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127-470: The Burma Socialist Programme Party ( BSPP ) was Burma 's ruling party from 1962 to 1988 and the sole legal party from 1964 to 1988. Party chairman Ne Win overthrew the country's democratically elected government in a coup d'état on 2 March 1962 . For the next 26 years , the BSPP governed Burma under a totalitarian military dictatorship , until mass protests in 1988 pressured party officials to adopt

254-588: A Chamber of Deputies and a Chamber of Nationalities , and multi-party elections were held in 1951–1952 , 1956 and 1960 . The geographical area Burma encompasses today can be traced to the Panglong Agreement , which combined Burma Proper, which consisted of Lower Burma and Upper Burma, and the Frontier Areas, which had been administered separately by the British. In 1961, U Thant ,

381-623: A multi-party system . The BSPP was established on 4 July 1962, after the declaration of the " Burmese Way to Socialism " (BWS) by the Union Revolutionary Council (URC) on 30 April 1962. The BWS set out the political and economic ideology of the URC which had taken over power in the military coup of 2 March 1962. The BSPP advocated a programme of the "Burmese Way to Socialism" which, according to Ne Win, incorporated elements of Buddhism , humanism , and Marxism . The programme

508-691: A socialist state and ruled by the Socialist Unity Party of Germany . It was closely aligned with communist Russia and the Soviet Union . It had secret police, commonly referred to as the Stasi , which made use of an extensive network of civilian informers. From the 1970's, the main form of political, cultural and religious repression practiced by the Stasi, was a form of 'silent repression' called Zersetzung ("Decomposition"). This involved

635-599: A long vowel: [ˈmjænmɑː, ˈbɜːmə] . So the pronunciation of the last syllable of Myanmar as [mɑːr] by some speakers in the UK and most speakers in North America is in fact a spelling pronunciation based on a misunderstanding of non-rhotic spelling conventions. However, Burma is pronounced [ˈbɜːrmə] by rhotic speakers of English due to a phonotactic constraint, as /ɜː/ occurs only before /r/ in those accents. Archaeological evidence shows that Homo erectus lived in

762-695: A network of informants known as the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (or CDR) to monitor government opponents. Secret state police have operated in secret among CDR groups, and most adult Cubans are officially members. CDR are tasked with informing on other Cubans and monitoring activity in their neighborhoods. During the Truman Doctrine , Mexican president Miguel Alemán Valdés created DFS to combat communist opposition. The agency

889-420: A network of provincial and local State Security Bureaus, integrated with local Public Security Bureaus which make up part of the policing system of China. State security agents are People's Police officers with the dual function of law enforcement and repressing political dissent. State security bureaus and public security bureaus are functionally co-located within the same buildings as each other. The MSS and

1016-694: A population of about 55 million. It is bordered by India to its west, Bangladesh to its southwest, China to its northeast, Laos and Thailand to its east and southeast, and the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal to its south and southwest. The country's capital city is Naypyidaw , and its largest city is Yangon (formerly Rangoon). Early civilisations in the area included the Tibeto-Burman -speaking Pyu city-states in Upper Myanmar and

1143-695: A prosperous economy for more than 80 years. From the 1720s onward, the kingdom was beset with repeated Meithei raids into Upper Myanmar and a nagging rebellion in Lan Na. In 1740, the Mon of Lower Myanmar founded the Restored Hanthawaddy Kingdom . Hanthawaddy forces sacked Ava in 1752, ending the 266-year-old Toungoo Dynasty. After the fall of Ava, the Konbaung–Hanthawaddy War involved one resistance group under Alaungpaya defeating

1270-675: A provisional member could apply to become a full-fledged member of the BSPP. Although the BSPP was anti-communist and neutral in Cold War politics, the student wings of BSPP were based on the model of the Young Communist Leagues of Eastern Bloc countries, particularly the Soviet Union's Komsomol . In November 1977 a purge of the BSPP including those on the Central Committee took place. This schism in

1397-661: A relaxation of press censorship, and the regulation of currency practices. In response, United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Myanmar in December 2011 – the first visit by a US Secretary of State in more than fifty years – meeting both President Thein Sein and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Secret police Egypt is home to Africa's and the Middle East's first internal security service: The State Security Investigations Service . Initially it

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1524-482: A secret police agency which acted extra-judicially and was involved in such activities as kidnapping a presidential candidate and the assassination of Park Chung-hee , among other things. In Taiwan, the National Security Bureau , established in 1954, is the regime's main intelligence agency. The Taiwan Garrison Command acted as a secret police/national security body which existed as a branch of

1651-485: A smaller, more manageable kingdom, encompassing Lower Myanmar , Upper Myanmar , Shan states , Lan Na and upper Tenasserim . The restored Toungoo kings created a legal and political framework whose basic features continued well into the 19th century. The crown completely replaced the hereditary chieftainships with appointed governorships in the entire Irrawaddy valley and greatly reduced the hereditary rights of Shan chiefs. Its trade and secular administrative reforms built

1778-468: A stalemate, exchanging Tenasserim (to Burma) and Lan Na (to Ayutthaya). Faced with a powerful China and a resurgent Ayutthaya in the east, King Bodawpaya turned west, acquiring Arakan (1785), Manipur (1814) and Assam (1817). It was the second-largest empire in Burmese history but also one with a long ill-defined border with British India . In 1826, Burma lost Arakan, Manipur , Assam and Tenasserim to

1905-644: A unified state. Aung Zan Wai , Pe Khin, Bo Hmu Aung , Sir Maung Gyi, Sein Mya Maung, Myoma U Than Kywe were among the negotiators of the historic Panglong Conference negotiated with Bamar leader General Aung San and other ethnic leaders in 1947. In 1947, Aung San became Deputy Chairman of the Executive Council of Myanmar, a transitional government. But in July 1947, political rivals assassinated Aung San and several cabinet members. On 4 January 1948,

