Soe Win ( my, စိုးဝင်း; ; born 1 March 1961) is a Burmese army general and current Deputy Prime Minister of Myanmar following the formation of the caretaker government on 1 August 2021. He also serves as vice chairman of the State Administration Council, deputy commander-in-chief of the

Tatmadaw Tatmadaw (, , ) is the official name of the armed forces of Myanmar (formerly Burma). It is administered by the Ministry of Defence and composed of the Myanmar Army, the Myanmar Navy and the Myanmar Air Force. Auxiliary services include t ...

(Myanmar armed forces) and commander-in-chief of the

Myanmar Army The Myanmar Army ( my, တပ်မတော်(ကြည်း), ) is the largest branch of the Armed Forces (''Tatmadaw'') of Myanmar (Burma) and has the primary responsibility of conducting land-based military operations. The Myanmar Arm ...

. He is also a member of Myanmar's National Defence and Security Council. In May 2012, former

president of Myanmar The president of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar () is the head of state and constitutional head of government of Myanmar. The president leads the Cabinet of Myanmar, the executive branch of the Burmese government. The current presid ...

Thein Sein Thein Sein ( my, သိန်းစိန်; IPA: ; born 20 April 1944) is a Burmese politician and retired general in the Myanmar Army who served as the eighth President of Myanmar from 2011 to 2016. He previously served as Prime Minister ...

appointed him to the working committee of the government team responsible for negotiating with Myanmar's many armed ethnic rebel groups. Soe Win is a close associate of former vice chairman of the SPDC, Vice-Senior General Maung Aye.

Early life and education

Soe Win was born in 1961 to Chit Sein and Kyin Htwe. In 1976, he attended a cadet course at the Defense Services Academy, alongside

Ye Htut Ye Htut ( my, ရဲထွဋ်, ) is a Burmese military officer who previously served as presidential spokesman from 2013 to 2016 and later as minister for the Ministry of Information (Myanmar) from 2014 to 2016 in the Thein Sein's Cabinet. He ...

, graduating with distinctions in military science and literature. He graduated as part of the 22nd intake in 1981.

Military career

In 1981, Soe Win graduated from the Defense Services Academy (DSA) during its 22nd intake. In June 2008, he became the commander of the Northern Regional Command of the

in Kachin State. In August 2010, he became Chief of the Bureau of Special Operations-6 (BSO-6), which oversees military operations in

Chin The chin is the forward pointed part of the anterior mandible ( mental region) below the lower lip. A fully developed human skull has a chin of between 0.7 cm and 1.1 cm. Evolution The presence of a well-developed chin is considered to be one ...

and Rakhine States and the

Magwe Region Magway Region ( my, မကွေးတိုင်းဒေသကြီး, ; formerly Magway Division) is an administrative division in central Myanmar. It is the second largest of Myanmar's seven divisions, with an area of . Pa Del Dam (ပဒ ...

. Soe Win had also pressured the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) to convert into a "Border Guard Force" (BGF) under the control of the military. Despite numerous meetings between Soe win and KIA leaders in July 2009 and August 2010, the KIA did not become a BGF. In September 2011, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) accused Soe Win of ordering

soldiers to attack KIA positions in Kachin State, thus violating the terms of multiple ceasefire agreements signed prior to the alleged attacks. Soe Win denied the claims, saying that neither he nor anyone else in the Northern Regional Command had ordered an attack on the KIA.

Accusations of corruption

Soe Win has been accused of being involved numerous cases of corruption and extortion during his career as commander of the Northern Regional Command from 2008 to 2010. He has been accused of accepting bribes from companies dealing in

jade Jade is a mineral used as jewellery or for ornaments. It is typically green, although may be yellow or white. Jade can refer to either of two different silicate minerals: nephrite (a silicate of calcium and magnesium in the amphibole gro ...

, timber, and gold, in exchange for concessions from the profits. He was reported to have accepted a 150 million kyat ($149,254 USD) bribe from teak businessmen from China's Yunnan Province, in exchange for allowing illicit teak trade on the Myanmar-China border. In March 2010, he ordered

soldiers in Hpakant, Kachin State, to collect military taxes from local jade mining companies.

Sanctions

The

U.S. Department of the Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and th ...

has imposed

sanctions A sanction may be either a permission or a restriction, depending upon context, as the word is an auto-antonym. Examples of sanctions include: Government and law * Sanctions (law), penalties imposed by courts * Economic sanctions, typically a b ...

on Soe Win since 10 December 2019, pursuant to Executive Order 13818, which builds upon and implements the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act and targets perpetrators of serious human rights abuse and corruption. He has committed serious human rights abuse against members of ethnic minority groups across Myanmar. These US sanctions include a freezing of assets under the US and a ban on transactions with any

US person The term United States person or US person is used in various contexts in US laws and regulations with different meanings. It can refer to natural persons or other entities. Data collection and intelligence The term "US person" is used in the co ...

. About one year later on 11 February 2021, he was also placed on the sanctions list of the

OFAC The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is a financial intelligence and enforcement agency of the U.S. Treasury Department. It administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions in support of U.S. national security and foreign policy ob ...

pursuant to Executive Order 14014, in response to the Burmese military’s coup against the democratically elected civilian government of Burma. The

Government of Canada The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown-i ...

has imposed sanctions on him since 18 February 2021, pursuant to Special Economic Measures Act and Special Economic Measures (Burma) Regulations, in response to the gravity of the human rights and humanitarian situation in Myanmar (formerly Burma). Canadian sanctions include a freezing of assets under Canada and a ban on transactions with any Canadian person. Furthermore, the

Council of the European Union The Council of the European Union, often referred to in the treaties and other official documents simply as the Council, and informally known as the Council of Ministers, is the third of the seven Institutions of the European Union (EU) as ...

has imposed sanctions on him since 22 March 2021, pursuant to Council Regulation (EU) 2021/479 and Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/480 which amended Council Regulation (EU) No 401/2013, for his responsibility for the military coup and the subsequent military and police repression against peaceful demonstrators. The EU sanctions include a freezing of assets under member countries of the EU and a ban on entry or transit to the countries.

Personal life

Soe Win is married to Than Than Nwe (b. 1954).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Soe Win 1961 births Burmese generals Burmese military personnel Deputy Prime Ministers of Myanmar Defence Services Academy alumni Living people People sanctioned under the Magnitsky Act Recipients of the Order of the Union of Myanmar Members of the State Administration Council 21st-century Burmese politicians Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List