The Myanmar Indigenous Peoples/Ethnic Nationalities Network, a 28-member alliance working on indigenous rights issues in the country, released a statement on February 12 expressing its opposition to this month’s military coup and support for nationwide protests against authoritarianism.

“We strongly support the people who are now protesting against the dictatorships in Myanmar, including the military regime, and strongly condemn the actions of the coup d’état,” the Myanmar Indigenous Peoples/Ethnic Nationalities Network said in the statement.

The ethnic rights coalition also called for effective action to be taken to push back against the coup, and to prevent arbitrary arrests and bloodshed of non-violent protesters.

“It has been made public that all ethnic nationalities in Myanmar share the same views as in the statement against the military dictatorship,” said U Bo Yaw of the network.

“Indigenous peoples are not only victims of human rights abuses and the destruction of natural resources under successive dictatorships and successive governments under the 2008 Constitution, but also the victims of decades of civil war and the worst of human rights abuses,” the Myanmar Indigenous Peoples/Ethnic Nationalities Network statement reads.

Only with the emergence of a new, federal and democratic constitution, allowing for full autonomy and drafted by the people, will ethnic groups be able to live together in peace and security, the network said.

The military’s pre-dawn takeover on February 1 has been widely criticised both within Myanmar and abroad, including denunciations by several Western nations and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Street protests have been staged in cities and towns across Myanmar over the past week, including in several Arakan State townships.