2032-468: Is "Republic of the Union of Myanmar" ( Burmese : ပြည်ထောင်စုသမ္မတ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော် , Pyihtaungsu Thamada Myanma Naingngantaw , pronounced [pjìdàʊɴzṵ θàɴməda̰ mjəmà nàɪɴŋàɴdɔ̀] ). Countries that do not officially recognise that name use the long form "Union of Burma" instead. In English, the country is popularly known as either Burma or Myanmar . In Burmese, the pronunciation depends on

2159-629: Is not a member of the Commonwealth of Nations despite once being part of the British Empire . Myanmar is a Dialogue Partner of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization . The country is very rich in natural resources , such as jade , gems , oil , natural gas , teak and other minerals , as well as also endowed with renewable energy , having the highest solar power potential compared to other countries of

2286-463: Is standard. Pronunciations with two syllables are found most often in major British and American dictionaries. Dictionaries—such as Collins —and other sources also report pronunciations with three syllables. As John Wells explains, the English spellings of both Myanmar and Burma assume a non-rhotic variety of English , in which the letter r before a consonant or finally serves merely to indicate

2413-693: Is tending in that direction. They are dabbling in sex life scandles [sic] and plain blackmail when they should be catching criminals. They also have a habit of sneering at local law enforcement officers. Yet in spite of these sentiments, Truman took no action to try to abolish the FBI, or even more modest reforms. Beginning a decade later in 1956, Hoover's FBI began the COINTELPRO project, aimed at suppressing domestic political opponents. Among other targets, this included Martin Luther King Jr. During

2540-497: The 8888 Uprising then resulted in a nominal transition to a multi-party system two years later, but the country's post-uprising military council refused to cede power, and has continued to rule the country through to the present. The country remains riven by ethnic strife among its myriad ethnic groups and has one of the world's longest-running ongoing civil wars . The United Nations and several other organisations have reported consistent and systemic human rights violations in

2667-536: The Ayutthaya Kingdom , Lan Xang and southern Arakan. However, the largest empire in the history of Southeast Asia unravelled soon after Bayinnaung's death in 1581, completely collapsing by 1599. Ayutthaya seized Tenasserim and Lan Na, and Portuguese mercenaries established Portuguese rule at Thanlyin (Syriam). The dynasty regrouped and defeated the Portuguese in 1613 and Siam in 1614. It restored

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2794-571: The Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP). During this period, Myanmar became one of the world's most impoverished countries. There were sporadic protests against military rule during the Ne Win years, and these were almost always violently suppressed. On 7 July 1962, the government broke up demonstrations at Rangoon University , killing 15 students. In 1974, the military violently suppressed anti-government protests at

2921-688: The Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) was the secret police of President Robert Mugabe who is responsible for detaining, torturing, mass beating, raping and starving thousands of civilians on the orders of Mugabe. In East Asia , the Embroidered Uniform Guard ( Chinese : 錦衣衞 ; pinyin : Jǐnyīwèi ) of the Ming dynasty was founded in the 1360s by the Hongwu Emperor and served as

3048-725: The Communist Party of Cuba , the Ministry of the Interior has served a number of secret policing functions. As recently as 1999, the Human Rights Watch reported that repression of dissidents was routine, albeit harsher after heightened periods of opposition activity. The Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor under the US State Department reported that Cuba's Ministry of the Interior utilizes

3175-566: The Geheime Staatspolizei (Secret State Police, Gestapo ) and Geheime Feldpolizei (Secret Field Police, GFP) were a secret police organization used to identify and eliminate opposition, including suspected organized resistance. Its claimed main duty, according to a 1936 law, was "to investigate and suppress all anti-State tendencies". One method used to spy on citizens was to intercept letters or telephone calls. They encouraged ordinary Germans to inform on each other. As part of

3302-788: The Getúlio Vargas dictatorship , between 1930 and 1946, the Department of Political and Social Order (DOPS) was the government's secret police. During the military dictatorship in Brazil , DOPS was employed by the military regime along with the Department of Information Operations - Center for Internal Defense Operations (or DOI-CODI) and the National Intelligence Service (or SNI), and engaged in kidnappings, torture, and attacks against theaters and bookstores. The National Intelligence Directorate , or DINA,

3429-462: The Han Chinese , Wa , and Kachin . During 8–12 August, the first days of the conflict, as many as 10,000 Burmese civilians fled to Yunnan in neighbouring China. Civil wars have been a constant feature of Myanmar's socio-political landscape since the attainment of independence in 1948. These wars are predominantly struggles for ethnic and sub-national autonomy, with the areas surrounding

3556-707: The Imperial Japanese Navy known as the Tokkeitai . However, their civilian counterpart known as the Tokkō was formed in 1911. Its task consisted of controlling political groups and ideologies in Imperial Japan , resembling closer the other secret police agencies of the time period. For this it earned the nickname "the Thought Police". The Korean Central Intelligence Agency or KCIA was

3683-1058: The Italian Social Republic (RSI), OVRA were a fascist Italian secret police organization. Ivan the Terrible implemented Oprichnina in Russia between 1565 and 1572. In the Russian Empire , the secret police forces were the Third Section of the Imperial Chancery and then the Okhrana . Agents of the Okhrana were vital in identifying and suppressing opponents of the Tsar. The Okhrana engaged in torture and infiltration of opponents. They infiltrated labor unions, political parties, and newspapers. After

3810-811: The Middle East , located in Baghdad. Shurta was one of the most both powerful intelligence and secret police organizations of the Abbasid era which was led by the Abbasids in the 8th and 9th centuries during the Golden Age of Islam . In Japan, the Kenpeitai existed from 1881 to 1945 and were described as secret police by the Australian War Memorial . It had an equivalent branch in

3937-707: The Ministry of Public Security control the overall national police network of China and the two agencies share resources and closely coordinate with each other. In British Hong Kong , the Special Branch was established in 1934 originally as an anti-communist squad under MI5 with assistance from MI6 . The branch later joined the Crime Department of the Royal Hong Kong Police Force in 1946 and focused on preventing pro-KMT rightists and pro-CCP leftists from infiltrating

