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WASHINGTON: United States President Joe Biden announced sanctions on Wednesday (February 10) against Myanmar’s military leaders and demanded that they resign from power after tens of thousands of people took to the streets of the largest city in Myanmar. the Southeast Asian nation for the fifth consecutive day demanding the return of democracy.
The popular show of force in Yangon, which defied a ban on protests in Myanmar’s former capital, saw crowds invade the city and call for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi following her overthrow in a coup last week.
Protesters clashed with police a day after authorities dispersed crowds elsewhere with tear gas and rubber bullets, and increased harassment of the deposed leader’s party.
The sudden escalation of force against the demonstrations that swept across the country sparked a new chorus of international condemnation after officers fired royal rounds at a rally in Naypyidaw, which has been the capital since 2005.
The protesters returned to the streets of Yangon on Wednesday morning, where the previous day a large crowd confronted a water cannon and a phalanx of riot police. (Photo: AFP / Sai Aung Main)
Biden said his administration was cutting off Myanmar generals’ access to $ 1 billion in funding in the United States and would soon reveal new sanctions.
“I once again call on the Burmese army to immediately release the democratic political leaders and activists they are detaining, including Aung San Suu Kyi and also Win Myint, the president,” Biden said.
“The military must renounce power.”
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Two people were seriously injured in the Naypyidaw incident, including a woman who was shot in the head.
Images showing her in the moments after she was shot appeared on a huge protest banner Wednesday and had been widely shared online along with expressions of pain and fury.
“They can shoot a young woman, but they cannot steal the hope and determination of a determined people,” UN Special Rapporteur Tom Andrews tweeted Wednesday.
Massive crowds returned to the streets of Yangon on Wednesday, where the previous day they had faced a phalanx of riot police alongside trucks with water cannons near Aung San Suu Kyi’s residence.
Biden’s remarks come after the European Union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell warned that the bloc could impose new sanctions on Myanmar’s military, but said any measure should be aimed at avoiding affecting the population in general.
Biden said the United States “will work with our international partners to urge other nations to join us in these efforts.”
ARRESTED JOURNALIST
More politicians from Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) were detained on Tuesday along with 30 others, including a journalist from local broadcaster DVB, at a protest in Mandalay, the monitoring group for the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.
His arrests in Yangon came when police fired tear gas at protesters waving red NLD flags.
State media reported that the crowd threw objects at police and injured four officers, which is the first direct mention of the protests since they began over the weekend.
“Therefore, the members of the police dispersed according to the methods and the laws,” reported Myanmar’s state newspaper Global New Light, without mentioning other police clashes in other parts of the country.
Hundreds of protesters in Mandalay were unfazed on Wednesday, returning to the streets with signs reading “Down with the dictatorship.”
Myanmar has been rocked by a burgeoning campaign of civil disobedience and massive street protests. (Photo: AFP / STR)
Elsewhere, security force discipline appeared to be collapsing, with four officers deserting their lines in the eastern city of Loikaw to join protests against the coup, according to local media reports.
Soldiers raided the NLD headquarters in Yangon after nightfall, but party member Soe Win told AFP that his colleagues were unable to intervene due to a general curfew imposed in the city.
The next morning he arrived at the scene and found broken door locks, missing computer equipment, severed server cables and bank documents taken from a safe.
‘RESPECT THE VOTE’
The army justified last week’s takeover by alleging widespread electoral fraud in the November elections, which saw a landslide for Aung San Suu Kyi’s party.
He quickly moved to piling up courts and political offices with loyalists.
In the 10 days since Army Chief Min Aung Hlaing ousted the Nobel laureate from power and ended a decade of civil rule, Myanmar has been rocked by a growing campaign of civil disobedience and massive street protests.
READ: Myanmar’s junta leader asks his Thai counterpart for help for democracy
Medical personnel, air traffic controllers and teachers have organized strikes, while others have put red ribbons on their uniforms or posed for photos while brandishing the three-finger salute adopted by the anti-coup movement.
Medical staff, air traffic controllers and teachers have staged strikes, faced work with red ribbons on their uniforms or posed for photos while brandishing the three-finger salute adopted by the anti-coup movement. (Photo: AFP / STR)
On Wednesday, the military announced that special hotlines were set up for public officials to report whether they were being intimidated for not participating in anti-coup activities.
A tech-focused Myanmar civil society organization also tweeted that a cybersecurity bill had been sent to telecommunications companies, which last week were briefly ordered to shut down internet services.
READ: How protesters in Myanmar avoid internet and social media blackouts
According to MIDO, the bill will allow the military to “order closures, website bans, content removal, and interceptions,” while requiring social media platforms to hand over user metadata to authorities when requested.
The UN Human Rights Council has said it will hold a special session on Friday to discuss the crisis.
