Myanmar Rapper Byu Har Arrested By Junta For Vocal Criticism

• Byu Har, prominent hip-hop artist, arrested for criticizing Myanmar's military government on Facebook.
• Arrest part of ongoing crackdown on dissent and critics.
• Byu Har denounced junta's handling of nationwide power outages.

Byu Har, a prominent hip-hop artist in Myanmar, has been arrested after expressing criticism of the military government on Facebook.

Byu Har specifically condemned the junta's inadequate management of nationwide power outages, which have plagued Myanmar since the coup in 2021 that ousted Aung San Suu Kyi's civilian administration.

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Byu Har denounced junta's handling of nationwide power outages.

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Byu Har, prominent hip-hop artist, arrested for criticizing Myanmar's military government on Facebook.

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Arrest part of ongoing crackdown on dissent and critics.

This detention is part of the ongoing pattern of the regime's crackdown on dissenting voices and critics.

Byu Har, formerly based in Yangon, criticized the electricity minister and referred to the junta's leaders using inflammatory language in a video posted on Facebook.

He also shared his home address, daring the authorities to arrest him. Sources familiar with the incident reported that Byu Har was detained by the police in Yangon's North Dagon Township on Wednesday, after which his friends and family lost contact with him.

Prior to his arrest, he had received multiple warnings from authorities due to his music that criticized the military government. The current location and condition of Byu Har remain unknown.

Human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, have documented the routine use of extreme interrogation and torture by Myanmar's authorities on detainees.

Byu Har, the son of renowned musician Naing Myanmar, has been affected by these oppressive practices.

Naing Myanmar gained fame for his song 'The World Will Not End,' which became an anthem during the 1988 revolution, when student activists led a nationwide uprising against the former military regime. This song has resurfaced during the ongoing civil war following the coup in February 2021.

The military government has struggled to establish control over significant parts of the country, facing resistance from long-standing ethnic armed groups along the border and newly-formed anti-coup militias known as People's Defence Forces (PDFs) in other regions.

The conflict has resulted in numerous casualties, with thousands of deaths and approximately 1.4 million people displaced. The United Nations estimates that nearly one-third of Myanmar's population is in need of humanitarian assistance.