Myanmar Brands Karen Rebels Terrorists Before Elections

Myanmar’s military government escalated its crackdown on dissent by designating the Karen National Union (KNU), a major ethnic rebel group, as a terrorist organization on Thursday, just months before planned national elections on December 28. The move, announced by state-run MRTV, criminalizes any contact with the KNU and its affiliates, severely restricting their activities, including nonviolent campaigns against the polls. The KNU, based in southeast Myanmar’s Kayin state, has fiercely opposed the military since the 2021 coup, vowing to disrupt what critics call a sham election to legitimize the junta’s rule.

The KNU, fighting for greater autonomy since Myanmar’s independence in 1948, has been a key player in the ongoing civil war sparked by the military’s ouster of Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government. KNU spokesperson Padoh Saw Taw Nee dismissed the terrorist label, stating, “The military, indicted by international tribunals, are the real terrorists and criminals.” The group’s armed wing, the Karen National Liberation Army, has trained urban pro-democracy activists and allied with resistance militias, intensifying clashes in Kayin state. The KNU’s refusal to join the junta’s peace talks, demanding the military’s exit from politics and a federal democracy, has further strained relations.

MRTV justified the designation, claiming the KNU caused “serious losses” to public security, infrastructure, and state property. The broadcast also quoted Myanmar’s independence hero Aung San, father of detained leader Aung San Suu Kyi, warning that election disruptors would face severe punishment. The junta’s new election law, enacted last month, imposes harsh penalties, including the death penalty, for opposing the polls, which have been condemned for excluding Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, dissolved after its 2020 landslide victory.

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The KNU’s designation complicates its operations, especially nonviolent efforts to challenge the election’s legitimacy. Having signed a 2015 ceasefire with a quasi-civilian government, the KNU resumed armed resistance after the 2021 coup’s violent suppression of protests. The group’s alliance with pro-democracy forces and its training of young activists have made it a formidable opponent to the junta, led by Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, who also declared the KNU an unlawful organization.

Critics argue the terrorist label is a tactic to suppress opposition ahead of the elections, widely seen as an attempt to entrench military rule. The KNU’s boycott of peace talks, alongside other ethnic groups, reflects demands for international mediation and a democratic federal system—conditions the junta has rejected. As fighting intensifies in Myanmar’s border regions, the designation risks further escalating the civil war, with the KNU vowing to continue its resistance despite the military’s aggressive measures.

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