Speaker 1: Hey everyone, I'm Robert Evans and this is Me and
Speaker 1: Mar printing the Revolutions It could happen here special mini series,
Speaker 1: an in depth documentary investigation with me and journalist James Stout.
Speaker 1: Over the next four days, you're going to learn about
Speaker 1: the gin Z militias of the Me and Mar Civil War,
Speaker 1: three D printed weapons, and a bunch of other really
Speaker 1: fascinating stuff. Besides, So, without any further ado, here's James.
Speaker 2: Ever since the first person built the first fence, took
Speaker 2: land from everybody and annex it to themselves, property rights
Speaker 2: and violence have gone hand in hand. With property grew
Speaker 2: the state, and with a state came the police. Today,
Speaker 2: most of us grew up under the control of states,
Speaker 2: and they're so ubiquitous that their violence is often overlooked
Speaker 2: until a particularly egregious incident occurs. But all states, even
Speaker 2: the most benign, rest on a monopoly on violence. Stay
Speaker 2: it to the entity that imposed laws on a given area,
Speaker 2: and if you break those laws, the state can beat
Speaker 2: you up, lock you up, or shoot you up. When
Speaker 2: the state loses the monopoly on violence, it ceases to
Speaker 2: be able to enforce its laws, charge its taxes, and
Speaker 2: enforce its will on the people it rules. We've seen
Speaker 2: this all over the world, from the Democratic Republic of
Speaker 2: Congo took briefly downtown Seattle. Our state in the USA
Speaker 2: speaks a language of rights and liberties. When we want
Speaker 2: to appeal to the state, we tend to use that language.
Speaker 2: Even though our state, as we saw in twenty twenty's
Speaker 2: backed by plenty of violence as much as any other,
Speaker 2: it goes a long way to camouflage that violence. Some states,
Speaker 2: for a bit more mask off. They speak to their
Speaker 2: citizens more or less exclusively through violence, and when citizens
Speaker 2: need to respond to that state, they respond to the
Speaker 2: language it uses to speak to them. That's how a
Speaker 2: teenager from Yangon miel Maar ended up on Reddit in
Speaker 2: summer of twenty twenty one asking strangers how to use
Speaker 2: a three D printer and computer to make a rifle.
Speaker 2: Me and Ma isn't a country that is on the
Speaker 2: radar for most of the US. If it is at all,
Speaker 2: it's probably because the State councilor and Foreign Minister ensign Succi.
Speaker 2: She managed perhaps the history's fastest pivot from Nobel Peace
Speaker 2: Prize winner to head of a government accused of genocide.
Speaker 2: But Tsuki is in jail now and the Rohingia, the
Speaker 2: Muslim ethnic group that the military attempted to eliminate from
Speaker 2: the east of the country under her rule, are just
Speaker 2: one of many ethnic and political groups. They're in open
Speaker 2: armed conflict with the military, who now hold control of
Speaker 2: the government of me and mar known locally as a
Speaker 2: tatmodor the military sees power. In early twenty twenty one,
Speaker 2: you might have seen a video of a woman doing
Speaker 2: an aerobics workout as the vehicles rolled in behind her
Speaker 2: to seize power. Ever since that day they've been committing
Speaker 2: crimes against humanity all over the country. Me and Marh
Speaker 2: has a longer history of dictatorship than democracy. The British
Speaker 2: East India Company occupied the area that now represents the
Speaker 2: country in the nineteenth century. As always, they talked about
Speaker 2: civiling missions and freedoms, but in practice the occupation was
Speaker 2: extractive and only benefited the Anglo Burmese and a few
Speaker 2: Indian civil servants they brought with them often. But this
Speaker 2: month led to resistance that manifested itself in hunger strikes
Speaker 2: and everyday acts of disobedience, small ways of saying no.
Speaker 2: In a few instances, it became open and unbrest build
Speaker 2: into the streets. The country became a major battleground during
Speaker 2: the Second World War, with Japan evading and seizing the
Speaker 2: country before Allied forces took it back in a fierce
Speaker 2: campaign in nineteen forty four. As many as one hundred
Speaker 2: and fifty thousand Japanese troops died. Burmese people fought on
Speaker 2: both sides. Ag San Agsang Suchi's father demanded that Britain
Speaker 2: grant him and his fellow Burmese people independence if they
Speaker 2: fought for the Allies. The British refused. Nstan then went
Speaker 2: first to China and eventually Japan for support, and eventually
Speaker 2: he fought against the British with his Burmer Independence Army.