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4064-679: The Mon kingdoms in Lower Myanmar . In the 9th century, the Bamar people entered the upper Irrawaddy valley, and following the establishment of the Pagan Kingdom in the 1050s, the Burmese language , culture , and Theravada Buddhism slowly became dominant in the country. The Pagan Kingdom fell to Mongol invasions , and several warring states emerged. In the 16th century, reunified by

4191-650: The Pioneer Youth ( ရှေ့ဆောင်လူငယ် , Sheihsaung Lu-nge ) for middle and high school students (10 to 15 years old), and the Programme Youth ( လမ်းစဉ်လူငယ် , Lansin Lu-nge ) for college or university students and youths (16 to 25 years old). Upon reaching the age of 18 years old, members of the Programme Youth could apply to become provisional members of the BSPP. At the age of 21 years old,

4318-705: The Reich Security Main Office , it was also a key organizer of the Holocaust . Although the Gestapo had a relatively small number of personnel (32,000 in 1944), "it maximized these small resources through informants and a large number of denunciations from the local population". After the defeat of the Nazis in World War II , Germany was split into West and East Germany . East Germany became

4445-521: The Rohingya Muslims and the government and non-government groups in Rakhine State ; and a conflict between the Shan , Lahu , and Karen minority groups, and the government in the eastern half of the country. In addition, al-Qaeda signalled an intention to become involved in Myanmar. Armed conflict between ethnic Chinese rebels and the Myanmar Armed Forces resulted in the Kokang offensive in February 2015. The conflict had forced 40,000 to 50,000 civilians to flee their homes and seek shelter on

4572-476: The Rohingya conflict , continued to be a source of international tension and consternation. Following the 2020 Myanmar general election , in which Aung San Suu Kyi’s party won a clear majority in both houses, the Burmese military (Tatmadaw) again seized power in a coup d'état . The coup, which was widely condemned by the international community , led to continuous ongoing widespread protests in Myanmar and has been marked by violent political repression by

4699-399: The Russian Revolution , the Soviet Union established the Cheka , OGPU , NKVD , NKGB , and MVD . Cheka, as an authorized secret police force under the rule of the Bolsheviks, suppressed political opponents during the Red Terror . It also enacted counterintelligence operations such as Operation Trust , in which it set up a fake anti-Bolshevik organization to identify opponents. It was

4826-467: The State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC or na wa ta ), led by the army Chief of Staff General Saw Maung (d. July 1997) took over after crushing the failed 8888 Uprising of 8 August 1988. The party changed its name to the National Unity Party (NUP) on 24 September 1988. The NUP contested the 1990 general election and was seen as a proxy party of the military and the main rival to Aung San Suu Kyi 's National League for Democracy . The NUP

4953-415: The State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC). In 1989, SLORC declared martial law after widespread protests. The military government finalised plans for People's Assembly elections on 31 May 1989. SLORC changed the country's official English name from the "Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma" to the "Union of Myanmar" on 18 June 1989 by enacting the adaptation of the expression law. In May 1990,

5080-420: The Taungoo dynasty , the country became the largest empire in the history of Southeast Asia for a short period. The early 19th-century Konbaung dynasty ruled over an area that included modern Myanmar and briefly controlled Assam , the Lushai Hills , and Manipur as well. The British East India Company seized control of the administration of Myanmar after three Anglo-Burmese Wars in the 19th century, and

5207-468: The economy is controlled by cronies of the military junta . Myanmar is one of the least developed countries ; as of 2020, according to the Human Development Index , it ranks 147 out of 189 countries in terms of human development , the lowest in Southeast Asia . Since 2021, more than 600,000 people were displaced across Myanmar due to the surge in violence post-coup, with more than 3 million people in dire need of humanitarian assistance. The name of

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5334-447: The military government officially changed the English translations of many names dating back to Burma's colonial period or earlier, including that of the country itself: Burma became Myanmar . The renaming remains a contested issue. Many political and ethnic opposition groups and countries continue to use Burma because they do not recognise the legitimacy or authority of the military government. The country's official full name

5461-543: The nationalized industries and businesses as well as civil administrators were compelled to undergo a three-month political indoctrination and basic military training at the Hpaunggyi Central People's Services Training School , accommodated in military barracks, starting in the early 1970s. The phrase "socialist consciousness" ( ဆိုရှယ်လစ်အသိ , hsoshalit athi ) became a pun for socialist friend or connection that one must have to get anything or anywhere. The Military Intelligence Service (MIS) and its army of informers served

5588-554: The register used and is either Bama ( pronounced [bəmà] ) or Myamah ( pronounced [mjəmà] ). Official United States foreign policy retains Burma as the country's name although the State Department 's website lists the country as Burma (Myanmar) . The United Nations uses Myanmar , as does the ASEAN and as do Australia , Russia , Germany , China , India , Bangladesh , Norway , Japan , Switzerland , Canada and Ukraine . Most English-speaking international news media refer to

5715-419: The rule of law . People apprehended by the secret police are often arbitrarily arrested and detained without due process. While in detention, arrestees may be tortured or subjected to inhumane treatment. Suspects may not receive a public trial , and instead may be convicted in a kangaroo court -style show trial , or by a secret tribunal. Secret police known to have used these approaches in history included

5842-431: The 1947 Constitution, successive military governments construed the use of the term ' federalism ' as being anti-national, anti-unity and pro-disintegration. On 2 March 1962, the military led by General Ne Win took control of Burma through a coup d'état , and the government had been under direct or indirect control by the military since then. Between 1962 and 1974, Myanmar was ruled by a revolutionary council headed by

5969-446: The 19th century, Burmese rulers sought to maintain their traditional influence in the western areas of Assam, Manipur and Arakan. Pressing them, however, was the British East India Company, which was expanding its interests eastwards over the same territory. Over the next 60 years, diplomacy, raids, treaties and compromises, known collectively as the Anglo-Burmese Wars , continued until Britain proclaimed control over most of Burma. With

