Myanmar swimmer Win Htet Oo: ‘Genocidaires do not deserve to be in the Olympics’
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Currently training in Melbourne, Win Htet Oo’s Facebook profile says he’s “a Myanmar swimmer dreaming about Tokyo 2020.”
The swimmer has been a vocal critic of the Myanmar in recent weeks.
The Myanmar Olympic Committee did not respond to CNN’s request for comment.
In February, Myanmar armed forces commander in chief Gen. Min Aung Hlaing seized power, overthrowing the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy party and installing a military junta.
The following months have seen ongoing protests against his rule and the rise of a Civil Disobedience movement in which thousands of blue- and white-collar workers including doctors, teachers, civil servants and factory workers have gone on strike with the aim of disrupting the economy and unseating the general.
Security forces have brutally suppressed the protests with deadly and systematic crackdowns in which police and soldiers have shot people dead in the streets and arbitrarily detained perceived opponents.
More than 750 people have been killed by security forces since the coup, and more than 4,500 arrested, according to advocacy group Assistance Association of Political Prisoners.
On March 28, UN officials condemned “systematic” attacks on peaceful protesters and called on the international community to “protect the people of Myanmar from atrocity crimes.”
A UN Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar in 2018 called for Min Aung Hlaing to be investigated and prosecuted for genocide over his military’s brutal crackdown on the Rohingya Muslim minority in Rakhine State in 2017.
In his latest Facebook post, Win Htet Oo said he’d been inspired “by the continued defiance to military rule in Myanmar by an intersectional movement that will never submit. Their bravery is undying.”
Correction: A previous version of this report incorrectly stated Win Htet Oo’s ranking on the website of swimming’s governing body.
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