Analysis of Reactions to Nonviolent Public Protests Against Revolutionary Forces 1. Introduction & Background The Myanmar military has repeatedly suppressed and restricted freedom of opinion and expression, the most fundamental human right, using various means. Following the 2021 Coup, the regime responded to nonviolent public protests against the coup solely with violence. The Spring Revolution in Myanmar began as a peaceful, nonviolent movement. It was forced to become an armed resistance, as the military regime violently cracked down on protests. The crackdown used lethal force, mass arbitrary arrests, and torture. As the revolution’s landscape shifted, People’s Defense Forces (PDFs) and local defense forces emerged across the country. Over the past five years, Ethnic Revolutionary Organizations (EROs) and new resistance groups have gained control of some territories. Currently, they control about 90 townships. 1 The organizations leading the revolution aim to resist the regime’s human rights violations and oppression, and seek to establish a federal democratic union grounded in freedom and justice. 2 However, as resistance forces gained greater territorial control and began assuming administrative roles, they began establishing systems of governance and territorial management. In implementing these administrative mechanisms, it became necessary to ensure the protection of the rights of the governed population, as well as the responsibility and accountability of local authorities. 1 တော်လှန်ရေးတပ်ဖွဲ့များ သိမ်းပိုက်ထိန်းချုပ်ထားသည့် မြို့ပေါင်း ၉၀ မြို့၊ Burma News International (၂၀၂၆၊ မတ်လ) 2 ဖက်ဒရယ် ဒီမိုကရေစီပဋိညာဉ် Page - 2