WASHINGTON: Defense Department leaders placed unusual restrictions on the National Guard for the day of the Capitol riot and delayed sending help for hours despite an urgent plea from police for reinforcement, according to testimony Wednesday that added to the finger-pointing about the government response.
Maj. Gen. William Walker, commanding general of the District of Columbia National Guard, told senators that the then-chief of the Capitol Police requested military support in a “voice cracking with emotion” in a 1:49 p.m. call as rioters began pushing toward the Capitol. Walker said he immediately relayed the request to the Army but did not learn until after 5 p.m. that the Defense Department had approved it. Guard troops who had been waiting on buses were then rushed to the Capitol, arriving in 18 minutes, Walker said.
The hourslong delay cost the National Guard precious minutes in the early hours of the Jan. 6 rioting, with Walker saying he could have gotten personnel into the building within 20 minutes of getting approval. As it stood, the support did not happen until the evening. The delay also stood in contrast to the swift authorization for National Guard support that Walker said was granted in response to the civil unrest that roiled Washington last June as an outgrowth of racial justice protests.
A senior Pentagon official who testified, Robert Salesses, said it took time for the Army to sort out what the National Guard was being asked to do and what its support might look like, especially since the Capitol Police days earlier had not asked for any help. Mindful of criticism that the response to the demonstrations last spring was heavy-handed, military officials were also concerned about the optics of a substantial National Guard presence at the Capitol, and that such visuals could inflame the rioters, Walker said.
“The Army senior leadership” expressed “that it would not be their best military advice to have uniformed Guardsmen on the Capitol,” Walker said.
The Senate hearing is the latest about the missed intelligence and botched efforts to quickly gather National Guard troops as a mob of then-President Donald Trump’s supporters laid siege to the Capitol. Taken together, the hearings have spelled out the challenge law enforcement officials face in sorting through an ocean of unverified tips but also highlighted how police inadequately prepared for the Trump loyalists; that FBI warnings about the threat of violence did not reach top police officials; and that requests for aid were not promptly answered.
“We in the FBI want to bat 1,000, and we want to not have this ever happen again,” said Jill Sanborn, the bureau’s top counterterrorism official and one of the witnesses. “So we’re asking ourselves exactly the questions that you’re asking: Is there a place we could have collected more (intelligence)? Is there something we could have done?”
Meanwhile, the Capitol Police disclosed the existence of intelligence of a “possible plot” by a militia group to breach the Capitol on Thursday. The revelation, coming as the acting police chief was testifying before a House subcommittee, differed from an earlier advisory from the House sergeant-at-arms that said police had no indication that any such violence was planned.
Much of the focus at Wednesday’s Senate hearing was on communications between the National Guard and the Defense Department. Walker described an “unusual” directive that required Pentagon approval before deploying a specialized 40-member “quick reaction force” and before relocating personnel from one traffic intersection to another.
As chaos escalated on Jan. 6, then-Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund asked him for National Guard help in a frantic call and then again on a call with Army officials, who said they did not “think that it looked good” to have a military presence.
“The response to the request took too long, so I think there needs to be a study done to make sure that never happens again,” Walker said. “It shouldn’t take three hours to get a yes or no answer.”
That account was consistent with the recollection of Robert Contee, the acting chief of police for the Metropolitan Police Department, who told lawmakers last week that he was “stunned” by the delayed response. Contee said Sund pleaded with Army officials to deploy National Guard troops as the rioting escalated.
Walker’s testimony, however, conflicts a bit with timelines that were put out and discussed by senior military and defense leaders in the weeks after the riot.
According to the Defense Department, Walker was called at 3 p.m. by Army officials, and was told to prepare Guard troops to deploy. That call was designed to give the Guard notice of the impending deployment so they would have time to move troops from their traffic posts to the armory where they would get new orders, protective equipment and weapons.
The Pentagon said acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller gave verbal authorization for the Guard troops to deploy at about 4:30 p.m., and that at 5:02 p.m., 154 members of the D.C. Guard left the armory, heading to the Capitol.
Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Missouri, said during a break in the hearing that senators “certainly will have questions” for Miller and for former Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy.
“Whether that’s going to require testimony or not, I don’t know, but it’s definitely going to require an opportunity to ask them questions about their view, from their perspective, of why this decision-making process went so horribly wrong,” Blunt said.
Salesses, the senior Pentagon official, stressed that military officials were concerned about responding forcefully to civil disturbance in light of what happened last spring, “where we had helicopters flying above US citizens, we had spy planes flying over folks who were protesting.”
