Myanmar's police forces: coercion, continuity and change.

• Author: Selth, Andrew
• Position: Report

The Police department has always been and will always be one of the most important branches of administration of Burma.

Daw Mya Sein The Administration of Burma (1938) For more than half a century, whenever reference has been made to Myanmar's coercive state apparatus, it has been the armed forces (or Tatmadaw) which have immediately sprung to mind. (2) This is hardly surprising. After all, the country boasts the world's most durable military dictatorship. There is another institution, however, that was once even more important and, arguably, is starting to recover its former role in Myanmar's internal affairs. This is the country's national police, currently organized as the Myanmar Police Force (MPF).

Since the coup d'etat in 1962 that brought General Ne Win to power, the armed forces have come to dominate almost every aspect of Myanmar society. In addition, over the past twenty years the Tatmadaw has been expanded and modernized. Estimates of its current size vary greatly, from less than 300,000 to more than 500,000. (3) Whatever figure is used, however, it is probably still the second largest armed force in Southeast Asia, after that of Vietnam. For fifty years, it has been the primary coercive arm of Myanmar's central government. Its troops have been deployed not only to combat armed insurgents and narcotics warlords in the countryside, but also to enforce the regime's edicts and crush civil unrest in urban centres. Continued military rule has also been made possible by a powerful intelligence system. Notwithstanding a new constitution in 2008 and the "election" of an apparently reform-minded government in 2010, the armed forces remain the ultimate arbiters of power in Myanmar. (4)

Throughout this period, the police have received little publicity. From time to time, there have been references in Myanmar's state-controlled news media to police campaigns against crime in the cities and police involvement in rural anti-narcotics operations. There have been occasional reports in the local press of police corruption and abuses. Rarely, however, has the force itself excited much attention, either in Myanmar or further afield. There have been a few passing mentions in the academic literature but descriptions in reference books have generally been out of date or inaccurate. (5) Similarly, estimates of the MPF's size have failed to keep pace with its growth. (6) International human rights groups have highlighted the activities of the force's paramilitary units and the role of Special Branch, which have played a part in the detention and interrogation of dissidents. Even then, however, little attention has been paid to the police force as a national institution.

That situation is now changing. Myanmar's police force is gradually being recognized as a large, increasingly powerful and influential organization that is likely to become a key instrument of reform and control under the hybrid civilian-military government that was formally inaugurated in Naypyidaw in March 2011.

Development and Roles

Over the past 180 years, the size, structure and effectiveness of Myanmar's police forces have varied greatly. Whether they have been under British, Japanese or Myanmar control, however, they have always played an important role in the country's administration and national security.

During the colonial period, the police were essential for British rule. The conquest of Myanmar (then known as Burma) in three wars between 1826 and 1885 was carried out by regular soldiers of the East India Company, British India and the United Kingdom itself. (7) The army also assisted in the "pacification" of Myanmar after the fall of Mandalay, and was called upon to help crush the so-called Saya San rebellion in the 1930s. Yet, it was the province's police forces that were responsible for day-to-day enforcement of colonial rule, maintenance of law and order--as defined by various officials in Rangoon, Calcutta and London--for supporting the civil administration, and protecting the commercial ventures which soon established themselves in Britain's rich new possession. The police were also in the forefront of the colonial regime's attempts to stem the rising tide of nationalism in the early twentieth century.

