[Repost] Five years since the Burmese military’s attempted coup in Myanmar

2 February 2026

Today marks five years since the Burmese military’s violent overthrow of an elected government in Myanmar, and subsequent commission of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide against our fellow people.

The military’s atrocities – including air and drone strikes, arbitrary arrest and detention, mass killing, sexual and gender-based violence – have forced millions of civilians to become internally displaced persons in areas of armed conflict and famine, or refugees in life-threatening conditions of exile over land and sea.

We strongly reject the military’s recent sham election, which will only embolden its forces to intensify its campaign of terror across the country. Even during its so-called election period, in just weeks, the military murdered over 170 civilians with its airstrikes. This month, at the International Court of Justice’s public hearings on The Gambia v. Myanmar case, the military publicly denied its genocide against the Rohingya and the Rohingya identity.

We urge the international community to hold the Burmese military accountable for international crimes. Holding the key agent of Myanmar’s catastrophe will help end the country’s decades-long impunity, which is now being exercised by the Arakan Army to ethnically cleanse Rakhine State of the Rohingya. Myanmar’s future must rest on the rule of law, equality, and fundamental freedoms of all of the country’s diverse peoples.

At the same time, we call for immediate protection and relief to all civilians in Myanmar. The international community must enable cross-border aid via credible actors to Myanmar, as well as comprehensive support to women-led groups and other local civil society. 

We urge the international community to join our brave people’s resistance against authoritarianism, dictatorship, patriarchy, and all other forms of oppression.

WOMEN’S PEACE NETWORK

Leave a Comment » | Conflicts and Peace, Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by jamestan2019

MARUAH letter on recent changes to electoral procedures

14 June 2024

Maruah has submitted the following feedback to Elections Department of Singapore (“ELD”) in view of the General Election due by next year, and ELD’s announcement that it had made some changes to electoral procedures as a result of experience gained in the 2023 Presidential Election:

—–

To: Elections Department, Prime Minister’s Office

Maruah is gratified that you are responding to public feedback and providing more space on ballot papers for voters to indicate their choice. During last year’s Presidential Election, ELD also introduced two new methods of voting – postal ballots and special polling stations at nursing homes. More voters were able to have their voices heard thanks to these new procedures, but there is room for improvement in these procedures.

In the case of postal balloting, over 40% of postal ballots received were rejected, mostly due to illegible or missing postmarks, or late delivery. These were not the fault of the voters, and I urge ELD to adopt more reliable ways of validating the dates of dispatch instead of relying solely on the vagaries of foreign postal systems. The forms and instructions for voting should also be improved to reduce the chance of inadvertent errors such as voters signing their forms at the wrong place or posting multiple ballots in the same envelope.

In the case of nursing homes, residents were pre-selected for participation based on the homes’ assessments of their ability to vote. Unfortunately, from my own observations as a polling agent, a large proportion of the selected residents did not appear to have the mental capacity to vote or to clearly indicate their choice. This was alluded to by Minister Chan Chun Sing in a written reply to a Parliamentary Question on 4 October 2023, where he said “election officials did face challenges including managing voters who may lack the mental capacity to vote”. To prevent any disputes in future over the validity of votes at nursing homes, ELD should tighten and standardise the criteria used to assess the mental capacity of residents before they vote. ELD should also evaluate the usefulness of mobile polling stations at nursing homes.

Maruah would like to thank ELD, and the thousands of elections officials and public servants involved in elections, for their continual efforts to improve the voting experience and making it easier for Singaporeans to exercise their right and duty of voting.

MARUAH Singapore

June 2024

Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by jamestan2019