Speaker 2: But after two years of occupation, Agstan and his comrade
Speaker 2: to change sides broad alliance called the Anti Fascist Organization.
Speaker 2: They turned on the Japanese and they once again took
Speaker 2: up arms to liberate their country. On the fourth of
Speaker 2: January nineteen forty seven, Burma became an independent republic. The
Speaker 2: new republic's territory combined three British territories and over one
Speaker 2: hundred distinct ethnic groups. For the next fourteen years, these
Speaker 2: groups struggled to find a democratic Burma and an identity
Speaker 2: for themselves within it. Mostly they failed. The period was
Speaker 2: characterized by the Chinese Civil War, spilling it to Burma,
Speaker 2: ethnic armed insurgencies and repeated demands for a federal republic
Speaker 2: with a weak central government. In nineteen sixty two, the
Speaker 2: military a rate at new demands for a federal republic
Speaker 2: stage to coup. Burmer spent the next twenty two years
Speaker 2: under the military rule of a council, pursuing what they
Speaker 2: called the Burmese Way to socialism. Burmer's planned economy left
Speaker 2: it largely isolated from the rest of the world. At home,
Speaker 2: the press was censored, and a type of nationalism that
Speaker 2: combined nominal socialism and Burman ethnic identity became the official
Speaker 2: state ideology. During this period, Burma became one of the
Speaker 2: world's poorest countries. Sporadic protests were met with overwhelming force,
Speaker 2: and the eighth of August nineteen eighty eight, an uprising began.
Speaker 2: It started among his students in Yangon, but it took
Speaker 2: realt quickly around the country. The so called eight eight
Speaker 2: eight eight Uprising because of the date, began with a
Speaker 2: general strike and huge non violent protests. These were met
Speaker 2: with gunfire. Protesters fought back with molotov cocktails and rocks.
Speaker 2: The military fired into hospitals, and by September eighteenth, they'd
Speaker 2: launched a coup to take the country from a one
Speaker 2: party state back to a military dictatorship. It was thuring
Speaker 2: these protests Angsan Suki, the daughter of Independence. Here at
Speaker 2: Angsan emerged as a national figurehead, especially in the west.
Speaker 2: Amitov Ghusch, the Indian writer, wrote the following about eight
Speaker 2: eight eight eight across Burma, people poured out in thousands
Speaker 2: to join the protests, not just students, but also teachers, monks, children,
Speaker 2: professionals and trade unionists of every shade. It was on
Speaker 2: this day too, that the Hunter made its first determined
Speaker 2: attempt at repression. Soldiers opened fire on the demonstrators and
Speaker 2: hundreds of unarmed marchers were killed. The killings continued for
Speaker 2: a week, but still the demonstrators continued to flood the streets.
Speaker 2: After the uprising had been suppressed, multi party elections were
Speaker 2: later held, while the new National League for Democracy party
Speaker 2: of Ansong su Qi won the most votes. The Hunter
Speaker 2: refused to seed power. Protests continued off and on for
Speaker 2: decades with the two thousand and seven Saffron Revolution, in
Speaker 2: which the government violently cracked down on monks, resulting in
Speaker 2: the most international condemnation. Following the Saffron Revolution, the government's
Speaker 2: isolationism hindering aid After extensive cyclone damage in two thousand
Speaker 2: and eight, the military government finally implemented the roadmap to
Speaker 2: discipline flourishing democracy that had developed in nineteen ninety three.
Speaker 2: If you're wondering about the name of the country, this
Speaker 2: officially changed in nineteen eighty nine as well. I Like
Speaker 2: much of the nation's history, a grand proclamation from the
Speaker 2: government didn't mean much on the ground. Both words derived
Speaker 2: from Buranma, a name that the majority ethnic group who
Speaker 2: we're calling Berman here used for themselves. Many opposition groups
Speaker 2: still use Burma instead of Meemma. It's another small way
Speaker 2: of saying no to the military's attempt to control every
Speaker 2: aspect of their lives.
Speaker 3: Finally, on the eighteenth of September, the army took to
Speaker 3: the streets and the coup, led by their Chief of Staff,
Speaker 3: General Saumon the next day, the killings began again. The
Speaker 3: army later described these people as looters.
