandalay Region Youth Affairs Committee before the junta seized power. Since the coup Sue Sha Shinn Thant played a leading role in anti-dictatorship protests in Mandalay.
On 14th December 2022, she was sentenced to 22 years in prison by a junta court in Mandalay. Obo Prison Court handed down the sentence for allegedly violating Section 505 (b) of Myanmar’s Penal code for inciting sedition against the state, and Section 50 (j) of the Counter Terrorism Law for aiding and abetting murder. She had already received a three-year sentence for allegedly inciting sedition against the military.
(Photo Credit: The Irrawady)
Poet and activist Lu Phan Kar
On 20th December 2022, Lu Phan Kar, who led anti-regime protests in Ayeyarwady region’s Pathein city, was sentenced to another two years in prison for incitement against the military under Section 505 (a) of Myanmar’s Penal Code. Lu Phan Kar is a published poet who began leading anti-junta demonstrations in Ayeyarwady region following the coup. In November 2021, Lu Phan Kar was sentenced to 26 years in prison under Sections 122 and 124 of the Penal Code for sedition and treason, and six months for breaking prison rules.
(Photo Credit: RFA)
Activist Thae Su Naing
Thae Su Naing, a member of Myanmar’s Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), was sentenced to seven years in prison by Meiktila Court in Mandalay region on 30th August 2022. The 24-year-old teacher was a former chairwoman of the Meiktila University Students’ Union and taught in the local township.
Thae Su Naing was sentenced under Section 52 (A) of the Counter-Terrorism Law. Sentences under the law range from three to seven years. Thae Su Naing was arrested by the army at her home in Meiktila township in November 2021 and accused of being a People’s Defence Force (PDF) leader and held for nine months before being sentenced.
(Photo Credit: DVB English)
Student activist Su Yee Lin
Su Yee Lin was the chair of the Eastern Yangon University Students’ Union. She was were arrested in Yangon on 20th December 2021 while on her way to a protest in Thingangyun Township. In April 2022, she was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment.
(Photo Credit: Twitter/ @NanLin96)
Student activist Min Thukha Kyaw
Thae Su Naing, a member of Myanmar’s Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), was sentenced to seven years in prison by Meiktila Court in Mandalay region on 30th August 2022. The 24-year-old teacher was a former chairwoman of the Meiktila University Students’ Union and taught in the local township.
Thae Su Naing was sentenced under Section 52 (A) of the Counter-Terrorism Law. Sentences under the law range from three to seven years. Thae Su Naing was arrested by the army at her home in Meiktila township in November 2021 and accused of being a People’s Defence Force (PDF) leader and held for nine months before being sentenced.
(Photo Credit: Myanmar Now)
Filmmaker Ma Aeint
Ma Aeint was detained in June 2021 and after ten months in jail as a political prisoner, was found guilty of breaching Article 505A of Myanmar’s criminal code which penalises “causing fear, spreading fake news or agitating against government employees.” She was sentenced to three years of jail, with hard labour, by a court in Yangon, Myanmar.
(Photo Credit: Mizzima News)
Protest leader Ko Wai Moe Naing
Ko Wai Moe Naing, a prominent anti-junta protest leader in Monywa, Sagaing Region, was beaten and dragged away by junta forces after his motorcycle was rammed on 15th April 2021. A photo apparently showing him to have been badly tortured went viral the day after his arrest
Wai Moe Naing’s trial took place at a military court located inside Monywa Prison, On 12 August 2022, he was found guilty of committing multiple counts of incitement under section 505(A) of the Penal Code, which has been routinely used by the military junta to target critics of the regime. Following the conviction, Wai Moe Naing was sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment.
(Photo Credit: Myanmar NOW)
Land and environmental rights defender, Man Zar Myay Mon
Man Zar Myay Mon is an activist from the Sagaing Region. He has worked for many years to promote accountability of the extractive industries for the benefit of local communities. He was also active as one of the community leaders in the Letpadaung mine protests in Sagaing Region.
After he became a leading figure of peaceful anti-coup protests, in March 2021 Man Zar Myay Mon was charged with “incitement” under Article 505(a) of the Penal Code for his participation in the demonstrations.
