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At least 38 people died after Myanmar security forces opened fire on peaceful protesters against the coup in several towns and cities, on the worst day of violence since last month’s military coup.
The police and military have increasingly used lethal violence in an attempt to crush the demonstrations, killing more than 50 people since the February 1 coup, according to the United Nations.
“Today was the bloodiest day since the coup occurred on February 1. Today we had 38 dead people. We now have more than 50 people dead since the coup began, and many are injured, ”said UN Special Envoy for Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener, in New York.
Crowds have continued to take to the streets every day in defiance of the military junta, wearing only goggles, helmets and homemade shields to protect themselves. The protesters are demanding that the military restore democracy and that its elected leaders be released.
Thinzar Shunlei Yi, a Yangon-based human rights activist, described the use of force by the military against protesters as a “daily slaughter.”
Among those who died Wednesday was a 19-year-old woman shot in Mandalay. Images shared on social media showed her wearing a t-shirt that said “Everything will be fine.” A teenager also died. Local media reported that he was 14 years old.
Security forces used deadly force in several cities, including Monywa, where six people were killed and at least 30 injured, a witness told The Guardian. Hundreds of people had come out to protest when the police opened fire around 11 a.m.
At least eight people were killed in a neighborhood in Yangon after security forces opened sustained fire with automatic weapons early in the evening, according to Reuters.
A protester who witnessed the crackdown in North Okkalapa Township told The Guardian that the shooting was continuous. “I’m still going to the front. If I get shot and die, so be it. I can’t take it anymore, ”he said.
Protesters in the area had been blocking roads so that prison transport vehicles carrying young detainees could not pass, the protester said. The protesters had heard reports of women being sexually assaulted in prisons and feared for the safety of those on board.
Police used slingshots and fired tear gas to clear the way, he said. At around 5 p.m., officers fired rubber bullets at the approximately 100 remaining protesters, and then the soldiers fired live bullets. The protester said a man next to him was shot and survived, but was only taken to hospital after police left.
“I have no words to describe how I feel. There were so many people dying on the way. They shot anyone on the road, ”said another protester, who also asked to remain anonymous. “We are not terrorists, we are civilians, we are trying to recover our democracy. We protest peacefully but they terrify us ”.
If the coup succeeds, he said, it is 50-50. He doesn’t think Southeast Asian countries or China will help support the people, but added: “I hope the UN and the United States will help. I hope that a UN peacekeeping force will come to my country, arrest the general and bring him to the ICJ and the ICC as soon as possible. “
Schraner Burgener said that in conversations with Myanmar’s deputy military chief Soe Win, she warned him that the military will likely face heavy measures from some countries and isolation in retaliation for the coup.
“The response was, ‘We are used to sanctions and we survive,'” he told reporters in New York. “When I also warned them that they would isolate themselves, the response was: ‘We have to learn to walk with few friends.’
The UN security council is expected to hold a closed-door session on the situation on Friday after the UK requested a meeting. However, coordinated measures are unlikely to be agreed upon, as China and Russia have previously blocked attempts to pressure the Myanmar military.
Ko Bo Kyi, deputy secretary of the rights group of the Political Prisoner Assistance Association, said at least 18 people were killed by security forces on Wednesday. Deaths were reported in the northern city of Hpakant and the central city of Myingyan.
Hundreds of people were detained in Yangon alone, an independent outlet Myanmar Now reported. The video posted on social media showed lines of young men, hands on their heads, getting into army trucks.
Furthermore, distressing CCTV footage released by Radio Free Asia showed police stopping an ambulance and detaining three doctors. The police attacked them, kicking them and hitting them with the butts of their guns.
Almost 1,300 people have been detained since the military took power, including the country’s ousted leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, who faces four charges, and the president, Win Myint. Two new charges against Win Myint were announced on Wednesday, including one for an alleged violation of the constitution, punishable by up to three years in prison.
The foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, of which Myanmar is a member, met on Tuesday, but the group did not come up with any meaningful action. A statement issued Tuesday called for an end to the violence. However, only four members – Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore – called for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and other detainees.
Pope Francis, who visited Myanmar in 2017, called for dialogue and wrote on Twitter that he urged “the international community to ensure that the aspirations of the people of Myanmar are not stifled.”