The Capitol Police had not previously requested National Guard help, and in letters to Walker, District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser laid out the city’s request for help and made it clear there would be restrictions on the Guard members.
At last week’s hearing, officials in charge of Capitol security blamed one another as well as federal law enforcement for their own lack of preparation as hundreds of rioters descended on the building, easily breached the security perimeter and eventually broke into the Capitol. Five people died as a result of the rioting.
Thousands of National Guard troops are still patrolling the fenced-in Capitol, and multiple committees across Congress are investigating Jan. 6. The probes are largely focused on security missteps and the origins of the extremism that led hundreds of Trump supporters to break through the doors and windows of the Capitol, hunt for lawmakers and temporarily stop the counting of electoral votes.
Lawmakers have grilled law enforcement officials about missed intelligence ahead of the attack, including a report from an FBI field office in Virginia that warned of online posts foreshadowing a “war” in Washington. Sund has said he was unaware of the report at the time, even though the FBI had forwarded it to the department.
Testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, FBI Director Christopher Wray said the report was disseminated through the FBI’s joint terrorism task force, discussed at a command post and posted on an Internet portal available to law enforcement agencies.
Though the information was raw and unverified, Wray said, it was specific and concerning enough that “the smartest thing to do, the most prudent thing to do, was just push it to the people who needed to get it.”
Pentagon hesitated on sending Guard to US Capitol riot, general tells Senate probe
https://arab.news/cx9ht
Pentagon hesitated on sending Guard to US Capitol riot, general tells Senate probe
- The hourslong delay cost the National Guard precious minutes in the early hours of the Jan. 6 rioting by Trump supporters
- Security boosted again amid warnings of a “possible plot” by a militia group to breach the Capitol on March 4
Correspondent Terry Moran out at ABC News, two days after suspension over Stephen Miller post
- Moran said Miller’s “hatreds are his spiritual nourishment. He eats his hate.”
Correspondent Terry Moran is out at ABC News, two days after the organization suspended its correspondent for a social media post that called Trump administration deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller a “world class hater.”
The network said Tuesday that it was at the end of its contract with Moran “and based on his recent post — which was a clear violation of ABC News policies — we have made the decision not to renew.”
The Trump administration, including Vice President JD Vance, quickly condemned Moran for his late-night X post criticizing Miller, which was swiftly deleted.
Moran had interviewed President Donald Trump only a few weeks ago. He said in his X post that the president was also a hater, but that his hatred was in service of his own glorification.
But for Miller, Moran said, “his hatreds are his spiritual nourishment. He eats his hate.”
Moran, 65, had worked at ABC News since 1997. He was a longtime co-anchor of “Nightline,” and covered the Supreme Court and national politics. During an interview with Trump that was broadcast in prime-time a month ago, the president said “you’re not being very nice” in the midst of a contentious exchange about deportations.
In a particularly bad case of timing for him, Moran’s contract with ABC had been due to expire on Friday, according to people with knowledge of the situation who were not authorized to speak publicly about personnel issues.
His post, a breach of traditional journalism ethics on expressing personal opinions on reporting subjects, came at what was already a sensitive time for ABC News. The network agreed to pay $15 million toward Trump’s presidential library in December, in order to settle a defamation lawsuit over George Stephanopoulos’ inaccurate assertion that Trump had been found civilly liable for raping writer E. Jean Carroll.
Trump aide Steven Cheung responded to Moran’s exit on Tuesday with a profane comment on X, saying those who talk down the president and his staff “get hit.”
Protests over immigration raids popping up across the country with more planned
- The Trump administration said it would continue its program of raids and deportations despite the protests
AUSTIN, Texas: Protests that sprang up in Los Angeles over immigration enforcement raids and prompted President Donald Trump to mobilize National Guard troops and Marines have begun to spread across the country, with more planned into the weekend.
From Seattle to Austin and Washington, D.C., marchers have chanted slogans, carried signs against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency and snarled traffic through downtown avenues and outside federal offices. While many were peaceful, some have resulted in clashes with law enforcement as officers made arrests and used chemical irritants to disperse crowds.
Activists are planning more and even larger demonstrations in the coming days, with so-called “No Kings” events across the country on Saturday to coincide with Trump’s planned military parade through Washington.
The Trump administration said it would continue its program of raids and deportations despite the protests. “ICE will continue to enforce the law,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem posted Tuesday on social media.