Speaker 1: It was not until twenty eleven that the military junta
Speaker 1: finally stepped down and passed on power to the Union's
Speaker 1: Solidarity and Development Party in an election that was widely
Speaker 1: seen as fraudulent. A year later, Ong San sou Chi
Speaker 1: was released, and by twenty fifteen her National League for
Speaker 1: Democracy won an absolute majority. While she was barred from
Speaker 1: holding the presidential office, she took on the role of
Speaker 1: State councilor, and Mianmar entered a period of liberalization, which,
Speaker 1: although never the federal democracy promised when the country gained
Speaker 1: its independence in nineteen forty seven, allowed for significant freedoms
Speaker 1: of communication and speech, especially for the Burman majority ethnic group.
Speaker 1: Not everyone was reconciled to the change. Many of Myanmars
Speaker 1: one hundred and thirty five ethnic groups feel marginalized by
Speaker 1: the state, which tends to be dominated by the Burman ethnicity.
Speaker 1: Some of these groups have armed insurgeent wings, often more
Speaker 1: than one per ethnic group, as they disagree on politics
Speaker 1: or religion. These groups have fought various Burmese governments since
Speaker 1: the nineteen forties, but many of them reached a ceasefire
Speaker 1: with the government as the country passed from military to
Speaker 1: civilian rule. One group however, saw a huge uptick in violence.
Speaker 1: The Rohinga ethnic group have been persecuted by Buddhist nationals
Speaker 1: since the nineteen seventies, but the campaign against them increased
Speaker 1: in violence and scale in twenty sixteen, when the Tatmdaw
Speaker 1: began a huge crackdown against Rohinga people in Rakin's State.
Speaker 1: The persecution began in response to attacks by the Arkan
Speaker 1: Rohinga Salvation Army on Burmese border outposts, but the campaign
Speaker 1: that followed had nothing to do with the small insurgent
Speaker 1: group and a lot to do with the desire of
Speaker 1: the Toatmadaw to destroy or drive out all Rohinga people,
Speaker 1: who they claim are undocumented migrants from Bangladesh and not
Speaker 1: citizens of Myanmar. While the world praised Suki, her government
Speaker 1: looked the other way as the military carried out a
Speaker 1: genocide that displaced over a million people and killed tens
Speaker 1: of thousands. It was in the context of growing international
Speaker 1: condemnation of the j Aside that Mianmar went to the
Speaker 1: polls in November of twenty twenty. The November twenty twenty
Speaker 1: election was only the nation's second since the official end
Speaker 1: of military rule on Sansu Chi's National League for Democracy
Speaker 1: won a resounding victory. The military backed Union Solidarity and
Speaker 1: Development Party holds twenty five percent of seats under a
Speaker 1: constitution that SUCHI wanted to change. It didn't take defeat well.
Speaker 1: The election was neither perfectly free nor fair. The Rohinga
Speaker 1: have been almost wholly disenfranchised. The government claims they are
Speaker 1: illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and thus unable to vote. Areas
Speaker 1: with ethnic armed organizations which opposed the government often had
Speaker 1: poles canceled and internet cut off. According to Human Rights Watch.
Speaker 1: The Carter Center estimates that one point four million citizens
Speaker 1: couldn't vote. The one opposition party that was certainly not
Speaker 1: shortchanged was the military's. However, it was the Union Solidarity
Speaker 1: and Development Party USDP, which had been calling for election
Speaker 1: delays due to COVID before poles opened. Once the elections
Speaker 1: concl luted, they immediately began questioning the results. They continued
Speaker 1: to attempt to undermine the vote for months before they
Speaker 1: resorted to force on the first to February twenty twenty one,
Speaker 1: the day before the newly elected legislators were due to
Speaker 1: be sworn in, the world largely ignored the situation. Apart
Speaker 1: from the one viral video where a masked fitness instructor
Speaker 1: dances in the foreground as APCs roll through a roadblock
Speaker 1: and into the parliament complex behind her. Ensangsuchi was arrested,
Speaker 1: charged with breaching COVID nineteen restrictions and illegally importing a
Speaker 1: walkie talkie, and General min Ang Hlang was installed at
Speaker 1: the head of a military junta. If this sounds a
Speaker 1: little like a stop to Steel fantasy, that's because it
Speaker 1: is eerily similar to one. Myanmar's democracy is not what
Speaker 1: academics call a consolidated one, which is to say that
Speaker 1: democracy has never been the only game in town there,
Speaker 1: but the United States seems to be rapidly deconsolidating its
Speaker 1: own democracy. The allegations of election fraud and mianmarb were
Speaker 1: no more credible than those in Arizona. However, the military's
Speaker 1: tradition of political engagement there removed many of the barriers
Speaker 1: in between electoral defeat and the death of a short
Speaker 1: lived democracy. Within twenty four hours of the coup, the
Speaker 1: people of Myanmar had fought back. Healthcare workers and civil
Speaker 1: servants were on strike by February third, and a boycott
Speaker 1: of junta owned businesses had begun. Protests began with a
Speaker 1: handful of people. The memories of massacres of pro democracy
Speaker 1: protesters in the nineteen eighties kept many away, but a
Speaker 1: younger generation who had grown up with relative liberty, internet
Speaker 1: access and basic freedoms had not seen blood in the
Speaker 1: streets like their parents. They had seen activists in Hong Kong,
Speaker 1: the USA, and Ukraine take on violent state apparatuses, and
Speaker 1: they'd often seen them win.
