Commander-in-Chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing
Commander-in-Chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, the most powerful person in Myanmar, was the mastermind of the Rohingya genocide. Min Aung Hlaing emerged as the country's new strongman following the coup on 01 February 2021. He promised to hold elections after a one-year state of emergency but many remained wary since the country’s military chief had proven reluctant to call it quits.
General Min Aung Hlaing was riding a tiger. He should have been quietly preparing to retire in July 2021 when he turned 65, the official retirement age for the commander-in-chief of the country’s armed forces. But instead of preparing to leave office and focusing on preparing a successor, the general consolidated power in a military coup. The internal military politics around the coup are opaque. The probably reflects those dynamics and might be an internal coup to maintain power within the military. Former military commanders are not particularly influential. Min Aung Hlaing may have had a well-founded fear that once he left office, he woulc no longer enjoy the benefits of the junta’s kleptocracy - its network of business monopolies and opaque deals in lucrative natural resources like gemstones and timber. Indeed, whatever ill-gooten goods he had gained while in power might be confiscated by his successors in a show of combating corruption, and as a means of supressing the influence his clique of loyal officers. Or in the worst case, he might be tossed to the wolves, packed off the The Hague to stand trial for the Rohingya genocide. Surely the precedent of Sudan provided food for his thoughts, where longtime strongman Omar al-Bashir was deplosed and sent to The Hague to stand trial for genocide in Darfur. The Chinese expression "qí hu nán xià" is freely translated “He who rides a tiger finds it difficult to dismount".
Senior-General Min Aung Hlaing was the Supreme Commander of all armed forces in Myanmar. This deviates from the practice in most constitutional systems, where the head of state is usually the Supreme Commander to whom the highest-ranking military officers and institutions are subordinated. The Constitution also stipulates that the Tatmadaw has the “right to independently administer and adjudicate all affairs of the armed forces”, effectively removing it from any civilian oversight or control.
Citing electoral fraud in the November 2020 general elections – in which Nobel laureate and de facto ruler Aung San Suu Kyi’s party won a landslide 83 percent of the vote – the junta imposed a one-year state of emergency that will be followed by “free and fair multiparty general elections”, according to a statement released by the office of Myanmar’s Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services.
"The aim of the army has always been to run the country," said Nehginpao Kipgen, executive director at the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at the Jindal School of International Affairs in India, in an interview with FRANCE 24. Min Aung Hlaing had long intended to exercise power alone without the burden of a civilian head of government, according to a 2017 New York Times investigation. "His plan is to become president by 2020," U Win Htein, an adviser to Suu Kyi, told the US daily. The results of the 08 November 2020 parliamentary elections, however, dented his ambitions. Suu Kyi's party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), swept the polls, confirming its position as the country's leading political power. The military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) got just a fraction of the vote, in contrast.
It was an electoral setback that Min Aung Hlaing could not accept. Political tensions had been rising since the election results were announced, sparking fears of a military coup that escalated over the weekend. The military "first disputed the results alleging massive fraud, then, after the validation of the vote by the electoral commission, they said they had no choice but to take power by force", said Kipgen. The coup put Min Aung Hlaing, the embodiment of Myanmar’s military system, at the helm of a country that has been under military rule for nearly half a century. Born in the southern city of Tavoy, now known as Dawei, Min Aung Hlaing studied in Rangoon, the country’s former capital, now Yangon. At 18, he entered the country’s military academy after a two-year stint in law school.
Min Aung Hlaing Early Career
It’s difficult to get a clear idea of the young recruit’s personality or confirm various stories about his youth. Some childhood friends described him as taciturn and reserved, while others described him as a "bully who tended to humiliate his classmates", according to testimonies collected by the New York Times. Hla Oo, a Burmese writer exiled in Australia who knew him as a child, recalled a hard-working, studious young man who "hardened himself in battle in the army ranks".
But he was not an obvious candidate for a future commander-in-chief. "He climbed up the ranks slowly but surely," a former military academy officer told Reuters. Noted Kipgen: "He was not someone who stood out in the Burmese army." His luck began to turn when he joined the army’s 88th Light Infantry Division, which was commanded at that time by a certain Colonel Than Shwe. Min Aung Hlaing made Than Shwe his mentor and continued his career in the shadow of the man who, in 1992, rose to become head of the country’s military junta.
