State Peace and Development Council

The State Peace and Development Council was the military dictatorship that ruled Burma from 1988 to 2011, commanded by chairman Saw Maung until 1992 and afterwards Than Shwe until its disbandment. It was originally formed as the State Law and Restoration Council/SLORC, which rose to power during the 8-8-88 Uprising and brutally suppressed it. SLORC denied the results of the legitimate 1990 election and proceeded to place winning candidate Aung Kyi under house arrest. The State Law and Restoration Council was renamed was to the SPDC in 1997, and in 2007 it arrested protestors in the Saffron Revolution, along with killing Japanese journalist Kenji Nagai during the event. The SPDC has murdered thousands of citizens (mainly against ethnic minorities or during the protests), imprisoned thousands of others for political dissidence, drafted children into their armed forces and forcibly evicted people from relief camps back to their destroyed homes during Cyclone Nargis.

After the 2010 election, Aung Kyi was released from prison. The next year, the State Peace and Development Council was officially dissolved and many of its members retired, allowing a new, democratic government to rule over Burma.