Thus the Burma Police (BP) was the principal component of the colonial administration's coercive apparatus. Formally instituted in 1861 as a provincial civil or constabulary police force within British India, it was joined by the Burma Military Police (BMP) in 1887, the Railway Police in 1890 and the Rangoon Town Police in 1899. After a review of all British India's police forces in 1891, most executive positions in the BP were filled by members of a new colony-wide service which became known as the Indian Imperial Police. (8) In 1937, when Myanmar formally separated from India and became a colony in its own right, two thirds of the BMP were reconstituted as the Burma Frontier Force. After Myanmar was "pacified", relatively few regular army units had been retained in-country. In 1908, for example, there were 9,486 British and "native" troops stationed in Myanmar. (9) By 1939, the number had declined to 5,000, less than half the strength of the military police force. (10)

To help fulfill its multiple roles, the BP developed an extensive system to gather intelligence, not just on criminal organizations and unlawful activity but also on local personalities and developments of broader social, political and security interest. (11) In Myanmar, as in India proper and other British colonial dependencies, it became the accepted practice for the civil police force to act as "the eyes and ears of their Government". (12) By 1890, and possibly even earlier, an Intelligence Branch (IB) had been formed within the BP to gather and collate information about the movements of "suspicious strangers", monitor domestic dissent and deal with "cases of a political nature". (13) When a Criminal Investigation Branch (CIB) was created in 1906 the IB became part of that organization. Given wide responsibilities, the CIB became a "cornerstone of the surveillance and intelligence function of the government". (14) In 1948, the IB was taken out of the CIB and renamed Special Branch.

Following the outbreak of the Second World War, and the British retreat to India in 1942, an indigenous Myanmar police force helped the Kempeitai military police enforce compliance with Japanese rule. When Britain reoccupied Myanmar in 1945 it re-established the old civil police force and created two paramilitary forces to help restore law and order. These were the Armed Police and Frontier Constabulary. After Myanmar regained its independence in 1948, the new Burma Police Organization and Union Military Police (UMP) were an integral part of Prime Minister U Nu's grand design to bring peace and prosperity to the country. Faced with serious internal security problems, however, the police struggled to exercise their basic functions. Even before the "Bogyoke" or "caretaker" military government was installed in 1958, they were overshadowed by Myanmar's growing armed forces.

The 1962 military coup saw the effective eclipse of Myanmar's national police force as an independent entity. It continued to exist as a separate institution but answered to the armed forces, which assumed responsibility for all functions of government, including law and order. Some senior police positions were filled by army officers. After a major reorganization in 1964, the renamed People's Police Force (PPF) acquired greater power and formal status. Following a nation-wide pro-democracy uprising in 1988, and severe criticism of the police's performance from both within and outside Myanmar, the newly-installed State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) reorganized the force once again. It still occupied a subordinate role, vis-a-vis the army, but by the mid-1990s the revamped and renamed Myanmar Police Force had been elevated to a more important position in Myanmar's domestic affairs. (15)

If the armed forces continue to step back from direct rule, this trend is likely to continue as President Thein Sein's administration in Naypyidaw attempts to change the popular perception of the government and its instruments of power by presenting a more civilian face to the country, and the world.

Such a transition, however, will not be easy. Myanmar's police have never enjoyed a positive image. Before 1942, the force was "viewed with disdain as a lackey of the colonial power". (16) It was the same story under the Japanese who, despite initially being welcomed by Myanmar nationalists, soon came to be viewed as even more oppressive than the British. The widespread perception of the police as inefficient, corrupt and politically partisan was reinforced during the chaotic post-independence period, when U Nu's government was accused of using the force--including the UMP--against its political opponents. After the 1962 coup, the PPF became the willing, albeit junior, partner in an inept and repressive military regime. This position was confirmed in the popular mind by the brutality of the Len Htein riot police before and during the 1988 uprising. (17)

Under the SLORC and, after 1997, its nominal successor the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), the MPF still faced serious problems. After a series of administrative and personnel changes, however, it gave the impression of being better organized, better resourced and more professional in the execution of its duties. It is significant that, after a purge of the country's military intelligence apparatus in 2004, the MPF was given greater responsibility for monitoring Myanmar's internal security. (18) For a period, the force even seemed to be gaining a greater level of public respect. (19) Its popular standing suffered another blow in 2007, however, when it helped to crush the civil unrest which erupted that year. Some observers have suggested that a distinction was...