In 2011, Than Shwe made Min Aung Hlaing his successor and the first armed forces commander-in-chief in Myanmar’s post-military junta era. His selection over other more experienced generals was likely due to "the fact that Than Shwe thought he would be in the best position to perpetuate his vision for the army and the country", explained Kipgen. As Than Shwe’s heir and faithful to the vision of an all-powerful military, Min Aung Hlaing negotiated with Suu Kyi, charting the course of Myanmar’s democratic transition. But as military chief, he played both sides. On the one hand, he "was very careful in his dealings with the head of government, avoiding open confrontation as much as possible", Kipgen said.
But he also did everything possible to show that the army remains the real master of the political game. He went on several official trips, particularly to China and Japan, and received foreign dignitaries, such as Pope Francis in 2017. The trips and meetings were carefully recorded and shared on social media. "He is very good at cultivating an image of statesmanship, paying attention to the smallest detail," said Min Zin, director of the Institute for Strategy and Policy – Myanmar, a think tank in Yangon, in an interview with the New York Times.
Under Min Aung Hlaing’s command, the military clung firmly to its political influence. During Aung San Suu Kyi’s first five-year term, the military rejected moves by the ruling National League for Democracy to amend the military-drafted 2008 constitution, which grants military lawmakers a quarter of parliamentary so they have veto power over changes to the charter. The constitution also bars Aung San Suu Kyi from becoming president. Myanmar bought $1.4 billion in arms from China from 2000 to 2016, the third-largest total for any of China’s arms purchasers over that period. Approximately $1 billion of these sales occurred since 2011, when then Burmese President Thein Sein took office. Since 2011, China has accounted for more than 60 percent of all arms sales to Burma. Moreover, Burma and China have conducted military exchanges at the highest level.
In an interview 20 Augsut 2015 with Nancy Shwe, director of RFA’s Myanmar Service, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, Commander in Chief of the Myanmar Armed Forces, said former junta chief Than Shwe advises his former army colleagues on military affairs but exerts no influence on the country’s politics. He also denied that the Tatmadaw [Myanmar’s armed services] played any role in the ouster last week of ruling party chairman Shwe Mann.
He said "all countries must build their defense capabilities. We have bought fighters, trainers, and transport planes, but these are only for building our strength. This has nothing to do with the ethnic groups. And even still, we have not reached our goals. Many countries build up their arms on the pretext of defending the peace, and others then expand their own militaries in response, and these arms buildups go on and on. The late Gen. Aung San himself said in 1947 that the country’s air force would need at least 500 airplanes, with another 500 in reserve. That was in 1947, and we are not even close to that yet. But if relations among our neighboring countries and other countries around the world improve, I don’t think that any harm will come to our nation."
Notably, in September 2016, Xu Qiliang, vice-chairman of China’s Central Military Commission, met Burmese Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing to promote training and bilateral exercises and highlight the importance of Burma’s peace process and improving stability on China’s border.160 In June 2017 Central Military Commission member General Fang Fenghui met Commander-in-Chief Hlaing to deepen military cooperation and bilateral ties. These high-level meetings, combined with the powerful position Burma’s military enjoys in Burma’s government, reflect a deep political relationship between the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and Burma’s military that extends beyond military affairs.
Genocide
His public relations efforts failed to work outside Myanmar and China. For parts of the international community, Min Aung Hlaing was regarded, above all, as the man behind the persecution of the country’s Rohingya Muslim minority starting in 2016. "Even if he is not directly and personally involved, militarily – as head of the army – he approved this campaign," noted Kipgen.
While several countries have adopted the term “genocide” to describe the military’s violations against the Rohingyas, Min Aung Hlaing openly defended the army’s actions on Facebook and Twitter. The military chief only uses the term "Bengali" to refer to the Rohingya, suggesting that they are foreigners who have no business being on Burmese soil. He also justified the army's actions by repeatedly stating that "our regions must be controlled by the national races".
Secretary Tillerson spoke by phone with Burma’s Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing on 26 October 2017 to express concern about the continuing humanitarian crisis and reported atrocities in Rakhine State. The Secretary urged Burma’s security forces to support the government in ending the violence in Rakhine State and allowing the safe return home of those displaced during this crisis, especially the large numbers of ethnic Rohingya, in accordance with the 1992 Joint Statement with Bangladesh and without further conditions. At the same time, he urged the military to facilitate humanitarian aid for displaced people in affected areas, allow media access, and cooperate with the United Nations to ensure a thorough, independent investigation into all allegations of human rights abuses and violations and to ensure accountability. Secretary Tillerson also condemned the August 25 deadly attacks by militants on security forces in Rakhine State.
