On September 6, 2021, environmental and democracy activist Kyaw Minn Htut was arrested with his brother and uncle, while Htut's wife and their 2-year-old son had both been arrested the day before. Kyaw Minn Htut is an active members of several prominent civil society and environmental groups, including the Myanmar Alliance for Transparency and Accountability (MATA), a network of more than 400 civil society organizations nationwide, and the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), a global watchdog group. He had openly challenged the military and reported on illegal environmental activities. He was also a member of the European Union Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (EU FLEGT) multistakeholder, a group which aims to reduce illegal logging and improve governance throughout the EU’s timber supply chain, including in source countries such as Myanmar. Local groups believe he was targeted because of his well-known environmental work.