6096-422: The 9th century, several city-states had sprouted across the land: the Pyu in the central dry zone, Mon along the southern coastline and Arakanese along the western littoral. The balance was upset when the Pyu came under repeated attacks from Nanzhao between the 750s and the 830s. In the mid-to-late 9th century the Bamar people founded a small settlement at Bagan . It was one of several competing city-states until

6223-446: The BSPP decided to hold multi-party elections and the next day the Pyithu Hluttaw passed a resolution to hold multi-party elections "not earlier than 45 days and not later than 90 days". However massive demonstrations in Rangoon and the rest of the country continued, demanding for the resignation of the BSPP government led by Dr Maung Maung in favour of a neutral interim government to supervise multi-party elections. On 18 September 1988

6350-579: The BSPP was held from 23 to 26 July 1988. In his inaugural speech on 23 July 1988, party chairman Ne Win stunned the nation when he, "taking indirect responsibility for the sad and bloody events of March and June 1988" (whereby many students and civilians in largely peaceful protests against the BSPP regime were shot and killed by the Military Police Lone Htein ) tendered his resignation as party chairman. Ne Win also announced that four of his colleagues vice-chairman and State President San Yu , General Secretary Aye Ko, Joint-General Secretary Sein Lwin and Member of

6477-413: The BSPP was seen as a power-struggle or in-fighting between the military faction and the ex-communist faction (mainly consisting of some ex-communist rebels who had surrendered to the government, joined and risen in the ranks of the BSPP hierarchy and their sympathisers) in the BSPP. Among the thousands that were purged from the party were leftists or communist sympathizers . An Extraordinary Congress of

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6604-452: The BSPP's leading role in Burmese politics. Article 11 of the 1974 Constitution stated that, "The State shall adopt a single party system. The Burma Socialist Programme Party is the single political party and it shall lead the State". This provision merely formalised what was already a fait accompli —a one-party state —since March 1964. All government servants from all sectors including doctors, teachers, engineers, scientists, managers from

6731-542: The British in the First Anglo-Burmese War . In 1852, the British easily seized Lower Burma in the Second Anglo-Burmese War . King Mindon Min tried to modernise the kingdom and in 1875 narrowly avoided annexation by ceding the Karenni States . The British, alarmed by the consolidation of French Indochina , annexed the remainder of the country in the Third Anglo-Burmese War in 1885. Konbaung kings extended Restored Toungoo's administrative reforms and achieved unprecedented levels of internal control and external expansion. For

6858-422: The Central Executive Committee Tun Tin, also a Deputy Prime Minister, had expressed their desire to resign. Referring to the student-led demonstrations against the government in March and June 1988 Ne Win stated that these events indicated that some people "don't like the government and the Party that led the government". He also proposed that a nationwide referendum be held in late September 1988 to determine whether

6985-407: The Chairmanship – effectively the position of Myanmar's top ruler – from General Saw Maung in 1992 and held it until 2011. On 23 June 1997, Myanmar was admitted into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. On 27 March 2006, the military junta, which had moved the national capital from Yangon to a site near Pyinmana in November 2005, officially named the new capital Naypyidaw , meaning "city of

7112-449: The Chindits into the Burmese jungle in 1943. Beginning in late 1944, allied troops launched a series of offensives that led to the end of Japanese rule in July 1945. The battles were intense with much of Burma laid waste by the fighting. Overall, the Japanese lost some 150,000 men in Burma with 1,700 prisoners taken. Although many Burmese fought initially for the Japanese as part of the Burma Independence Army, many Burmese, mostly from

7239-445: The Chinese side of the border. During the incident, the government of China was accused of giving military assistance to the ethnic Chinese rebels. Clashes between Burmese troops and local insurgent groups have continued, fuelling tensions between China and Myanmar. The military-backed Government had promulgated a "Roadmap to Discipline-flourishing Democracy" in 1993, but the process appeared to stall several times, until 2008 when

7366-501: The Government published a new draft national constitution, and organised a (flawed) national referendum which adopted it. The new constitution provided for election of a national assembly with powers to appoint a president, while practically ensuring army control at all levels. A general election in 2010 - the first for twenty years - was boycotted by the NLD . The military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party declared victory, stating that it had been favoured by 80 per cent of

7493-418: The Great Mekong Subregion. However, Myanmar has long suffered from instability , factional violence, corruption , poor infrastructure, as well as a long history of colonial exploitation with little regard to human development . In 2013, its GDP (nominal) stood at US$ 56.7 billion and its GDP ( PPP ) at US$ 221.5 billion. The income gap in Myanmar is among the widest in the world, as a large proportion of

7620-553: The Republic of China Armed Forces. The agency was established at the end of World War II and operated throughout the Cold War. It was disbanded on 1 August 1992. It was responsible for suppressing activities viewed as promoting democracy and Taiwan independence. Secret police organizations originated in 18th-century Europe after the French Revolution and the Congress of Vienna . Such operations were established in an effort to detect any possible conspiracies or revolutionary subversion. The peak of secret-police operations in most of Europe

7747-519: The Restored Hanthawaddy, and by 1759 he had reunited all of Myanmar and Manipur and driven out the French and the British, who had provided arms to Hanthawaddy. By 1770, Alaungpaya's heirs had subdued much of Laos and fought and won the Burmese–Siamese War against Ayutthaya and the Sino-Burmese War against Qing China . With Burma preoccupied by the Chinese threat, Ayutthaya recovered its territories by 1770 and went on to capture Lan Na by 1776. Burma and Siam went to war until 1855, but all resulted in

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7874-420: The Shan states were all multi-ethnic polities. Despite the wars, cultural synchronisation continued. This period is considered a golden age for Burmese culture . Burmese literature "grew more confident, popular, and stylistically diverse", and the second generation of Burmese law codes as well as the earliest pan-Burma chronicles emerged. Hanthawaddy monarchs introduced religious reforms that later spread to

8001-473: The State Security and declared the new National Security Agency would replace it and be responsible for its internal security and counter-terrorist duties. In Uganda , the State Research Bureau (SRB) was a secret police organisation for President Idi Amin . The Bureau tortured many Ugandans, operating on behalf of a regime responsible for more than five hundred thousand violent deaths. The SRB attempted to infiltrate every area of Ugandan life. In Zimbabwe,