A look at protests sprouting up across the country:
Austin
Four Austin police officers were injured and authorities used chemical irritants to disperse a crowd of several hundred demonstrators Monday night that moved between the state Capitol and a federal building that houses an ICE office. State officials had closed the Capitol to the public an hour early in anticipation of the protest.
Austin police used pepper spray balls and state police used tear gas when demonstrators began trying to deface the federal building with spray paint. The demonstrators then started throwing rocks, bottles and other objects at a police barricade, Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said. Three officers were injured by “very large” rocks and another was injured while making an arrest, she said.
Austin police arrested eight people, and state police arrested several more. Davis said her department is prepared for Saturday’s planned protest downtown.
“We support peaceful protest,” Davis said. “When that protest turns violent, when it turns to throwing rocks and bottles .... That will not be tolerated. Arrests will be made.”
Dallas
A protest that drew hundreds to a rally on a city bridge lasted for several hours Monday night before Dallas police declared it an “unlawful assembly” and warned people to leave or face possible arrest.
Dallas police initially posted on social media that officers would not interfere with a “lawful and peaceful assembly of individuals or groups expressing their First Amendment rights.” But officers later moved in and local media reported seeing some in the crowd throw objects as officers used pepper spray and smoke to clear the area. At least one person was arrested.
“Peaceful protesting is legal,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, posted on X. “But once you cross the line, you will be arrested.”
Seattle
About 50 people gathered outside the immigration court in downtown Seattle on Tuesday, chanting with drums and holding up signs that said “Free Them All; Abolish ICE” and “No to Deportations.” The protest was initially peaceful but protesters began putting scooters in front of the entryways to the building before police arrived.
Mathieu Chabaud, with Students for a Democratic Society at the University of Washington, said they were there in solidarity with the protesters in Los Angeles, “and to show that we’re opposed to ICE in our community.”
Legal advocates who normally attend the immigration court hearings as observers and to provide support to immigrants were not allowed inside the building. Security guards also turned away the media. The hearings are normally open to the public.
Santa Ana
In Santa Ana near Los Angeles, armored vehicles blocked the road Tuesday morning leading into the Civic Center, where federal immigration officers and numerous city and county agencies have their offices.
Workers swept up plastic bottles and broken glass from Monday’s protests. Tiny shards of red, black and purple glass littered the pavement. Nearby buildings and the sidewalk were tagged with profane graffiti slogans against ICE and Trump’s name crossed out.
A worker rolled paint over graffiti on a wall to block it out. National Guard officers wearing fatigues and carrying rifles prevented people from entering the area unless they worked there.
Boston
Hundreds of people gathered in Boston’s City Hall Plaza on Monday to protest the detainment of union leader David Huerta Friday during immigration raids in Los Angeles.
Protesters held signs reading “Massachusetts stands with our neighbors in Los Angeles” and “Protect our immigrant neighbors,” and shouted “Come for one, come for all” and “Free David, free them all.”
Huerta, president of Service Employees International Union California, was released from federal custody later Monday on $50,000 bond.
“An immigrant doesn’t stand between an American worker and a good job, a billionaire does,” said Chrissy Lynch, President of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO.
Washington, DC
Several unions gathered Monday in Washington to protest the raids and rally for Huerta’s release, and marched past the Department of Justice building.
Among the demonstrators was US Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a Democrat from Washington state.
“Enough of these mass ICE raids that are sweeping up innocent people,” Jayapal said. “As we see people exercising the constitutional rights to peacefully use their voices to speak out against this injustice, they are being met with tear gas and rubber bullets.”
Trump claims LA being invaded by ‘foreign enemy’, vows to ‘liberate’ the city
- Trump made the declaration in a speech to mark the 250th anniversary of the Army
- He described the protesters as “animals” who “proudly carry the flags of other countries
FORT BRAGG, North Carolina: US President Donald Trump on Tuesday claimed Los Angeles was being invaded by a “foreign enemy” and vowed to “liberate” the city after days of protests sparked by immigration raids.
In a hard-line speech at one of the country’s biggest army bases, Trump described protesters as “animals” and got troops to boo the names of California Governor Gavin Newsom and ex-president Joe Biden.
Trump has deployed thousands of troops including 700 active duty US Marines to Los Angeles, despite California authorities saying the move is unnecessary and will inflame the situation.
Newsom has called Trump’s actions “dictatorial.”
“This anarchy will not stand. We will not allow federal agents to be attacked, and we will not allow an American city to be invaded and conquered by a foreign enemy,” Trump told troops at Fort Bragg in North Carolina.