While many international observers had criticized State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi for her failure to take action, few have directed their criticism at Burma’s Commander in Chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing. Under Burma’s 2008 constitution, a constitution written by the Tatmadaw, General Min Aung Hlaing had supreme authority over all of Burma’s security forces, including the Tatmadaw, border guard forces, and the Myanmar police force. State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and the civilian government have little direct authority over those security forces.
Myanmar·s Buddhist ultra-nationalist movement, Ma Ba Tha, and its outspoken leader, Ashin Wirathu, portray the "Bengalis" as the point of a spear of an effort by global Islam to transform Myanmar from a predominately Buddhist nation into an Islamic state. Many people in Myanmar believed the assertions that troops had not engaged in human rights abuses during the various clearance operations, and think the international media is intentionally spreading false stories about such matters. Commander-in-Chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing is reportedly popular in most of Myanmar, even in some etlmic minority areas, because of his strong response to the "ARSA terrorist threat" and the resulting return of the so-called "Bengalis" to Bangladesh.
The security forces’ response to the ARSA attacks in August 2017 started within hours, “was immediate, brutal and grossly disproportionate”, suggesting “a level of preplanning and design” consistent with Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing’s stated vision. Senior-General Min Aung Hlaing, who stated at the height of the operations, “The Bengali problem was a long-standing one which has become an unfinished job despite the efforts of the previous governments to solve it. The government in office is taking great care in solving the problem.”
Min Aung Hlaing made repeated references to the so-called “Alelthankyaw crisis” of 1942 in discussing what he calls “the Bengali problem”. On 1 September 2017, at the height of the “clearance operations” in Rakhine State, in a post entitled “Entire government institutions and people must defend the country with strong patriotism”, he started his statement as follows: “Rakhine ethnics lost their land in the Alelthankyaw crisis that broke out in Rakhine State in 1942 in which Bengali attacked, murdered and coerced them into leaving their homes. We will never let such terrible occurrence happen again. The Tatmadaw will fully safeguard the sovereignty of Myanmar, without allowing any damage to it.” The theme of Rohingya not belonging in Myanmar was made explicit in a March 2018 statement, in which Min Aung Hlaing said that the “Bengali do not have any characteristics or culture in common with the ethnicities of Myanmar. The public statements of the Senior-General and his Office reveal a deeply exclusionary vision, mirroring the hateful anti-Rohingya rhetoric promoted by influential, ultranationalist Buddhist groups.
The Commander-in-Chief led the Tatmadaw General Staff and the General Staff was responsible for formulating the objectives and limits of military operations, the role and composition of the forces involved, the rules of engagement, and the necessary logistics. The systematic, sustained and repeated nature of the operations demonstrates the existence and implementation of a high-level plan to carry out the operations in Kachin, Rakhine and Shan States. Large-scale military operations, during which the movement of multiple units are coordinated, often with air support, can only be planned, ordered and supervised at the level of the Commander-in-Chief. This is further demonstrated by the close involvement of the Commander-in-Chief in the operations, as apparent from his Facebook page, and the removal or transfer of some senior commanders following the operations in Rakhine State. In a military as tightly controlled as the Tatmadaw, lower echelon units will only operate under direct orders, and deviation from orders is unacceptable. The Tatmadaw’s senior commanders could have halted the operations at any time, or could have withdrawn the units and troops involved in reported abuses. Effective control was continuous and absolute at all relevant times.
Tatmadaw troops have targeted civilians, killed and raped as part of an over-arching plan. Against this backdrop, no sensible suggestion can be made that military commanders within the Tatmadaw did not know or have reason to know that their subordinates were committing crimes. It was being done everywhere, in every operation, and pursuant to a policy of their own making and implementation. Tatmadaw commanders knowingly accepted the high probability of unlawful civilian casualties and destruction of civilian property. They accepted that the commission of grave crimes as an essential ingredient in the military strategy they approved and ordered.
, Senior-General Min Aung Hlaing appeared well-informed of real-time developments on the ground. On 19 September 2017, the Commander-in-Chief visited the Regional Operational Command in Sittwe where he was given a detailed brief on the situation and reviewed operational maps. The next day, he visited Taung Baza, Buthidaung Township, and held meetings at the local Tatmadaw battalion headquarters where he exhibited detailed knowledge on how events on the ground transpired. It was reported that the Commander-in-Chief “gave instructions on getting timely information, close supervision by officials as there could not be any more mistakes with security affairs, cooperation in ensuring regional peace and stability, secure and firm border fencing… then instructed the continued citizenship verification process for issuing NVCs to those living in the region”. This was a commander with a full picture of what was transpiring, both on his orders and on his watch.
