(Reuters) – Supporters of the Myanmar coup on Wednesday splashed red paint and dye on roads and signs outside government offices to represent the blood of the people killed who protested against the junta, on the second day of the traditional new year holiday.
The photos posted by the media featured the army exhibit in various cities and towns, while people responded to a call from activists to take part in what they call a bloody paint strike.
Some people marched with signs to release the leader of the ousted government, Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. She has been detained since the February 1 coup on various charges, including violating an official secret act that could take her 14 years in prison.
Her lawyers denied the charges against her.
“Please save our leader – future – hope,” reads a sign with a photo of Suu Kyi held by a young woman among thousands of people marching in the second city of Mandalay, according to a photo published by the Mizzima news service.
There were no immediate reports of violence during any protests on Wednesday, but information became scarce due to Junta curbs on the internet.
The coup plunged Myanmar into a crisis after ten years of tentative steps towards democracy with daily protests and various challenges, including strikes by workers in many sectors that brought the economy to a standstill.
The five-day New Year’s holiday, known as Thingyan, began on Tuesday, but pro-democracy activists canceled the usual celebrations to focus on their opposition to the generals taking power.
The army says the protests are subsiding. Activists planned different challenges of defiance every day during the holiday, which ends on Saturday.
An activist group, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, says security forces have killed 710 protesters since the ouster of Suu Kyi’s government.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Tuesday it feared that the military’s military crackdown would escalate into a civilian conflict like the one in Syria.
‘COURAGE AND COMMITMENT’
The United States and other Western countries have imposed limited sanctions on the military. Neighbors in Southeast Asia encouraged talks between the Myanmar parties, but without progress.
The US Ambassador to Myanmar, Thomas Vajda, said in a New Year’s message that he was aware that many people bring sacrifices and suffering for their beliefs and convictions in these “very difficult times”.
“I am deeply impressed by your courage and dedication,” Vajda said.
“Let me also reaffirm the commitment of my colleagues and I … to do everything in our power to support the people of Myanmar in your pursuit of true democracy, peace and freedom.”
The head of the European Union’s foreign policy, Josep Borrell, said this week that Russia and China, which have close ties with the military, are blocking a united response to the coup, including efforts to impose an arms embargo.
The UN Security Council called for the release of Suu Kyi and others, but did not stop the condemnation of the coup.
Small explosions have taken place in various places in recent days, with the latest two explosions in the central city of Monywa wounding one person on Wednesday, reports the Monywa Gazette.
There were no claims of responsibility.
The coup has also rekindled hostilities in old conflicts between the military and ethnic minority forces fighting for autonomy in border regions.
Government forces were hit hard this week in an attack on ethnic Kachin forces in the north, the Myanmar Now media group reported.
A junta spokesman could not be reached for comment.
Reporting by Reuters staff, Writing by Robert Birsel; Edited by Jane Wardell and Alison Williams