Trump described the protesters as “animals” who “proudly carry the flags of other countries.”
“What you’re witnessing in California is a full-blown assault on peace, on public order and national sovereignty, carried out by rioters bearing foreign flags with the aim of continuing a foreign invasion of our country,” the US president said.
Trump linked the protesters to what he called “uncontrolled migration” and said that Europe — which his administration has repeatedly berated on the subject — must act too.
“As the entire world can now see, uncontrolled migration leads to chaos, dysfunction and disorder,” Trump said.
“And you know what? They have it in Europe too. It’s happening in many of the countries of Europe. They better do something before it’s too late.”
dk/aha
----------
Trump says he will ‘liberate’ Los Angeles in speech to mark the 250th anniversary of the Army
FORT BRAGG, N.C.: President Donald Trump called protesters in Los Angeles “animals” and “a foreign enemy” in a speech at Fort Bragg on Tuesday as he defended deploying the military on demonstrators opposed to his immigration enforcement raids.
Trump, in his most aggressive language yet regarding the protests in Los Angeles, used a speech ostensibly supposed to be used to recognize the 250th anniversary of the US Army to denounce the demonstrators while repeating his false statements about the 2020 election being rigged and attacking the previous commander-in-chief, former President Joe Biden.
The Republican president, who sees the military as a critical tool for domestic goals, has used the recent protests in Los Angeles as an opportunity to deploy the National Guard and US Marines over the objections of California’s Democratic governor to quell disturbances that began as protests over immigration raids. While protesters blocked a major freeway and set cars on fire over the weekend in Los Angeles, the demonstrations in the city of 4 million people have largely been centered in several blocks of downtown.
“We will not allow an American city to be invaded and conquered by a foreign enemy. That’s what they are,” Trump said Tuesday.
Trump’s heated rhetoric came has he’s left open the possibility of invoking the Insurrection Act, one of the most extreme emergency powers available to the president. It authorizes him to deploy military forces inside the US to suppress rebellion or domestic violence or to enforce the law in certain situations.
The president also called Los Angeles “a trash heap” with “entire neighborhoods under control” of criminals and said the federal government would ”use every asset at our disposal to quell the violence and restore law and order.”
“We will liberate Los Angeles and make it free, clean, and safe again,” Trump added.
Trump also announced his administration was restoring the names of seven military bases that were given the monikers of Confederate leaders until being changed by the Biden administration. Fort Pickett, Fort Hood, Fort Gordon, Fort Rucker, Fort Polk, Fort A.P. Hill and Fort Robert E. Lee will have their names changed back, Trump said.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth already brought back the names of Fort Bragg and Fort Benning in Georgia.
“Can you believe they changed that name in the last administration for a little bit?” Trump said. “We’ll forget all about that.”
Before he spoke, Trump watched the US Army demonstrate a missile strike, a helicopter assault and a building raid, a preview of the kind of show of American military might he’s expected to display in the nation’s capital for a massive military parade this weekend.
Fort Bragg, which is located near Fayetteville, North Carolina, serves as headquarters for US Army Special Operations Command. Highly trained units like the Green Berets and the 82nd Airborne are based there.
The atmosphere resembled a state fair with military flair. Inflatable slides and attractions for children were set up in a field, with artillery, trucks and helicopters parked on another section of the lawn. Right outside the security checkpoint — but still on the base — two stands were selling Trump political hats, T-shirts and other paraphernalia.
Hegseth and Army Secretary Dan Driscoll were also at Tuesday’s event, along with service members, veterans and their families.
Hegseth, who has said he’s ridding the military of “woke,” told the crowd at Fort Bragg that the US is “restoring the warrior ethos” to its armed forces.
“We’re not a college or a university. We’re not interested in your woke garbage and political correctness,” Hegseth said, drawing cheers.
Driscoll, who spoke to the crowd earlier in the afternoon, called Trump “the greatest recruiter in our Army’s history.”
Trump has promoted the Army’s anniversary as a reason to hold a military parade in Washington on Saturday, which is also his 79th birthday. Tanks and other vehicles will roll down city streets in a reminder of how the Republican president is reshaping the armed forces after returning to the White House this year.
Trump has authorized the deployment of 4,000 National Guard soldiers to the city over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat. About 700 Marines were deployed to the Los Angeles area, but had not yet been sent to respond to the protests.
California sued Trump over the deployment, with the state attorney general arguing that the president had “trampled” the state’s sovereignty. California leaders accused Trump of fanning protesters’ anger, leading crowds to block off a major freeway and set self-driving cars on fire.
