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Police in Myanmar opened fire on Friday (March 5) on protesters against last month’s military coup, killing one man, as international condemnation rained down on the junta ahead of a United Nations Security Council meeting to discuss the crisis.
The violence took place when the United States announced new sanctions against military conglomerates after the deaths of dozens of civilian protesters.
Activists demanding the restoration of the elected government of veteran democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi held more demonstrations in various towns and cities, with thousands of people marching peacefully through the second city of Mandalay.
“The stone age is over, we are not afraid because you threaten us,” the crowd chanted.
Police opened fire and one man was killed, witnesses and a doctor told Reuters by phone.
In the main city of Yangon, police fired rubber bullets and stun grenades to disperse protesters who were joined by about 100 doctors in white coats, witnesses said.
Crowds also gathered in Pathein, west of Yangon, and in downtown Myingyan, where dozens of women in straw hats held signs calling for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, witnesses said.
A spokesman for the ruling military council did not respond to phone calls seeking comment.
Thousands also demonstrated in the southeastern state of Karen, accompanied by fighters from the Karen National Union (KNU), an armed ethnic group engaged in a long-running war with the military.
During the demonstration, the strongest indication yet of support for the anti-coup movement by one of the country’s countless armed ethnic groups, KNU troops launched the three-finger salute popularized by protesters and handed out bottles of water.
The KNU said in a statement that it would not tolerate attacks by the army against peaceful protesters.
“People in urban areas, armed ethnic groups and the international community must work together until the military dictatorship falls,” he said.
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On Thursday, police broke up demonstrations with tear gas and gunfire in several cities, but the crackdown was more moderate than on Wednesday, when the UN said 38 people were killed on the bloodiest day of protests.
In all, at least 55 people have died since the February 1 coup.
UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet demanded that the security forces stop what she called their “brutal crackdown on peaceful protesters.” Bachelet said that more than 1,700 people have been arrested, including 29 journalists.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said that some Red Cross volunteers had been injured and unjustly detained and that Red Cross ambulances had been damaged.
The military seized power saying that Aung San Suu Kyi’s landslide victory for Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) in the November elections was fraudulent. The electoral commission has said that the vote was fair.
The board has promised new elections but has not given a date. The activists have rejected that and are demanding the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been detained since the coup.
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DISOBEDIENCE
Singapore has been the most outspoken of Myanmar’s neighbors and its Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said it was a “national shame” that the armed forces used weapons against its people.
But condemnation of the coup and the ensuing violence came largely from the West, with Asian nations, including India, mostly more moderate. The board can count on some support from Russia and China, a major investor, at the UN.
The military has resisted isolation and sanctions during previous eras of military rule and has indicated that it will not be swayed this time.
The UN human rights researcher in Myanmar, Thomas Andrews, urged the Security Council, which meets to discuss the situation later on Friday, to impose a global arms embargo and specific economic sanctions on the junta.
The United States has told China, which has refused to condemn the coup, that it hopes it will play a constructive role. China has said that stability is a top priority.
The military, which ruled directly for nearly 50 years until it embarked on a tentative transition to democracy a decade ago, has been struggling to assert its authority in a country where many people abhor the idea of a return of military rule.
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A civil disobedience campaign of strikes parallel to the protests has been supported by many government workers, including a trickle of police officers.
Meanwhile, Indian security forces stepped up border patrols to prevent more people from entering, Indian officials said. About 20 policemen crossed into India this week for fear of persecution for disobeying orders to enforce the crackdown.
“For now, we are not going to let anyone in,” Maria Zuali, a government official in Mizoram state, told Reuters.
The move follows the desertion at the border of some low-ranking Myanmar police officers who were unwilling to obey the junta’s orders.
More than 10 Myanmar diplomats on foreign missions have also declared their support for the pro-democracy campaign, the Irrawaddy news outlet reported. In Washington, it was unclear whether the Myanmar embassy still represented the junta.
In New York, a confrontation over who represents Myanmar at the UN was avoided after the replacement of the board resigned and Myanmar’s mission to the UN confirmed that Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun remained in office.
The junta fired Kyaw Moe Tun on Saturday after he urged countries in the UN General Assembly to use “any means necessary” to reverse the coup.
