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Opponents of Myanmar’s coup protested again on Saturday (March 20) as international pressure on the military junta increased to stop the crackdown on democracy supporters, and Asian neighbors joined Western countries in condemning the force. lethal.
A young man was shot and killed in one of Yangon’s most turbulent neighborhoods, a resident and media reported, bringing the death toll from the Feb. 1 coup to 238, according to a tally. of the Association of Assistance for Political Prisoners. activist group.
Two people were killed when soldiers opened fire overnight in Mogok, a ruby mining town in the north, the Myanmar Now news portal reported. Those shot were night guards, according to the portal.
“One died on the spot last night, while two others are in critical condition at the hospital,” a member of the rescue team confirmed to AFP, declining to give further details.
READ: 2 journalists arrested as Myanmar junta cracks down on the press
The bloodshed has not quelled anger over the overthrow of the elected government and the arrest of its leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, although some protest organizers say they have had to adapt their tactics.
“We protest where there are no police or military, then when we hear that they are coming, we quickly disperse,” activist Kyaw Min Htike told Reuters from Dawei in the south before he and others held a brief demonstration outside the center of the city.
“I don’t want to lose a single one of my comrades, but we will protest however we can until our revolution prevails.”
“Who says we have to give up because of gun inequality? We were born for victory,” prominent activist Ei Thinzar Maung tweeted, using the hashtag #SpringRevolution.
Protesters prepare to defend themselves as they gather in Tarkata Township, Yangon, Myanmar, on March 20, 20201 (Photo: AP)
Some groups gather at night with candles and posters, then melt after taking pictures. People also organize “unmanned” protests, with rows of signs with messages such as “We won’t stop until we get democracy” on the street.
On Saturday, dozens of protesters gathered in the second city of Mandalay. Several were injured when a vehicle collided with them and when police fired rubber bullets, a city news portal reported. It was not clear why the vehicle hit the protesters.
There were small protests in other cities, including Kyaukme and Hsipaw in the northeast, Kawlin in the north, Hpa-an and Myawaddy in the east, Labutta in the Irrawaddy river delta, Myeik in the south and the central city of Yay Oo, according to to news portals and images of social networks.
Hundreds of people marched in the town of Monywa and burned a copy of the 2008 Constitution, which was drawn up under military supervision and limits the powers of elected civilians, the Irrawaddy news portal reported.
Local media showed protesters wearing gas masks gathered in northern Shan State, while in Dawei, motorists held up Aung San Suu Kyi signs and banners reading: “End the dictatorship.”
Protesters in Shan State raised homemade shields that read: “Protect unarmed civilians.”
Vinyls with protest slogans, seen in Yangon, March 17, 2021. (Photo: Naung Kham)
Outside of the protests, crackdowns by security forces continue in Myanmar’s streets and residential areas, the monitoring group of the Political Prisoner Assistance Association said.
“Casualties and unprovoked shootings are increasing by the day,” he said.
United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Friday condemned what he denounced as continued brutal violence by the military. A “strong and unified international response” was urgently needed, his spokesman quoted him as saying.
UN Rapporteur Tom Andrews called for sanctions in response to what he called the generals’ ruthless attacks on the people. “The world must respond by cutting off its access to money and guns. Now,” he wrote on Twitter.
COMMENT: Can Myanmar’s civil disobedience movement reverse the coup?
The US House of Representatives passed legislation condemning the coup and lawmakers condemned the increasingly tough tactics against protesters.
Riot police officers detain a protester during a protest against the military coup in Yangon, Myanmar, on March 19, 2021. (Photo: REUTERS / Stringer)
Authorities have tightened restrictions on Internet services, making information increasingly difficult to verify, and have cracked down on private media.
Facebook has banned all pages linked to the military over incitement to violence guidelines. On Saturday, Twitter said it had suspended the information ministry’s page under the company’s “platform manipulation and spam policy.”
The ministry has been publishing news every day.
Asian anger
Ambassadors from Western countries condemned as “immoral and indefensible” the violence in the Hlaing Tharyar industrial district of the commercial capital Yangon, where dozens of people died for several days after Chinese-owned garment factories were set on fire at the end of last week.
“Internet blackouts and media crackdowns will not hide the abominable actions of the military,” they said in a statement on Friday.
READ: Myanmar garment workers urge global brands to report coup
Asian neighbors, who for years have adhered to a code of not criticizing the internal problems of others, have also spoken out to urge an end to the violence.
Businesses closed in Yangon amid protests against the military coup in Myanmar, March 20, 2021. (Photo: Naung Kham)
Indonesian President Joko Widodo, in some of the strongest remarks yet from a regional leader, said he would ask Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei, president of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), to convene a meeting. urgent.
“Indonesia urges that the use of violence in Myanmar be stopped immediately so that there are no more victims,” Jokowi said in a virtual speech.
READ: Indonesian President calls for high-level ASEAN meeting on Myanmar crisis
Backing Indonesia’s call for a meeting, Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said he was dismayed at the persistent use of deadly violence against unarmed civilians.
“We in Malaysia, and the larger ASEAN community, cannot afford to see our sister nation Myanmar become so destabilized at the hands of a select few who seek to advance their own vested interests,” he said.
People queuing to withdraw cash from KBZ Bank ATMs in Yangon on March 17, 2021 (Photo: Naung Kham).
Philippine Foreign Minister Teodoro Locsin said ASEAN had to act. Singapore has also spoken out against the violence and the coup that triggered it, calling for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
READ: Singapore’s Foreign Minister calls on Myanmar’s military to stop using lethal force against civilians
But the military has shown no signs of being swayed and has defended its inauguration, which derailed a slow transition to democracy in a country that was under strict military rule from a 1962 coup until the generals began democratic reforms ago. one of each.
The board says the November 8 elections won by the Aung San Suu Kyi National League for Democracy were fraudulent and its claims were ignored by the electoral commission. He promised a new election but did not set a date.
Aung San Suu Kyi, 75, faces charges of bribery and other crimes that could result in her being expelled from politics and imprisoned if convicted.
His lawyer says the charges are false. The Nobel Peace Prize winner, who has campaigned for democracy in Myanmar for three decades, is being held at an undisclosed location.
