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YANGON: The UN special envoy in Myanmar warned of the possibility of an escalation of violence in the country on Wednesday (February 17), as anti-coup protesters are expected to once again clash with the military.
The warning comes after deposed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi was charged with a second count on Tuesday, and the UN rapporteur hinted that she may have been secretly tried.
Myanmar plunged into an internet blackout for the third night in a row, Britain-based monitoring group NetBlocks said, as generals try to wear down the anti-coup uprising.
In the two weeks since the military overthrew Aung San Suu Kyi and placed her under house arrest in the administrative capital, Naypyidaw, both large cities and isolated village communities have openly rebelled.
But Tom Andrews, the UN special rapporteur for Myanmar, said he was concerned the situation was spiraling out of control.
“I fear that Wednesday has the potential for violence on a larger scale in Myanmar than we have seen since the illegal takeover of the government on February 1,” Andrews said in a statement.
He said he had “received reports of soldiers transported to at least Yangon from outlying regions.”
“In the past, these troop movements preceded large-scale assassinations, disappearances and arrests,” he said.
“I am terrified that given the confluence of these two events, planned mass protests and the convergence of troops, we may be on the verge of the military committing even greater crimes against the people of Myanmar.”
NEW CHARGE
The army justified its seizure of power by alleging widespread electoral fraud in the November elections won by Aung San Suu Kyi’s party.
After her arrest in a dawn raid on February 1, the day of the coup, Aung San Suu Kyi was charged under an obscure import-export law, over walkie talkies found at her home.
The Nobel laureate’s lawyer told AFP on Tuesday that she had been charged with a second count, for violating the country’s disaster management law.
“She was charged under section 8 of the Export and Import law and section 25 of the Natural Disaster Management law,” Khin Maung Zaw told AFP.
While it was unclear how disaster law was applied in the Aung San Suu Kyi case, it has been used against deposed President Win Myint, also arrested on February 1, in connection with a campaign event that the government says military, broke restrictions related to the coronavirus.
Khin Maung Zaw added that Aung San Suu Kyi and Win Myint, with whom he has not yet had contact, were expected to appear via video conference during the March 1 trial.
But Andrews said he had “news that a secret trial” of Aung San Suu Kyi and deposed President Win Myint had started this week, without offering further details.
Military spokesman Zaw Min Tun said Tuesday that both Aung San Suu Kyi and Win Myint are in a “safer place” and “are in good health.”
“It is not as if they have been arrested, they are staying at home,” said the general, who became the country’s deputy information minister after the coup, at a press conference.
The United States and Great Britain condemned the new charge against Aung San Suu Kyi and renewed demands for his release.
More than 420 people have been arrested since the coup, according to a list of confirmed arrests from the monitoring group of the Association for Assistance to Political Prisoners.
‘THEY WANT TO DO BAD THINGS’
Security forces have used increasingly severe measures to quell huge street protests across the country and a campaign of disobedience that encourages public officials to strike.
Troops have been deployed across the country in recent days.
Rubber bullets, tear gas and even a slingshot have been used against protesters.
Buddhist monks march during a protest against the military coup in Yangon, Myanmar, Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2021 (Photo: AP).
“They shut down the Internet because they want to do bad things,” Win Tun, a 44-year-old man living in the commercial capital Yangon, said Tuesday.
Undeterred, crowds returned to the streets of Yangon and across the country on Tuesday.
“I want more people to join the protests, we don’t want them to see us as weak,” said university student Thwe Ei Sann.
A large crowd blocked the train tracks on the outskirts of Mawlamyine to prevent a Yangon-bound train from leaving the port city.
Many of the country’s train conductors have joined boycotts against the coup, thwarting the board’s efforts to restart the national rail network after the COVID-19 shutdown.
‘IT’S NOT WHAT CHINA WANTS TO SEE’
The United States and Britain weren’t the only ones to condemn the leaders of Myanmar’s new military administration, which insists it took power legally.
The Chinese ambassador to Myanmar said Tuesday that “the current development in Myanmar is not at all what China wants to see.”
So far, only Washington has announced targeted sanctions against the generals, asking them to step down from power.
Military spokesman Zaw Min Tun said “sanctions are expected” and that the regime will continue to “maintain friendly relations” with the international community.
