Dictatorship in Burma
Than Shwe’s regime wants to control over all of Burma’s resources and people, and to destroy all resistance to military rule. Thousands of Democracy activists have been killed and jailed. Ethnic minorities are targeted in military campaigns jointly aimed at ethnic cleansing and securing military control over these areas’ natural resources.
The list of abuses, atrocities and crimes perpetrated by Than Shwe’s regime include:
- torture
- military rape
- mass killings
- forced labor
- 70,000 child soldiers
- landmines and free-fire zones
- forced relocation & displacement (over 3,200 villages destroyed)
- 1 million refugees, 1.5 million internally displaced in eastern Burma, & 2.4 million displaced by Cyclone Nargis
- 1,800 political prisoners (including Nobe Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi)