8128-408: The Union of Burma's Permanent Representative to the United Nations and former secretary to the prime minister, was elected Secretary-General of the United Nations , a position he held for ten years. When the non-Burman ethnic groups pushed for autonomy or federalism, alongside having a weak civilian government at the centre, the military leadership staged a coup d'état in 1962. Though incorporated in

8255-412: The United States and used to interrogate them using torture. After the 2011 revolution , demonstrators demanded that the service be dissolved and several buildings (including the headquarters in Nasr City) were stormed by protesters that gathered evidence of torture tools, secret cells and documents showing surveillance on citizens. On March 15 2011, Egypt's Minister of Interior announced the dissolution of

8382-654: The Venezuelan government. From 1951 until 1953, it operated a prison camp on Guasina Island  [ es ] , which was effectively a forced labour camp . The Seguridad Nacional was abolished following the overthrow of Pérez Jiménez on 23 January 1958. During the crisis in Venezuela and Venezuelan protests , Vice Presidents Tareck El Aissami and Delcy Rodríguez have been accused of using SEBIN to oppress political demonstrations. SEBIN director and general Manuel Cristopher Figuera reported that SEBIN would torture political demonstrators during interrogation sessions. Ilan Berman and J. Michael Waller describe

8509-423: The announcement of the BWS, the URC had already abolished, by decree, the parliament that was established under the 1947 Burmese Constitution, stating in effect that parliamentary democracy was not suitable for Burma). The booklet further stated that, although there was much to be learnt from the doctrines of Marx , Engels and Lenin , it did not regard their word as "gospel" unlike the Burmese communists , which

8636-433: The board. On 23 March 1964, the URC issued a decree entitled "The Law Protecting National Unity" whereby all political parties except the BSPP were abolished and their assets appropriated. This was repealed on the day the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) seized power in the military coup of 18 September 1988. The now-defunct 1974 Constitution of the Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma constitutionalised

8763-438: The booklet referred to as "vulgar materialists ". Later in the same year the BSPP elaborated on its ideology in a book published in both Burmese and English entitled The System of Correlation between Man and His Environment , commonly referred to simply as "correlation" ( innya myinnya ). The book used both Buddhist and Marxist rhetoric to espouse what came to be known as the "Burmese Way to Socialism". Its most memorable line

8890-540: The coeducational Union of Burma Boy Scouts and Girl Guides (UBBSGG). The URC dissolved the UBBSGG on 1 March 1964 and turned over its assets to the Ministry of Education , which subsequently formed the Programme Youth Organisation (PYO; လမ်းစဉ်လူငယ်အဖွဲ့ , Lansin Lu-nge Aphwe ) as the UBBSGG's replacement. All students, from elementary to university level, were required to join the PYO. The organisation had three branches: The Glorious Youth ( တေဇလူငယ် , Teiza Lu-nge ) for primary school students (5 to 9 years old),

9017-440: The colony. The National Security Department in the current HKSAR is a secret police agency created after the enactment of the Hong Kong National Security Law . The NSD has accused and arrested dissenting voices in Hong Kong for "endangering" the national security, including pro-democracy politicians, protestors, and journalists. Some websites were also reportedly banned by the department, including Hong Kong Watch . In

9144-577: The country became a British colony . After a brief Japanese occupation , Myanmar was reconquered by the Allies. On 4 January 1948, Myanmar declared independence under the terms of the Burma Independence Act 1947 . Myanmar's post-independence history has been checkered by continuing unrest and conflict to this day. The coup d'état in 1962 resulted in a military dictatorship under the Burma Socialist Programme Party . On 8 August 1988,

9271-611: The country by the name Myanmar , including the BBC , CNN , Al Jazeera , Reuters , and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation ( ABC )/ Radio Australia . Myanmar is known by a name deriving from Burma in Spanish , Italian , Romanian , and Greek . French-language media consistently use Birmanie . There are at least nine different pronunciations of the English name Myanmar , and no single one

9398-631: The country from 8–12 August 1988. On 12 August 1988 Sein Lwin resigned as both Party Chairman and State President. After the selection by the BSPP Central Committee of Dr Maung Maung (31 January 1925 – 2 July 1994) as Party Chairman on 19 August and later by the Pyithu Hluttaw as State President on 20 August 1988, the uprising against the BSPP government intensified. On 10 September 1988 in yet another hastily reconvened Congress,

9525-442: The country has been a matter of dispute and disagreement, particularly in the early 21st century, focusing mainly on the political legitimacy of those using Myanmar versus Burma . Both names derive from the earlier Burmese Mranma or Mramma , an ethnonym for the majority Burman ethnic group, of uncertain etymology. The terms are also popularly thought to derive from Sanskrit Brahma Desha , 'land of Brahma '. In 1989,

9652-406: The country. The Extraordinary Party Congress of July 1988 also rejected Ne Win's call for a national referendum. The election of Sein Lwin as Party Chairman as well as the refusal by the BSPP to take steps to move towards a multi-party system led to massive demonstrations to which the military responded by shooting and killing hundreds if not thousands of demonstrators in many towns and cities across

9779-433: The country. In 2011, the military junta was officially dissolved following a 2010 general election , and a nominally civilian government was installed. Aung San Suu Kyi and political prisoners were released and the 2015 Myanmar general election was held, leading to improved foreign relations and eased economic sanctions , although the country's treatment of its ethnic minorities , particularly in connection with

9906-562: The critical days following this disaster, Myanmar's isolationist government was accused of hindering United Nations recovery efforts. Humanitarian aid was requested, but concerns about foreign military or intelligence presence in the country delayed the entry of United States military planes delivering medicine, food, and other supplies. In early August 2009, a conflict broke out in Shan State in northern Myanmar. For several weeks, junta troops fought against ethnic minorities including

