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YANGON: Activists called for more protests against the coup in Myanmar today, the anniversary of the death of a student whose murder in 1988 sparked widespread anti-government protests and led to the rise of Aung San Suu Kyi as an icon of democracy.
The calls came as the leaders of the United States, India, Australia and Japan vowed to work together to restore democracy in a country where violence has escalated as authorities harshly crack down on protests and civil disobedience.
Today posters were spread on social media asking people to take to the streets to protest against the junta and to commemorate the anniversary of the death of Phone Maw, who was shot and killed by security forces in 1988 within what It was then known as the Rangoon Institute of Technology Campus.
His shooting and that of another student who died a few weeks later sparked widespread protests against the military government known as the 8-8-88 campaign, because they peaked in August of that year. An estimated 3,000 people were killed when the army crushed the uprising.
Suu Kyi became involved in the movement and was under house arrest for almost two decades. She was released in 2008 when the military began democratic reforms and her National League for Democracy won elections in 2015 and again in November last year.
On February 1 of this year, the generals overthrew their government and detained Suu Kyi and many of her cabinet colleagues, citing fraud in the November elections.
More than 70 people have died in the Southeast Asian nation in widespread protests since then, the advocacy group the Association for Assistance for Political Prisoners (AAPP) said.
Yesterday, a day after 12 people died in one of the bloodiest days since the coup, former colonial power Britain warned its citizens in Myanmar to leave, saying that “political tension and unrest have been widespread since the seizure of military power and levels of violence are increasing. ” .
The coup in Myanmar, where the military has close ties to China, is an important initial test for the new US president, Joe Biden.
His administration yesterday signaled a virtual meeting with the leaders of India, Japan and Australia, the first official summit of a group known as the Quad, as part of a push to demonstrate a renewed US commitment to regional security.
“As longtime supporters of Myanmar and its people, we emphasize the urgent need to restore democracy and the priority of strengthening democratic resilience,” the four leaders said in a statement issued by the White House.
A spokesman for the board did not respond to Reuters phone calls seeking comment.
South Korea breaks defense ties
UN human rights researcher Thomas Andrews yesterday called “absurd” comments by a senior Myanmar official that the authorities were exercising “the utmost restraint.”
Addressing the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, he called for a united approach to “remove the sense of impunity from the junta.”
South Korea said yesterday that it would suspend defense exchanges and reconsider development aid to Myanmar due to the violence.
The Kremlin said that Russia, which has close ties to the Myanmar military, was concerned about the escalating violence and was “analyzing” the possibility of suspending military-technical cooperation.
“We assess the situation as alarming, and we are concerned about the information about the growing number of civilian casualties coming from there,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying by the TASS news agency.
Earlier this week, the UN Security Council removed language from a statement condemning the military’s takeover as a coup and threatening possible further action due to opposition from China, Russia, India, and Vietnam. .
The Polish Foreign Ministry said a Polish journalist was arrested this week in Myanmar, the second foreign reporter to be detained. A Japanese journalist was briefly detained while covering a protest.
Riot police and armed soldiers entered the general hospital in Hakha, in the western state of Chin, forcing the 30 patients to leave and evicting staff from the homes there, said local activist Salai Lian.
Soldiers have been occupying hospitals and universities across Myanmar as they try to quell a civil disobedience movement that began with government employees, such as doctors and teachers, but has expanded into a general strike that has paralyzed many sectors of the economy.
On Friday night, large crowds gathered for the nightly vigils. In Yangon, the commercial capital, candles were lit in the form of a three-finger salute, symbol of the movement, as saffron-robed monks gathered in front of a pagoda in the northern Sagaing region. – Reuters
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