He was detained on the morning of 8 June 2021, by soldiers while he was attempting to flee Shan Htoo Village, Chaung-U Township, Sagaing Region. The soldiers shot him in the leg while he was riding a motorbike, immediately captured him, handcuffed him, and blindfolded him. He is being held at an interrogation center at the headquarters of the Tatmadaw’s Northwestern Command in Monywa, Sagaing Region
In March 2022, he was sentenced to two years in prison.
(Photo Credit: The Irrawaddy)
RELEASED
Journalist Ma Chan Bu
Security forces beat and arrested reporter Ma Chan Bu from the 74 Media on 29 March while she was covering a protest in Myitkyina, Kachin State. She was arrested with Ko La Raw, who is with Kachin Wave. Both media outlets are based in the Kachin State capital. She has been charged under Section 505a of the Penal Code.
According to reports as of 15 July 2021, nearly half of the 87 journalists arrested by Myanmar’s junta in the five months since the coup remain in detention. 31 reporters were released prior to 30 June 2021 when the junta declared a general amnesty and freed 2,300 prisoners from the country’s jails, including another 14 journalists. In most cases, authorities charged reporters with defamation of the military under Section 505 (a). Dozens of reporters are currently in hiding. She was released on 19 October 2021.
(Photo Credit: BNI Multimedia Group)
Women human rights defender Thin Thin Aung
Thin Thin Aung was arbitrarily arrested on 8 April 2021 from Botahtaung Township in Yangon and taken to the Yay Kyi Ai military interrogation centre in Yangon’s Insein Township. On 9 April 2021, military security forces raided her apartment in Yangon and seized her belongings, including her computers. She was taken to the Mingalardon interrogation centre (Yay Kyi Aing) on the same day. After being tortured for two weeks, she was transferred to Yangon’s Insein prison on 21 April 2021. She has been charged under Section 505 (a) of the Penal Code.
She is a co-founder of Mizzima News Agency and the Women’s League of Burma (WLB), the founder of Women for Justice formerly known as Women’s Rights and Welfare Association of Burma (WRWAB). Since the 1988 uprising, Thin Thin Aung has dedicated her life to the fight for democracy and human rights in Myanmar. She has spent most of her time advocating locally and internationally for justice for women’s human rights. She was released on 19 October 2021.
Trade union leader, Ma Myo Aye
One of Myanmar’s leading trade union leaders, Ma Myo Aye was arrested on 15th April 2021. She was arrested at her office in Yangon’s Shwepyithar Township by around 40 members of the military junta’s security forces. Myo Aye was then taken to a police station for interrogation.
She is director of Solidarity Trade Union of Myanmar (STUM) and has been one of the most prominent union leaders in the civil disobedience movement, which has been organising national strikes and protests since the military seized power. She was released on 19 October 2021.
(Photo Credit: Twitter/@cleanclothes)
Pro-democracy Buddhist monk, Shwe Nya Wah Sayadaw
Buddhist monk Shwe Nya War Sayadaw was arrested on 1 February 2021, following the coup. He was detained by the military at his monastery in Yangon. He is an outspoken monk and has been critical of the 969 movement, which is backed by nationalist Buddhist monks.
In 2012, he was ordered to leave his monastery in Yangon because of a speech he gave at a pro-democracy event at the Mandalay office of the National League for Democracy, where he had publicly called for the release of political prisoners and the end of ongoing civil wars.
(Photo Credit: Kaung Htet/ The Myanmar Times)
Student activist Ko Min Thway Thit
Student activist Ko Min Thway Thit was arrested on 1 February 2021, following the coup. On 30 December 2021 he was sentenced to one year imprisonment for driving an unregistered vehicle without a license under Section 95 of the Vehicle Safety and Motor Vehicle Management Law.
He was previously imprisoned in 2015 for his role in the protests against the new education bill and released in 2016. He was also among four fined 30,000 kyats for organising a protest without permission on 7 July 2019 to commemorate Ne Win’s 1962 massacre of student activists.
(Photo Credit: Burma News International)
88 Generation activist, Mya Aye
Prominent democracy activist and one of the leaders of the 88 Generation was arrested on 1 February 2021, following the coup. Mya Aye was arrested twice under the former junta for his political activism during and after the 1988 uprising and served a total of 12 years in prison.
He faces hate speech charges under Article 505(c) of the Penal Code for incitement, which carries up to two years in prison.
(Photo Credit: The Myanmar Times)