8888 Uprising - SLORC "coup" and Crackdown

SLORC "coup" and Crackdown

On 18 September 1988, the military retook power in the country. General Saw Maung repealed the 1974 constitution and established the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), "imposing more Draconian measures than Ne Win had imposed." After Maung had imposed martial law, the protests were violently broken up. The government announced on the state-run radio that the military had assumed power in the peoples interest, "in order to bring a timely halt to the deteriorating conditions on all sides all over the country." Tatmadaw troops went through cities throughout Burma, indiscriminately firing on protestors. Within the first week of securing power, 1,000 students, monks and schoolchildren were killed, and another 500 were killed whilst protesting outside the United States embassy – footage caught by a cameraman nearby who distributed the footage to the world's media. Maung described the dead as "looters". Protestors were pursued into the jungle and some students took up training on the country's borders with Thailand.

"I would like every country in the world to recognize the fact that the people of Burma are being shot down for no reason at all."

By the end of September, there were around 3,000 estimated deaths and unknown number of injured, with 1,000 deaths in Rangoon alone. At this point in time, Aung San Suu Kyi appealed for help. On 21 September, the government had regained control of the country, with the movement effectively collapsing in October. By the end of 1988, it was estimated that 10,000 people – including protesters and soldiers, had been killed. Many others were missing.