US court issues order limiting troop deployment in Los Angeles
- California governor earlier asked the court to block Trump administration from using troops in immigration raids
- Trump has described Los Angeles in dire terms that Governor Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass say are nowhere close to the truth
LOS ANGELES : A US federal court on Tuesday issued a temporary restraining order limiting the deployment of troops in Los Angeles after President Donald Trump sent Marines and National Guard to the city.
The government is “temporarily enjoined from ordering or deploying the Title 10 Force to enforce or aid federal agents in enforcing federal law or to take any action beyond (protecting) federal buildings,” said the order, signed by District Judge Charles Breyer.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom earlier asked the court Tuesday to block the use of the National Guard and Marines to assist with immigration raids in Los Angeles, saying the practice would only heighten tensions.
Newsom filed the emergency request after President Donald Trump ordered the deployment to LA of roughly 4,000 National Guard members and 700 Marines following protests driven by anger over the president’s stepped-up enforcement of immigration laws.
The governor’s request said it was in response to a change in orders for the Guard members, who were originally deployed to protect federal buildings. The court documents said sending troops on immigration raids would only escalate tensions and promote civil unrest.
The Marines and another 2,000 National Guard troops were ordered to LA on Monday, adding to a military presence that local officials and Newsom do not want and that the police chief says makes it harder to handle the protests safely.
Marine Corps Gen. Eric Smith said Tuesday that the Marines deployed to the area had not yet been called to respond to the protests and were there only to protect federal officials and property.
The Marines were trained for crowd control but have no arrest authority, Smith told a budget hearing on Capitol Hill.
Paul Eck, deputy general counsel in the California Military Department, said the agency was informed that the Pentagon plans to direct the California National Guard to start providing support for immigration operations. That support would include holding secure perimeters around areas where raids are taking place and securing streets for immigration agents, he said in the governor’s emergency request.
According to US officials, the California Guard members who were deployed were authorized to provide protection and secure streets and perimeters around areas where enforcement actions are taking place. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations, said the Guard members are not participating in any of the enforcement actions, but are providing security and have already been doing some of those missions in the Los Angeles area.
Trump says he’s open to using Insurrection Act
Trump left open the possibility of invoking the Insurrection Act, which authorizes the president to deploy military forces inside the US to suppress rebellion or domestic violence or to enforce the law in certain situations. It’s one of the most extreme emergency powers available to a US president.
“If there’s an insurrection, I would certainly invoke it. We’ll see,” he said Tuesday from the Oval Office. “But I can tell you last night was terrible, and the night before that was terrible.”
Trump has described Los Angeles in dire terms that Mayor Karen Bass and Newsom say are nowhere close to the truth.
While protesters blocked a major freeway and set cars on fire over the weekend, the demonstrations in the city of 4 million people have largely been centered in several blocks of downtown. On Monday, they were far less raucous, with thousands of people peacefully attending a rally at City Hall and hundreds more protesting outside a federal complex that includes a detention center where some immigrants are being held following workplace raids across the city.
Los Angeles police said they made over 100 arrests Monday evening, mostly for failing to disperse the downtown area. One person was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon and two police offers were injured, the department said.
Obscene slogans directed at Trump and federal law enforcement remained scrawled across several buildings. At the Walt Disney Concert Hall, workers were busy washing away graffiti Tuesday morning.
In nearby Santa Ana, armored Guard vehicles blocked a road leading to federal immigration and government offices. Workers swept up plastic bottles and broken glass.
Sending in the military is the latest step in the administration’s immigration crackdown as Trump pursues the mass deportations he promised last year during the presidential campaign. The protests have been driven by anger over enforcement that critics say is breaking apart migrant families.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth suggested Tuesday that the use of troops inside the US will continue to expand.
“I think we’re entering another phase, especially under President Trump with his focus on the homeland, where the National Guard and Reserves become a critical component of how we secure that homeland,” he said on Capitol Hill.
Los Angeles officials say police don’t need help
The mayor and the governor say Trump is putting public safety at risk by adding military personnel even though police say they don’t need the help.
Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said he was confident in the police department’s ability to handle large-scale demonstrations and that the Marines’ arrival without coordinating with the police department would present a “significant logistical and operational challenge.”
The protests began Friday after federal immigration authorities arrested more than 40 people across Los Angeles and continued over the weekend as crowds blocked a major freeway and set self-driving cars on fire. Police responded with tear gas, rubber bullets and flash-bang grenades.
