JURIST EXCLUSIVE – A law student reporting for JURIST in Myanmar offered these reflections Monday about the direction of her country as the military junta cut off mobile data access and civilian casualties from police and military violence continued to mount. Some sources said more than 15 more people were killed after a particularly bloody Sunday that saw over 5o deaths, most of them in Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city. The CRPH, the body claiming the authority of the deposed civilian government, has now explicitly authorized the use of force by citizens against the military in self-defense, and there are even reports of armed ethnic militias in some areas of Myanmar starting to operate against the military junta in support of the Civil Disobedience Movement and perhaps also the idea of some kind of more ethically-inclusive federal democracy that the nativist Myanmar military is fervently opposed to.

Here’s what our Myanmar correspondent wrote [minimally edited for clarity to preserve voice]:

I am so afraid that people are used to our country’s situation and that nobody will be interested in our country’s situation and revolution anymore. I know that nobody wants to hear bad news all the time. I am afraid that we will become a second North Korea. We knew that their human rights were being violated, but nobody help them, including us [in Myanmar]. Sometimes I think that being an animal in a democracy country might be better than being a human in a lawless country where there is no human rights. In a full democracy country where there is rule of law, even animal rights are important. In others countries, human lives are being killed and worthless.

I watched this TED Talk more than once. At that time all I could feel was just sad for them. I even did not think how can I help them, the people in North Korea. A few hours after  watching this, I forgot them. I live my normal live without any feeling for them.

Now I am so guilty for all that I did. I live my life freely while Rohingya people [in Myanmar] are [suffering] genocide.

I did not even think of asking for their human rights. Now our time has come.

The quote I like most in the above mentioned Ted Talk is “ If we don’t fight for human rights for the people who are oppressed right now who don’t have a voice as free people here, who will fight for us when we are not free? Machines, animals? I don’t know”.

I need to apologize to all the Rohingya ethnic people and to the people in North Korea for ignoring them. I was just keeping human rights for myself and not for the people who are not getting even the most fundamental right, the right to self- determination.

I promised myself today, after all this, I am going to speak out for all those who are not free and who are being oppressed.