Speaker 2: By the sixth of February, twenty thousand people in the
Speaker 2: streets of Yangon, the largest city, and the Internet was
Speaker 2: shut down. Nationwide. Protests began peacefully with memorable signs like
Speaker 2: my ex is bad, but the military is worse, and
Speaker 2: we are protesting peacefully, but with the WAP capitalized, so
Speaker 2: it said whap. These signs were designed by a generation
Speaker 2: of kids who grew up with access to the Internet
Speaker 2: to attract international attention. Despite the ban. They used VPNs
Speaker 2: to show imaguy to their struggle. One sign read if
Speaker 2: messed with the wrong generation now will never be allowed
Speaker 2: to ruin our own lives. The Tatmador showed its cards
Speaker 2: pretty quickly. Police began the suppression with sling shots and clubs,
Speaker 2: then tear gas and flash brang and quickly they moved
Speaker 2: to rifles and rocket the pel grenades. By the ninth
Speaker 2: of February, Maathway thway Heine, a twenty year old woman,
Speaker 2: have been shot in the street. Soon those young protesters
Speaker 2: have switched science for shields by mid March and armed
Speaker 2: fort this day. One hundred and fortyen civilians were killed
Speaker 2: in a single day, including sixty five in Yangon who
Speaker 2: were kettled by police, surrounded and then shot Quickly, shield
Speaker 2: walls were set up, medics identified themselves in the protest movement,
Speaker 2: and hard hats and goggles were distributed, but this didn't
Speaker 2: tip the balance of power in their favor. So Orlin,
Speaker 2: a former student union leader, was there from the start.
Speaker 2: In a text message, he told me I did not
Speaker 2: miss a single day as a member of the Kaya
Speaker 2: State National Strike Committee. I later became more involved in
Speaker 2: anti authoritarian protests. In the early protests, to see him
Speaker 2: in photos walking at the front of the group carrying
Speaker 2: flags and banners with his student ID card on a
Speaker 2: lanyard around his neck. But by March he's wearing a
Speaker 2: black shirt, goggles and a hard construction hat. Meanwhile, the
Speaker 2: National League for Democracy politicians who had escaped attention joined
Speaker 2: other parties and set up a National Unity Government in April.
Speaker 2: The National Unity Government contained members of the National League
Speaker 2: for Democracy, but significantly, a Rahingio activist was appointed and
Speaker 2: advised in the Ministry of Human Rights and the National
Speaker 2: Unity Government has announced it would for the first time
Speaker 2: accept the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court with respect
Speaker 2: to all international crimes committed in Meh and Mah since
Speaker 2: two thousand and two. This would include the Rhinga genocide.
Speaker 2: By May, both the National Unity Government and Swollen had
Speaker 2: realized that no amount of nonviolent protests was going to
Speaker 2: dislodge regime. There was happy to gun down kids in
Speaker 2: the street, so on the fifth of May he left
Speaker 2: for the jungle. That same day, the National Unity Government
Speaker 2: announced the formation of the People's Defense Force or PDF.
Speaker 2: Within a month, eight hundred soldiers had affected to these
Speaker 2: pro democracy guerrilla units. Many bought their guns with them,
Speaker 2: but Twa didn't join the PDF. Instead, he joined one
Speaker 2: of me and R's many ethnic armed organizations groups opposed
Speaker 2: to a central state and its domination by the Burman ethnicity.
Speaker 2: To understand these groups you need to understand that MEMR
Speaker 2: is composed of dozens, not hundreds, of ethnic groups, but
Speaker 2: that the Burman, who make up about two thirds of
Speaker 2: the population, have always controlled the state and used it
Speaker 2: as a tool in furthering their interest. Some of these groups,
Speaker 2: like the Koran National Liberation Army and the Kachin Independence Army,
Speaker 2: have been fighting for decades since the country emerged from
Speaker 2: British colonial rule at the end of World War Two.
