“We denounce the barbaric oppression of Myanmar’s military junta and police forces”

Jeju 4·3 Peace Foundation stands in solidarity with democratic movements at home and abroad

 

The Jeju 4·3 Peace Foundation urged Myanmar’s military junta on March 8 to cease its barbaric oppression actions against its citizens’ peaceful protest in opposition to the Feb. 1 coup.

The Foundation demanded for the immediate release of detained democratic figures, including Aung San Suu Kyi, state counsellor of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, and announced that it strongly supports the struggles of the people of Myanmar for peace and democracy.

This statement was announced following the Foundation’s board of directors unanimously approving the resolution on March 5, which said, “The scenes of the peaceful resistance of young Myanmar citizens who fell under the firing of constabulary forces, armed with tanks, remind us of the 1947 police shooting of innocent civilians at Gwandeokjeong Square in Jeju and the 1980 brutal military crackdown that turned Gwangju into a city of bloodshed.”

The statement also condemned the treatment of 19-year-old taekwondo instructor Kyal Sin.

“What infuriates us more is that the police authorities allegedly attempted to manipulate the truth by exhuming the body of Kyal Sin, a 19-year-old taekwondo instructor who was shot to death by the police during the protest.”

The statement continued: “The democratic government of Myanmar won the November 2020 general election with a majority vote but was overturned by the military coup. Then the military junta killed dozens of citizens and confined thousands more during its armed suppression of the people’s legitimate resistance against the coup for over a month. This is truly outrageous.”

In the statement, the Foundation said “the suppression by force of arms and the resulting bloodshed by the military junta, terrified of the people’s resistance, is not only a challenge to the people of Myanmar but also to all of humanity who root for democracy and peace.”

The statement ended with the Foundation’s commitment to the people’s struggle, which they said would grow into “a persistent condemnation campaign in solidarity with democratic groups at home and abroad” if the Myanmar constabulary forces continue to kill civilians.

March 8, 2021

Director Yang Jo Hoon and the board of directors of the Jeju 4·3 Peace Foundation