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Myanmar coup raises stakes for investigations into rights abuses

Leaders fear the fall of a democratically elected government will trigger a human rights crisis as the junta returns to power.

Yangon's Shwedagon Pagoda, the most sacred Buddhist stupa in Myanmar
Yangon's Shwedagon Pagoda, the most sacred Buddhist stupa in Myanmar (AN/J. Heilprin)

For years, Myanmar's generals have run the country, sometimes openly and at other times opaquely. For a brief time over the past decade, the military seemed to be handing over power to civilian rule, winning plaudits from the international community. Now the facade is gone.

Human rights leaders and organizations expressed alarm at Myanmar's military coup against the democratically elected government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi on Monday, ending the nation's tentative progress in putting behind decades of military rule.

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