Police protest against demonstrators who opposed Burma’s military coup, and warning shots fired water cannons and fired at crowds on Tuesday was again on the streets, spreading in defiance of rules that makes protests illegal.
Reports of many injured protesters have sparked great concern from the UN office in Burma.
“According to reports from Nay Pyi Taw, Mandalay and other cities, numerous protesters were injured, some seriously, by security forces in connection with the current protests across the country,” the UN said.
“The use of excessive force against protesters is unacceptable,” said Ola Almgren, the UN coordinator in Burma.
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Water cannons were used in Mandalay, Burma’s second largest city, where witnesses said at least two warning shots were fired in the early attempts to break up the crowd. Shootings could be heard on videos from the city, some of which showed riot police frantically trying to flee to people with their batons. According to social media reports, police have arrested more than two dozen people there.
Police also used water cannons for a second day in the capital Natpyitaw and fired shots into the air. Police also fired rubber bullets at the crowd in Naypyitaw and wounded several people. Photos on social media showed a suspected shooter – an officer with a short-range pistol – and several injured. Protesters posted photos online of bullet casings they said were found at the scene.
Protesters run after police warning shots and use water cannons to disperse during a protest in Mandalay, Burma on Tuesday, February 9, 2021. Police in riot gear stormed a rally on Tuesday, removing hundreds of protesters by truck. entered. of new protest ban. (AP Photo)
Unconfirmed reports on social media have been circulating of shootings with live rounds and deaths among the protesters, with the potential to incite violent retaliation against the authorities – an outcome that has warned proponents of the country’s civil disobedience movement. The AP could not immediately confirm the reports.
The weekly 7Day News reports on its Twitter account that a 19-year-old woman in Naypyidaw was shot by police and underwent emergency surgery at the city’s main hospital. Min Thu, the local chairman of the National League for Democracy party of deposed national leader Aung San Suu Kyi, is quoted as saying.
The protesters are demanding that power be restored to the ousted civilian government and are seeking freedom for Suu Kyi and other ruling party members detained since the military took over and blocked the new session of parliament to convene on February 1.
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Security forces stormed the national office of Suu Kyi’s party in Yangon on Tuesday night. The party’s local offices were raided last week in actions that the party declared illegal.
The escalating defiance is striking in a country where demonstrations in the past have been met with deadly violence and are a reminder of past movements in the South Asian country’s long and bloody struggle for democracy. The military used deadly force to destroy a massive uprising in 1988 against military dictatorship and an uprising in 2007 led by Buddhist monks.
The orders issued Monday night for some areas in Yangon and Mandalay banned marches and rallies of more than five people, along with motorized marches, while also setting a curfew from 8pm to 4am. It was not clear whether restrictions were imposed on other areas.
Violation of the orders, issued under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Act, is punishable by up to six months imprisonment or a fine.
Police used water cannon to disperse protesters during a demonstration in Mandalay, Burma, on Tuesday, 9 February 2021. The police raided the protesters against the military takeover of Burma that the streets were entered in spite of new protest ban. (AP Photo)
Demonstrations were also held in other cities on Tuesday, including Bago – where city elders negotiated with police to avoid a violent confrontation – and Dawei, and in northern Shan state.
Unconfirmed reports on social media in Magwe in central Burma, where water cannons were also used, said several police officers had come over to join the protesters. Police in Naypyitaw and Pathein, west of Yangon, also said they had changed sides. The AP could not immediately confirm the reports.
Crowds also gathered in Yangon, the country’s largest city where thousands of people have been protesting since Saturday, despite increased security. No violence was reported.
The police, not soldiers, appear to have been deployed to stop the protests, a small indication of the military government’s control. The military has a record of brutality in the crushing uprising in the past, as well as in fighting ethnic minorities in border areas who wanted self-determination. It is also accused of carrying out genocide in its 2017 anti-insurgency campaign that drove more than 700,000 members of the Muslim Rohingya minority across the border to seek safety in Bangladesh.
State media on Monday referred to the protests for the first time and said they were endangering the country’s stability.
“Democracy can be destroyed if there is no discipline,” reads a statement from the Ministry of Information read on state television station MRTV. “We will have to take legal action to prevent acts that violate the state’s stability, public safety and the rule of law.”
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However, the military commander who led the coup and is now Burma’s leader made no mention of the unrest in a 20-minute television speech Monday night, his first to the public since the takeover.
Senior General Min Aung Hlaing instead reiterated allegations of vote fraud that were the justification for the takeover of the army, allegations that were refuted by the state election commission. He added that his junta would hold new elections in a year and hand over power to the winners, explaining the junta’s proposed policy for COVID-19 control and the economy.
Police in riot equipment will move against protesters in blocking an intersection during a demonstration in Mandalay, Burma, Tuesday, 9 February 2021. The police raided the protesters against Burma’s military takeover, which took to the streets sail despite new protest ban . (AP Photo)
The general’s remarks, which included encouragement to foreign investors, brought nothing to the attention of the international community.
The UN Human Rights Council, the 47-member Geneva-based body, is holding a special session on Friday to consider ‘the human rights implications of the Myanmar crisis’ [Burma]. “
Britain and the European Union were at the forefront of the request for the session, which amounts to a striking public debate among diplomats over the situation in Burma and could lead to a resolution expressing concern about the situation or recommending international action.
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New Zealand has suspended all military and high-level political contact with Burma, Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta announced in Wellington on Tuesday, adding that any New Zealand aid may not go to or benefit Burma’s military government. .
“We do not recognize the legitimacy of the military-led government and call on the military to immediately release all detained political leaders and restore civilian government,” Mahuta said. She said New Zealand was also imposing a travel ban on military leaders and had joined other countries in requesting the special session of the UN Human Rights Council.