Speaker 2: All of these groups draw on a combination of ethnic
Speaker 2: and political grievances. Many of them administer semi autonomous territories,
Speaker 2: like the Koren State.
Speaker 1: In twenty thirteen, thirteen ethnic Armed Organizations or EAOs came
Speaker 1: together to form the Nationwide Ceasefire Coordinating Team in CCT
Speaker 1: and signed an eleven point Common Position of Ethnic Resistance
Speaker 1: Organizations on National Ceasefire, or the LEISA Agreement. Most of
Speaker 1: them seemed to agree that they would accept a federal
Speaker 1: system rather than complete autonomy. In twenty fifteen, a ceasefire
Speaker 1: was signed, but conflict between ethnic armed organizations and between
Speaker 1: EAOs and the government continued. Since the coup began, EO
Speaker 1: membership has skyrocketed, and in October the National Unity government
Speaker 1: announced alliances with several groups under a central chain of command.
Speaker 1: Some political organizations who played a part in the nineteen
Speaker 1: eighty eight uprising, like the Al Burma Students Democratic Front,
Speaker 1: have been revived as armed groups. The ABSDF recently attacked
Speaker 1: Tottmadaw ships using an RPG A tax on military bases
Speaker 1: have also stepped up. PDF units have ambushed and killed
Speaker 1: policemen and raided police and military outposts. Each time they do,
Speaker 1: they steal valuable weapons and ammunition. The top Madaw has
Speaker 1: responded with shellings and airstrikes against residential areas, executions, mass
Speaker 1: physical retribution, and the murdering of civilians and aid workers
Speaker 1: and burning of their bodies. As a result of all this,
Speaker 1: ethnic armed organizations have joined forces with anti authoritarian Burman
Speaker 1: people under the auspices of the People's Defense Forces, which
Speaker 1: are under the command of the exiled National Unity Government.
Speaker 4: We have never experienced such kind of brutalities from the
Speaker 4: military as well as as strong resistance from the people.
Speaker 4: They try to make sure the whole country submit to them,
Speaker 4: but we still refuse to allow them to be our rulers.
Speaker 5: This defiance has led to the formation of the People's
Speaker 5: Defense Forces or PDF, a coalition of thousands of resistance
Speaker 5: fighters were carrying out surprise attacks on hunter checkpoints, bombing
Speaker 5: army convoys, and supporting ethnic armies in their fight against
Speaker 5: the regime. Twelve months ago, these men and women were
Speaker 5: students and office workers protesting the coup. Today they're training
Speaker 5: to overthrow the military.
Speaker 4: The Innesoja is the tough choints, but the young people
Speaker 4: they are ready to defend the communities. They have to,
Speaker 4: of course, sacrifice their own daily life, ordinary life.
Speaker 1: Since March of twenty twenty, the influx of new recruits
Speaker 1: has changed these groups. Generation Z militias like the Carini
Speaker 1: gin Z Liberation Army have sprung up, founded by kids
Speaker 1: who were holding memeable signs at protests just a few
Speaker 1: months earlier. They care less about ethnic independence and more
Speaker 1: about beating the junta. Many Burman kids join these groups.
Speaker 1: These organizations of young fighters received training from the experienced
Speaker 1: guerrillas hiding in the jungle, but they tended to adopt
Speaker 1: a less top down military structure and armed themselves by
Speaker 1: scavenging whatever weapons they could find, often twenty two caliber
Speaker 1: rifles better suited to shooting squirrels than soldiers. It was
Speaker 1: these kids who grew up online and knew that there
Speaker 1: was nothing you couldn't learn about on Reddit who tipped
Speaker 1: the balance of force away from the state. Unlike the
Speaker 1: ethnic armed organizations and other more experienced guerrillas than me Anmar,
Speaker 1: these kids have little military experience. Their organizations have few
Speaker 1: rules and regulations. They're made up entirely of young people.
Speaker 1: As a result, there are certain things that they're less
Speaker 1: proficient at, but they're much better at things like grasping
Speaker 1: the use of new technologies, which has led to me
Speaker 1: Anmar being the first country in the world where three
Speaker 1: D printed weapons have taken part in a revolution against
Speaker 1: the government. We're going to hear more about that and
Speaker 1: many other things as this series continues. It Could Happen
Speaker 1: Here as a production of cool Zone Media.
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