10033-478: The dynasty's secret police until the collapse of Ming rule in 1644. Originally, their main functions were to serve as the emperor's bodyguard and to spy on his subjects and report any plots of rebellion or regicide directly to the emperor. Over time, the organization took on law enforcement and judicial functions and grew to be immensely powerful, with the power to overrule ordinary judicial rulings and to investigate, interrogate, and punish anyone, including members of

10160-598: The emergence of iron-working settlements in an area south of present-day Mandalay . Evidence also shows the presence of rice-growing settlements of large villages and small towns that traded with their surroundings as far as China between 500 BCE and 200 CE. Iron Age Burmese cultures also had influences from outside sources such as India and Thailand , as seen in their funerary practices concerning child burials. This indicates some form of communication between groups in Myanmar and other places, possibly through trade. Around

10287-670: The ethnic minorities, served in the British Burma Army. The Burma National Army and the Arakan National Army fought with the Japanese from 1942 to 1944 but switched allegiance to the Allied side in 1945. Overall, 170,000 to 250,000 Burmese civilians died during World War II. Following World War II, Aung San negotiated the Panglong Agreement with ethnic leaders that guaranteed the independence of Myanmar as

10414-562: The ethnically Bamar central districts of the country serving as the primary geographical setting of conflict. Foreign journalists and visitors require a special travel permit to visit the areas in which Myanmar's civil wars continue. In October 2012, the ongoing conflicts in Myanmar included the Kachin conflict , between the Pro-Christian Kachin Independence Army and the government; a civil war between

10541-538: The fall of Mandalay, all of Burma came under British rule, being annexed on 1 January 1886. Throughout the colonial era, many Indians arrived as soldiers, civil servants, construction workers and traders and, along with the Anglo-Burmese community, dominated commercial and civil life in Burma. Rangoon became the capital of British Burma and an important port between Calcutta and Singapore . Burmese resentment

10668-405: The fall of a totalitarian regime. Arbitrary detention , abduction and forced disappearance , torture , and assassination are all tools wielded by secret police "to prevent, investigate, or punish (real or imagined) opposition." Because secret police typically act with great discretionary powers "to decide what is a crime" and are a tool used to target political opponents, they operate outside

10795-604: The first Prime Minister and Premier of Burma. Ba Maw was an outspoken advocate for Burmese self-rule, and he opposed the participation of Britain, and by extension Burma, in World War II . He resigned from the Legislative Assembly and was arrested for sedition. In 1940, before Japan formally entered the war , Aung San formed the Burma Independence Army in Japan. As a major battleground, Burma

10922-422: The first time in history, the Burmese language and culture came to predominate the entire Irrawaddy valley. The evolution and growth of Burmese literature and theatre continued, aided by an extremely high adult male literacy rate for the era (half of all males and 5% of females). Nonetheless, the extent and pace of reforms were uneven and ultimately proved insufficient to stem the advance of British colonialism. In

11049-604: The form of cave paintings in Padah-Lin Caves . The Bronze Age arrived c.  1500 BCE when people in the region were turning copper into bronze, growing rice and domesticating poultry and pigs; they were among the first people in the world to do so. Human remains and artefacts from this era were discovered in Monywa District in the Sagaing Region . The Iron Age began around 500 BCE with

11176-596: The four-century-old kingdom in 1287. Pagan's collapse was followed by 250 years of political fragmentation that lasted well into the 16th century. Like the Burmans four centuries earlier, Shan migrants who arrived with the Mongol invasions stayed behind. Several competing Shan States came to dominate the entire northwestern to eastern arc surrounding the Irrawaddy valley. The valley too was beset with petty states until

11303-446: The function of the secret police to sniff out and extinguish any political dissent. In 1971 BSPP was opened up for mass membership as "a people's party". During the 1960s, there were three types of membership in the BSPP. The first type or tier was that of a "friend of the party" ( ပါတီမိတ်ဆွေ ). The second type or tier was "alternate or provisional membership" ( အရန်ပါတီဝင် , lending itself to mockery as အရမ်း means "reckless") and

11430-408: The funeral of U Thant. Student protests in 1975, 1976, and 1977 were quickly suppressed by overwhelming force. In 1988, unrest over economic mismanagement and political oppression by the government led to widespread pro-democracy demonstrations throughout the country known as the 8888 Uprising . Security forces killed thousands of demonstrators, and General Saw Maung staged a coup d'état and formed

11557-589: The general. Almost all aspects of society (business, media, production) were nationalised or brought under government control under the Burmese Way to Socialism , which combined Soviet-style nationalisation and central planning . A new constitution of the Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma was adopted in 1974. Until 1988, the country was ruled as a one-party system , with the general and other military officers resigning and ruling through

11684-641: The government held free multiparty elections for the first time in almost 30 years, and the National League for Democracy (NLD), the party of Aung San Suu Kyi, won earning 392 out of a total 492 seats (i.e., 80% of the seats). However, the military junta refused to cede power and continued to rule the nation, first as SLORC and, from 1997, as the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) until its dissolution in March 2011. General Than Shwe took over

11811-621: The headquarters for the Arrow Cross Party , which killed hundreds of Jews in its basement, among other targets considered "enemies of the race-based state". The same building was used by the State Protection Authority (or ÁVH) secret police. The Soviet-aligned ÁVH moved into the former fascist police headquarters and used it to torture and execute state opponents. In the Fascist Italy (1922-1943) and

11938-612: The imperial family. In 1420, a second secret police organization run by eunuchs, known as the Eastern Depot ( 東廠 ; Dōng Chǎng ), was formed to suppress suspected political opposition to the usurpation of the throne by the Yongle Emperor . Combined, these two organizations made the Ming dynasty one of the world's first police states . The Ministry of State Security ( 国家安全部 ; Guójiā Ānquán Bù ) in modern China controls

12065-577: The kings". In August 2007, an increase in the price of fuel led to the Saffron Revolution led by Buddhist monks that were dealt with harshly by the government. The government cracked down on them on 26 September 2007, with reports of barricades at the Shwedagon Pagoda and monks killed. There were also rumours of disagreement within the Burmese armed forces, but none was confirmed. The military crackdown against unarmed protesters

