London, 7 May 2021

Yesterday we lost a dear colleague in Berlin, Alex Flor, the co-founder of Watch Indonesia! and its leader until 2019, after a short but serious illness. 

TAPOL condemns the coup d’etat and violence against protestors by the Myanmar military, also known as the Tatmadaw. While we appreciate the work of the Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Myanmar on this crisis, we regret the inaction of many United Nations (UN) member states which for the most part have done little despite the deteriorating situation. 

There are historical parallels between the involvement of the militaries of Myanmar and Indonesia in politics. After overthrowing civilian governments within a three year period (1962 in Myanmar, 1965 in Indonesia), each military portrayed itself as the only force able to unify very diverse nations. In Myanmar and Indonesia this often meant putting down pro-independence movements in areas distant from the centres of power. After 1998, the Indonesian military continued to commit human rights abuses to enforce the inclusion of West Papua, Aceh and East Timor in Indonesia with campaigns continuing in West Papua. In Myanmar, the military has forcibly excluded and committed atrocities against the Rohingya, and until the signing of ceasefire accords, fought wars against other ethnic groups. When a transition to democracy came in Indonesia, the military clung on to its business interests because civilian politicians were unwilling to enact reform; the Tatmadaw has also profited from extensive business interests. Many officers in Indonesia continue to be involved in political parties. After electoral defeat in 2015 to the National League for Democracy (NLD), current coup leader Min Aung Hlaing focussed on securing continued military influence in state institutions.