Demonstrations have spread to other cities nationwide, including San Francisco, as well as Dallas and Austin, Texas. Authorities in Austin said police used pepper spray balls and tear gas to disperse a crowd that threw rocks and bottles at officers Monday, injuring four.
LA response takes stage on Capitol Hill
The Pentagon said deploying the National Guard and Marines costs $134 million. That figure came out Tuesday just after Hegseth engaged in a testy back-and-forth about the costs during a congressional hearing.
The defense secretary defended Trump’s decision to send the troops, saying they are needed to protect federal agents doing their jobs.
Meanwhile, Democratic members of California’s congressional delegation on Tuesday accused the president of creating a “manufactured crisis” with his orders to send in troops.
On Monday, California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit over the use of National Guard troops following the first deployment, seeking an order declaring Trump’s use of the Guard unlawful and asking for a restraining order to halt the deployment.
Trump said the city would have been “completely obliterated” if he had not deployed the Guard.
US officials said the Marines were needed to protect federal buildings and personnel, including immigration agents.
Despite their presence, there has been limited engagement so far between the Guard and protesters while local law enforcement implements crowd control.
The deployment appeared to be the first time in decades that a state’s National Guard was activated without a request from its governor, a significant escalation against those who have sought to hinder the administration’s mass deportation efforts.
The last time the National Guard was activated without a governor’s permission was in 1965, when President Lyndon B. Johnson sent troops to protect a civil rights march in Alabama, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.
UN envoy to Myanmar warns that violence puts country on ‘path to self-destruction’
- The military takeover triggered intensified fighting with long-established armed militias organized by Myanmar’s ethnic minority groups in its border regions, which have struggled for decades for more autonomy
UNITED NATIONS: Myanmar is on “a path to self-destruction” if violence in the conflict-wracked Southeast Asian nation doesn’t end, the UN envoy warned on Tuesday.
Julie Bishop told the UN General Assembly that “alarmingly” the violence didn’t end after a powerful earthquake in late March devastated parts of the capital, Naypyitaw, and the country’s second-largest city, Mandalay, killing more than 3,000 people and injuring thousands more.
Ceasefires announced by some parties have largely not been observed, “embedding a crisis within a crisis,” and people in Myanmar must now deal with the raging conflict and the earthquake’s devastation, said Bishop, a former foreign minister of Australia.
“A zero-sum approach persists on all sides,” she said. “Armed clashes remain a barrier to meeting humanitarian needs. The flow of weapons into the country is fueling the expectations that a military solution is possible.”
A widespread armed struggle against military rule in Myanmar began in February 2021 after generals seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. More than 6,600 civilians are estimated to have been killed by security forces, according to figures compiled by nongovernmental organizations.
The military takeover triggered intensified fighting with long-established armed militias organized by Myanmar’s ethnic minority groups in its border regions, which have struggled for decades for more autonomy. It also led to the formation of pro-democracy militias that support a national unity government established by elected lawmakers barred from taking their seats after the army takeover.
More than 22,000 political prisoners are still in detention, Bishop said, including Suu Kyi, who turns 80 on June 19, and the ousted president, Win Myint.
The UN envoy said she detected “some openness to political dialogue with some regional support, but there is not yet broader agreement on how to move forward.”
In meetings with the country’s leaders, Bishop said she encouraged them to reconsider their strategy, which has left the country more divided. She also warned against elections, planned for December or January, saying they risk fueling greater resistance and instability unless there is an end to the violence and they can be held in an inclusive and transparent way.
Bishop said she has been coordinating further action with Othman Hashim, the special envoy for Myanmar from the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations, known as ASEAN, and they agreed to visit Myanmar together.
The UN envoy said she had a meeting online on Monday with representatives of the Rohingya minority from Myanmar and Bangladesh.
She said the situation for the Rohingya in Myanmar’s northern Rakhine state remains dire, with up to 80 percent of civilians living in poverty and caught in crossfire between the government’s military forces and the Arakan Army, the well-armed military wing of the Rakhine ethnic minority, and “subject to forced recruitment and other abuses.”
More than 700,000 Muslim Rohingya fled to Bangladesh from Myanmar starting in late August 2017 when Myanmar’s military launched a “clearance operation.” Members of the ethnic group face discrimination and are denied citizenship and other rights in the Buddhist-majority nation.
Bishop said there’s hope that a high-level conference on the Rohingya and other minorities called for by the UN General Assembly on Sept. 30 will put a spotlight on the urgency of finding “durable solutions” to their plight.
