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YANGON: Protesters honked car horns in Myanmar on Monday (March 22) and posted signs in an empty square to prevent arrest, injury or death as the European Union passed sanctions against 11 people related to the country’s coup. last month and the subsequent crackdown.
At least 250 people have so far died in protests against the junta that security forces are trying to quell, according to figures from the activist group Association for Assistance to Political Prisoners.
“The number of killings has reached an unbearable level, so we will not be able to avoid the imposition of sanctions,” German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas told reporters when he arrived in Brussels to meet his EU counterparts.
Maas later said that the “excesses of violence” in Myanmar were “absolutely unacceptable”.
The EU placed Myanmar’s chief of the board, Min Aung Hlaing, on an asset freeze and visa ban blacklist.
Min Aung Hlaing is “responsible for undermining democracy and the rule of law in Myanmar,” the bloc’s official daily said.
The bloc also hit nine other senior military officials and the head of Myanmar’s electoral commission with sanctions in the form of travel bans and asset freezes.
READ: Myanmar protesters express defiance as junta recalls ‘external threats’
Anti-coup protesters hold red balloons, calling for foreign intervention to help them in central Yangon, Myanmar, on March 22, 2021. (Photo: AP)
According to diplomats and two internal documents seen by Reuters last week, the EU also plans to target companies that “generate income or provide financial support to the Myanmar Armed Forces.”
“We do not intend to punish the people of Myanmar, but those who openly violate human rights,” Maas said.
A spokesman for the board did not respond to calls seeking comment. He has previously said that security forces have used force only when necessary.
The Southeast Asian nation has been in crisis since the elected government headed by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi was overthrown by the military on February 1.
The violence has forced many citizens to devise novel ways of expressing their rejection of the return to government from the army.
CAR HORNS, SHOTS
In the downtown areas of the commercial capital Yangon, motorists honked their horns in response to a call on social media to mark the first month of the launch of one of the largest demonstrations since the coup.
In the western city of Mindat, in Chin state, protesters put up dozens of posters in a square in front of the main market that read “The military dictatorship must fail.”
READ: Use of deadly force by Myanmar military is ‘disastrous’, but common sense may still prevail: PM Lee
Anti-coup protesters show a three-finger gesture, a symbol of resistance, during a demonstration outside their homes in central Yangon, Myanmar, on March 22, 2021. (Photo: AP)
In the latest episode of violence, one person was killed in Mandalay, the country’s second largest city, aid workers and news reports said.
Four people were killed and several injured in the city on Sunday when security forces opened fire after residents tried to resist the army’s efforts to establish a base at a school, the Myanmar Now news portal reported.
One man was shot dead and several injured when police opened fire on a group erecting a barricade in the central city of Monywa, a doctor said Sunday when a community group issued a call on Facebook for blood donors.
“Sniper, sniper,” people can be heard yelling in a video clip shortly after the man was shot in the head at Monywa and more shots were heard.
State media said Sunday that men on motorcycles attacked a member of the security forces who later died. The army said two policemen were killed in previous protests.
SOUTHEAST ASIAN DIPLOMATIC PUSH
The board says the November 8 elections won by Aung San Suu Kyi’s party were fraudulent, a charge rejected by the electoral commission. Military leaders have promised a new election but have not set a date.
Asian neighbors, who for years have avoided criticizing each other, have started to speak up.
Singaporean Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan visited Brunei Darussalam on Monday before traveling to Malaysia and Indonesia, seeking an urgent meeting of the ASEAN regional grouping of Southeast Asia, of which Myanmar is a member.
READ: 2 journalists arrested as Myanmar junta cracks down on the press
Myanmar has been rocked by massive protests against the February coup that toppled the government of Aung San Suu Kyi. (Photo: AFP)
Heng Swee Keat, Singapore’s deputy prime minister, said his country was “shocked by the violent crackdown on the civilian population” and called for a return to the democratic transition.
Singapore, which has deep economic ties to Myanmar, has previously called the military action a “national shame”.
The BBC said on Monday that one of its reporters in Myanmar who was detained by men in plain clothes three days ago had been released. Aung Thura of the Burmese BBC service was arrested on Friday along with a journalist working for the national news service Mizzima.
There was no immediate word on the whereabouts of the Mizzima reporter.
READ: Myanmar’s ambassador to the UN vows to continue fighting after the junta fires him
The army has unleashed an offensive against anti-coup protesters. (Photo: AFP)
Australian media reported that two Australian business consultants were arrested while trying to leave Myanmar, but it was unclear why. A spokesman for the Australian Foreign Ministry said it was providing consular assistance, but declined to comment further for privacy reasons.
Sean Turnell, Australian economic adviser to deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi, was arrested last month. The military has not announced any charges against Turnell, who is among nearly 2,000 people who, according to the Political Prisoner Assistance Association, have been detained since the coup.
“Every day I imagine the moment my phone rings and you’re on the other end of the line, telling me you’re on your way home,” Turnell’s wife Ha Vu wrote on her Facebook page Monday. “I pray that day is soon. In the meantime, I irrevocably believe that you are still treated well, with dignity and respect.”