12192-627: The late 10th century, when it grew in authority and grandeur. Pagan gradually grew to absorb its surrounding states until the 1050s–1060s when Anawrahta founded the Pagan Kingdom, the first ever unification of the Irrawaddy valley and its periphery. In the 12th and 13th centuries, the Pagan Empire and the Khmer Empire were two main powers in mainland Southeast Asia. The Burmese language and culture gradually became dominant in

12319-646: The late 14th century when two sizeable powers, Ava Kingdom and Hanthawaddy Kingdom , emerged. In the west, a politically fragmented Arakan was under competing influences of its stronger neighbours until the Kingdom of Mrauk U unified the Arakan coastline for the first time in 1437. The kingdom was a protectorate of the Bengal Sultanate at different time periods. In the 14th and 15th centuries, Ava fought wars of unification but could never quite reassemble

12446-476: The lost empire. Having held off Ava, the Mon -speaking Hanthawaddy entered its golden age, and Arakan went on to become a power in its own right for the next 350 years. In contrast, constant warfare left Ava greatly weakened, and it slowly disintegrated from 1481 onward. In 1527, the Confederation of Shan States conquered Ava and ruled Upper Myanmar until 1555. Like the Pagan Empire, Ava, Hanthawaddy and

12573-506: The military, as well as a larger outbreak of the civil war . The military also arrested Aung San Suu Kyi in order to remove her from public life, and charged her with crimes ranging from corruption to violation of COVID-19 protocols; all of the charges against her are "politically motivated" according to independent observers. Myanmar is a member of the East Asia Summit , Non-Aligned Movement , ASEAN , and BIMSTEC , but it

12700-452: The nation became an independent republic, under the terms of the Burma Independence Act 1947 . The new country was named the Union of Burma , with Sao Shwe Thaik as its first president and U Nu as its first prime minister. Unlike most other former British colonies and overseas territories, Burma did not become a member of the Commonwealth . A bicameral parliament was formed, consisting of

12827-532: The new Chairman of the Party by the Party Congress. The appointment of Sein Lwin , who was widely perceived to be mainly responsible for the shootings and killings of more than 100 students at Rangoon University on 7 July 1962, shortly after Ne Win's coup d'état , as well as the killings of students and civilians in March and June 1988, earning the epithet "Butcher of Rangoon", sparked widespread protests in

12954-418: The people preferred the one-party system or wished to shift to a multi-party system . The BSPP Congress accepted the resignations of Chairman Ne Win and Vice-chairman San Yu but rejected the resignations of General Secretary Aye Ko, Joint General Secretary Sein Lwin and Central Executive Committee member Tun Tin. Joint-General Secretary Sein Lwin (former Brigadier, d. 9 April 2004) was chosen and appointed as

13081-407: The region now known as Myanmar as early as 750,000 years ago, with no more erectus finds after 75,000 years ago. The first evidence of Homo sapiens is dated to about 25,000 BP with discoveries of stone tools in central Myanmar. Evidence of Neolithic age domestication of plants and animals and the use of polished stone tools dating to sometime between 10,000 and 6,000 BCE has been discovered in

13208-527: The rest of the country. Political unification returned in the mid-16th century, through the efforts of Taungoo , a former vassal state of Ava. Taungoo's young, ambitious King Tabinshwehti defeated the more powerful Hanthawaddy in the Toungoo–Hanthawaddy War . His successor Bayinnaung went on to conquer a vast swath of mainland Southeast Asia including the Shan states, Lan Na , Manipur, Mong Mao ,

13335-600: The second century BCE the first-known city-states emerged in central Myanmar. The city-states were founded as part of the southward migration by the Tibeto-Burman-speaking Pyu people, the earliest inhabitants of Myanmar of whom records are extant, from present-day Yunnan . The Pyu culture was heavily influenced by trade with India, importing Buddhism as well as other cultural, architectural and political concepts, which would have an enduring influence on later Burmese culture and political organisation. By

13462-519: The secret police as central to totalitarian regimes and "an indispensable device for the consolidation of power, neutralization of the opposition, and construction of a single-party state ". In addition to these activities, secret police may also be responsible for tasks not related to suppressing internal dissent, such as gathering foreign intelligence, engaging in counterintelligence, organizing border security, and guarding government buildings and officials. Secret police forces sometimes endure even after

13589-665: The secret police of East Germany (the Ministry for State Security or Stasi ) and Portuguese PIDE . A single secret service may pose a potential threat to the central political authority. Political scientist Sheena Chestnut Greitens writes that: When it comes to their security forces, autocrats face a fundamental 'coercing dilemma' between empowerment and control. ... Autocrats must empower their security forces with enough coercing capacity to enforce internal order and conduct external defense. Equally important to their survival, however, they must control that capacity, to ensure it

13716-506: The sustained use of covert psychological harassment methods against people, which were designed to cause mental and emotional health problems, and thereby debilitate them and cause them to become socially isolated. Directed-energy weapons are considered by some survivors and analysts to have also been used as a constituent part of Zersetzung methods, although this is not definitely proven. The House of Terror museum in Budapest displays

13843-632: The temporary forerunner to the KGB , a later secret police agency used for similar purposes. The NKVD participated in the Great Purge under Stalin. In Cuba, President Fulgencio Batista 's secret police, known as the Bureau for the Repression of Communist Activities (or BRAC), suppressed political opponents such as the 26th of July Movement through methods including violent interrogations. Under

13970-431: The third type was that of a "fully-fledged" party member ( တင်းပြည့်ပါတီဝင် ). Under the party rules of the time once a person became a "full party member", unless there were extraordinary reasons such as those of ill-health one could not "resign from the party". A full party member could only be dismissed from the party. The BSPP continued to be dominated by the military, and in 1972 more than half of its 73,369 full members

