Myanmar Junta Imposes Martial Law on 60 Towns — Military Courts Authorized With Death Penalty Across 6 States

Myanmar's military-backed government imposed martial law on 60 cities and townships across Kachin, Kayah, Kayin, Chin, Shan, and Rakhine states on April 24-25, 2026, authorizing military courts to try civilians with sentences up to death. The expansion — announced just weeks after Min Aung Hlaing's April 10 'civilian' inauguration — strips standard legal protections from millions of residents across nine states and regions, transfers all civilian administrative and judicial powers to military commanders, and authorizes military tribunals to issue death sentences. The stated justification is to 'end armed activities and restore law and order' — the same language used to justify the February 2021 coup. Human rights organizations condemned the measure as a direct escalation of the SAC's legal warfare against civilian populations in resistance-controlled or contested areas, effectively eliminating any residual judicial protection for the 22,668+ political prisoners already in SAC detention. The DVB noted that martial law in the affected townships authorizes military courts to bypass the civilian judicial system entirely. The announcement coincides with Chinese FM Wang Yi's visit to Naypyidaw — the highest-level Chinese diplomatic engagement with the SAC in 2026 — providing the junta critical international cover from its most powerful supporter as it intensifies security operations. The NUG, KNU, KIA, and major democratic governments rejected the martial law declaration as illegitimate, while the AAPP called it a direct threat to any remaining legal protections for political detainees.