YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – Protesters gathered again across Myanmar on Sunday, a day after security forces shot dead two people during a rally in the country’s second largest city. A funeral was also held for a young woman who had earlier been killed by police.
Mya Thwet Thwet Khine was the first confirmed death among the thousands who were on the streets to protest the February 1 coup that overthrew the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. The woman was shot dead during a protest in the capital Nayptitaw on February 9, two days before her 20th birthday, and died on Friday.
About 1,000 people in cars and bicycles gathered at the hospital on Sunday morning where her body was in the midst of strict security, and even the grandparents of the victim, who traveled five hours from Yangon, were denied entry. When her body is released, a long motor march to the cemetery begins.
In Yangon, the largest city of Myanmar, about 1,000 protesters honored the woman under an elevated driveway.
“I want to say through the media to the dictator and his collaborators that we are peaceful protesters,” protester Min Htet Naing said. “Stop the genocide! Stop using deadly weapons! ”
Another major rally took place in Mandalay, where police shot dead two people near a yard on Saturday when security forces tried to force workers to load a boat. The workers, such as railway workers and trucks and many civil servants, are taking part in a civil disobedience against the junta.
Shooting broke out after residents in the area rushed to the Yadanabon dock to try to help the workers in their resistance. One of the victims, described as a teenage boy, was shot in the head and died instantly, while another was shot in the chest and died on the way to a hospital.
Several other serious injuries were also reported. Witness reports and photos of bullet casings indicated that security forces were using live ammunition, in addition to rubber bullets, water cannons and slingshots.
The new deaths received a quick and strong response from the international community.
“The shooting of peaceful protesters in is beyond bleaching,” British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said on Twitter. “We will consider further action, together with our international partners, against the crushing democracy and the departure from suffocation.”
Britain last week froze assets of three leading generals in Myanmar and it introduced travel ban rights, which added to already existing targeted sanctions.
Singapore, which along with Myanmar is part of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations with ten members, has issued a statement condemning the use of deadly force as ‘inexcusable’.
He urged the security forces’ “greatest limitation” and warned that “if the situation continues to escalate, there will be serious adverse consequences for Myanmar and the region.”
Another shooting death occurred in Yangon on Saturday night in unclear circumstances. According to several reports on social media, including a live broadcast showing the body, the victim was a man who acted as a volunteer guard for a neighborhood watch group. Such groups were formed because of the fear that authorities would use criminals released from prison to spread panic and fear by committing arson and violence.
Another live broadcast on Facebook shows the wife of actor Lu Min describing to neighbors how her husband was arrested and taken out of their house shortly after midnight. He was one of six high-profile entertainers in the entertainment industry last week accused of urging officials to quit their jobs and join the protest movement, which he and the others publicly advocated.
Facebook announced on Sunday that it was removing the page managed by the Myanmar military intelligence unit “for repeated violations of our community standards that prohibit the incitement to violence and the coordination of damage.” It has already removed other accounts linked to the military.
The junta took power after she detained Suu Kyi and prevented parliament from convening, saying the election last November was tainted by irregularities in the votes. The election result, in which Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy Party won by a landslide, was confirmed by an election commission that has since been replaced by the military. The junta says it will hold new elections in a year.
The coup was a major setback for Myanmar’s transition to democracy after 50 years of military rule that began with a 1962 coup. Suu Kyi came to power after her party won an election in 2015, but the generals retained considerable power under the constitution, which was adopted under a military regime.