Global Response to Genocide
President Win Myint’s office denied an opinion piece in a Thai newspaper 27 June 2018 that said Min Aung Hlaing had threatened to stage a coup over a disagreement with the government about the composition of a new inquiry commission to look into human rights violations that occurred during the crackdown. His comments also came a day after Amnesty’s report which said that Min Aung Hlaing and 12 other military and border guard officers should be tried by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for their roles in the violence against the Rohingya. Min Aung Hlaing’s office said it dismissed two generals involved in the crackdown, hours after the European Union and Canada imposed sanctions on two of those generals and five other army and border police officials.
On 27 August 2018 the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar urged that Myanmar’s top military generals, including Commander-in-Chief Senior-General Min Aung Hlaing, must be investigated and prosecuted for genocide in the north of Rakhine State, as well as for crimes against humanity and war crimes in Rakhine, Kachin and Shan States. The Mission, established by the UN Human Rights Council in March 2017, found patterns of gross human rights violations and abuses committed in Kachin, Rakhine and Shan States that “undoubtedly amount to the gravest crimes under international law”, principally by Myanmar’s military, the Tatmadaw, but also by other security forces.
On 20 March 2019 Senators Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Todd Young (R-Ind.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) sent a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin asking for clarification of the Trump administration’s policy on sanctioning the perpetrators of atrocities committed against the Rohingya people during the 2017 security operations by Burmese military forces. Acknowledging the decision by the administration to already sanction five officials, the senators point out that additional targeted sanctions against the senior-most ranks of the Burmese military, including Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing, is needed to send a strong message to Burmese officials most responsible for the violence.
The United States is the first government to publicly announce sanctions against the Myanmar military commander in chief Min Aung Hlaing and other senior army officials and their families, who it said were responsible for extra judicial killing of Rohingya and on reports based on credible information of these commanders involvement in gross violation of human rights.
He was banned from travel to the United States and also banned from Twitter and Facebook in 2019. Accused by the United Nations of, among other things, genocide for the Rohingya campaign, had his @sgminaunghlaing account taken offline in May 2019, nine months after his Facebook account was shuttered for hate speech against the ethnic minority. The move came after Tun Khin, president of the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK, raised complaints about hate speech from military accounts with Twitter executives in California.
On 10 December 2019, on International Human Rights Day, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) took action against 18 individuals located in Burma, Pakistan, Libya, Slovakia, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and South Sudan for their roles in serious human rights abuse.
Elements of the Burmese military have committed serious human rights abuse against members of ethnic minority groups across Burma, including those in the northern Rakhine, Kachin and Shan States, among others. Such abuses and the continuing impunity must stop for Burma to transition to a more secure, stable, democratic, peaceful and prosperous nation. Burma’s military must address the climate of impunity and cease abuses and violations of universally accepted human rights. The United States prioritizes the protection of fundamental freedoms and human rights as a key part of our vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific, recognizing them as integral to U.S. foreign policy and national security interests and in line with U.S. values. Such human rights abuse undermines the ability to realize the vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific that we share with ASEAN and other Indo-Pacific partners.
Min Aung Hlaing was designated for his role as the Commander-in-Chief of the Burmese military forces, an entity that has engaged in or whose members have engaged in serious human rights abuse under his command. Min Aung Hlaing’s military forces were responsible for the brutal security operation that began in August 2017 in Rakhine State and ultimately caused more than 500,000 people to flee to Bangladesh. During this time, members of ethnic minority groups were killed or injured by gunshot, often while fleeing, or by soldiers using large-bladed weapons; others were burned to death in their own houses. There are credible claims of mass-scale rape and other forms of sexual violence committed by soldiers under Min Aung Hlaing’s command.
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) welcomed the Department of Treasury’s designation of senior Burmese military officials for sanctions under Executive Order 13818 and the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, due to their individual roles in mass atrocities in Rakhine, Kachin, and Shan states. Designated individuals include Min Aung Hlaing, the Commander-in-Chief of the Burmese military. “We applaud the Department of Treasury for sanctioning Burmese military leaders on International Human Rights Day for atrocities that USCIRF believes constitute crimes against humanity and genocide. Under their command, Burmese military forces committed egregious acts of violence – including extrajudicial killings, rape, and forced disappearances – and displaced millions from their homeland,” stated USCIRF Commissioner Anurima Bhargava.