14097-514: The upper Irrawaddy valley, eclipsing the Pyu , Mon and Pali norms by the late 12th century. Theravada Buddhism slowly began to spread to the village level, although Tantric , Mahayana , Hinduism , and folk religion remained heavily entrenched. Pagan's rulers and wealthy built over 10,000 Buddhist temples in the Pagan capital zone alone. Repeated Mongol invasions in the late 13th century toppled

14224-614: The votes; fraud, however, was alleged. A nominally civilian government was then formed, with retired general Thein Sein as president. A series of liberalising political and economic actions – or reforms – then took place. By the end of 2011 these included the release of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest, the establishment of the National Human Rights Commission , the granting of general amnesties for more than 200 political prisoners, new labour laws that permitted labour unions and strikes,

14351-570: Was 1815 to 1860, "when restrictions on voting, assembly, association, unions and the press were so severe in most European countries that opposition groups were forced into conspiratorial activities." The Geheime Staatspolizei of Austria and the Geheimpolizei of Prussia were particularly notorious during this period. After 1860, the use of secret police declined due to increasing liberalization, except in autocratic regimes such as Tsarist Russia . In Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945,

14478-496: Was a powerful secret police agency under the rule of Augusto Pinochet , which was charged with killings and torture related to repression of political opponents. Chilean government investigations found that over 30,000 people were tortured by the agency. During the dictatorship of Marcos Pérez Jiménez , the Seguridad Nacional secret police investigated, arrested, tortured , and assassinated political opponents to

14605-553: Was borrowed from an old popular expression, "One can only afford to be moral on a full stomach", which struck a chord with the people trying to eke out a living in increasingly dire economic circumstances under the rule of the BSPP. These economic conditions were a consequence of the policies implemented by the BSPP-led Socialist Economy Construction Committee ( hsa sa ta ka ), starting with the nationalisation of all businesses across

14732-614: Was defeated in the election, but the results were not recognised by the military and subsequently voided. Myanmar in ASEAN  (dark grey)  –  [ Legend ] Myanmar , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar and also rendered Burma (the official English form until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia . It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has

14859-667: Was described by some scholars as anti-Western and isolationist . A booklet entitled Special Characteristics of the Burma Socialist Programme Party was published in January 1963 in both Burmese and English. The booklet distinguished the BSPP's ideology from those of both " bourgeois " social democratic parties and communist parties . The BSPP, the booklet stated, rejected the "bourgeois" belief and practices of social democratic parties that socialism could be reached through parliamentary methods (even before

14986-586: Was devastated during World War II by the Japanese invasion . Within months after they entered the war, Japanese troops had advanced on Rangoon, and the British administration had collapsed. A Burmese Executive Administration headed by Ba Maw was established by the Japanese in August 1942. Wingate 's British Chindits were formed into long-range penetration groups trained to operate deep behind Japanese lines. A similar American unit, Merrill's Marauders , followed

15113-511: Was elected and re-elected by the BSPP as its chairman. Each Congress also elected a 150 to 200 member Central Committee and in the later Congresses a Central Executive Committee (roughly equivalent to that of the Politburo in one-party Communist States though the term "Politburo" was never used) of about 10 to 15 members were elected. The URC merged the Union of Burma Boy Scouts and the Union of Burma Girl Guides Association in 1962 to create

15240-580: Was formed during the British occupation of Egypt as the Intelligence wing of the regular police . After the 1952 coup , the State Security apparatus was reformed and reorganized to suit the security concerns of the new socialist regime of Gamal Abdel Nasser. The SSIS was made a separate branch of the Ministry of Interior and separated from the regular police command. During the Nasser era, It

15367-533: Was intensively trained by the Soviet KGB on coercive interrogation techniques, mass surveillance, public intimidation and political suppression. The SSIS was responsible for suppressing opposition groups to Nasser and his successors (Sadat and Mubarak). Torture was a systematic practice by that repressive apparatus. During the War on Terror , The SSIS used to receive suspected terrorists that were sent to Egypt from

15494-574: Was later replaced by DISEN in 1985 after DFS agents were working for the Guadalajara Cartel . In 1989, it was replaced by CISEN . In Mississippi , the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission (or "Sov-Com") was a state agency given unusual authority by the governor of Mississippi from 1956 to 1977, to investigate and police private citizens in order to uphold racial segregation . This authority

15621-662: Was not officially dissolved until 1977. The Sov-Com served as a model for the Louisiana State Sovereignty Commission and the Alabama State Sovereignty Commission . In private writings in 1945, President Harry S. Truman wrote that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (under Director J. Edgar Hoover ) was tending towards becoming a secret police force: We want no Gestapo or Secret Police. F.B.I.

15748-406: Was still made up of army or police personnel; Dr. Maung Maung was notably the only civilian in the higher echelons of the party. Prior to being transformed from a cadre party to a mass party, the BSPP held four seminars, the last one from 6 to 11 November 1969. Extraordinary Congresses of the BSPP were held in: At each regular Congress of the BSPP starting from June 1971 to October 1985, Ne Win

15875-425: Was strong, and was vented in violent riots that periodically paralysed Rangoon until the 1930s. Some of the discontent was caused by a disrespect for Burmese culture and traditions. Buddhist monks became the vanguards of the independence movement. U Wisara , an activist monk, died in prison after a 166-day hunger strike. On 1 April 1937, Burma became a separately administered colony of Britain, and Ba Maw became

16002-560: Was used to suppress and spy on the activities of civil rights workers , along with others suspected of sentiments contrary to white supremacy. Agents from the Sov-Com wiretapped and bugged citizens of Mississippi, and historians identify the agency as a secret police force. Among other things, the Sov-Com collaborated with the Ku Klux Klan and engaged in jury tampering to harass targets. The agency ceased to function in 1973, but

16129-712: Was widely condemned as part of the international reactions to the Saffron Revolution and led to an increase in economic sanctions against the Burmese Government . In May 2008, Cyclone Nargis caused extensive damage in the densely populated rice-farming delta of the Irrawaddy Division . It was the worst natural disaster in Burmese history with reports of an estimated 200,000 people dead or missing, damages totalled to 10 billion US dollars, and as many as 1 million were left homeless. In

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