Min Aung Hlaing was at the top of the list of six Myanmar generals recommended by a U.N. fact-finding team for referral to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for prosecution on genocide-related charges over the scorched-earth military campaign that forced more than 740,000 stateless Rohingya to flee into Bangladesh.
On 18 January 2020 Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Myanmar Commander-in-Chief of Defense Services Min Aung Hlaing, saying that the development of bilateral ties depends on cooperation of the two peoples from all walks of life, as well as the military-to-military exchanges. Xi said this visit is the first state visit to Myanmar by a Chinese president after an interval of 19 years and also his first overseas trip this year, which shows the high level of the current bilateral ties. China, Xi said, has always adhered to non-interference in other countries' internal affairs, respecting the development path chosen independently by the people of various countries. China will continue to speak out for justice for Myanmar in the international arena, Xi added.
Min Aung Hlaing vs Aung San Suu Kyi
In August 2020, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing said the government's National Reconciliation and Peace Center (NRPC), which runs the peace negotiations and is chaired by Aung San Suu Kyi, had been ineffective and has failed to include members of the military negotiating team. The military wants to strengthen trust by ending the fighting and moving on to peace talks with the various armed ethnic organizations, he said in a rare interview with the Russian magazine Politic, which was reprinted in the Myanmar military journal Myawaddyk. “However, we feel frustrated with the results of the peace process, discussions, and negotiations,” Min Aung Hlaing said. He noted that the Myanmar military implemented a nine-month unilateral truce from Dec 2018 to Sept. 2019, but asserted that ethnic armies had strengthened their power, expanded territory under their control, and imposed burdens on civilians.
Despite the state counselor’s defense of the military over the genocide allegations, tensions between Aung San Suu Kyi and Min Aung Hlaing only intensified since 2018. On 02 November 2020, six days before the nationwide vote, a statement issued by Min Aung Hlaing highlighted public complaints of “weakness and deficiencies” in poll management, warning they could hurt the “image of the election.” Min Aung Hlaing did not mention national leader Aung San Suu Kyi by name or threaten to withhold recognition of the election results. But observers saw it as a worrying intrusion into politics by the military.
On January 12, 2021 local time, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Myanmar's Commander-in-Chief of Defense Services Min Aung Hlaing in Nay Pyi Taw. Wang Yi said, "China appreciates that the Myanmar military takes national revitalization as its mission, thinks about the future development of its country from a long-term perspective, makes commitment to the traditional friendship between China and Myanmar and promotes the "Paukphaw" (fraternal) friendship between the two countries.... China will continue to back Myanmar in safeguarding its sovereignty, national dignity and legitimate rights and interests, supporting the country in pursuing a development path suited to its own national conditions and the Myanmar military in playing a due role in and making positive contributions to the process of the country's transformation and development. He believes that Myanmar will continue to give China staunch support on issues involving China's core interests and the two countries will be bound to continuously deepen their "Paukphaw" friendship."
Min Aung Hlaing said, "Myanmar is very pleased to witness China's rising international status and influence, and will remain dedicated to deepening the Myanmar-China friendship and enhancing its all-round cooperation with China, and continuously support China's stance on issues related to Taiwan, Hong Kong and Xinjiang."
Matters came to a head after the government-appointed election commission rejected military claims of massive vote fraud in November 2020 elections that saw the military’s proxy party slump to a humiliating defeat. On 27 January 2021 Senior General Min Aung Hlaing said “the constitution shall be abolished, if not followed” and cited military coups in 1962 and 1988, during a video speech to military personnel at the Defense Services Academy, raising public concern about the possibility of an army revolt over claims that the November 2020 election was fraudulent. Min Aung Hlaing cited examples of when the country’s constitution was abolished in the past. A military dictatorship under General Ne Win abolished the 1947 constitution during the reign of the Union Revolutionary Council, and another military regime abolished the 1974 constitution after a coup d’état in 1988.
In the days before the military’s power-grab, Min Aung Hlaing had issued veiled threats of a coup, but he still caught the country and the international community by surprise on Feb. 1 when a new parliament was due to convene. With his coup, he upended a decade of democratic reform and deepened the pariah status of the armed forces he commands. With Min Aung Hlaing’s rise to power, the hardline faction within the military put an end – for now – to Myanmar’s fragile democratic process. And for those who may have been looking forward to the military chief's retirement, they will have to wait a little longer.
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