Myanmar’s army charges families $ 85 to retrieve bodies of dead relatives

Myanmar’s army charges families $ 85 to retrieve bodies of dead relatives

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At least 82 people were killed on Friday in Bago, 90 kilometers (56 miles) north-east of Yangon, after the city was “struck” by the army’s security forces, the advocacy group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) said.

According to AAPP, more than 700 people have been killed since the army overthrew Myanmar’s elected government in a February 1 coup. Since then, junta security forces have been composed of police, soldiers and elite anti-insurgency troops with a systematic repression against unarmed and peaceful protesters, who detained about 3,000 people and forced activists to hide.

Myanmar’s army fired on protesters in Bago City on Friday, using assault rifles, rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) and hand grenades, AAPP said.

An eyewitness living in the city of Bago, who could not be named for security purposes, told CNN on Sunday that many residents had fled to nearby towns since Friday’s raid. The internet has been cut off in the area since Friday, the eyewitness said, and security forces searched the neighborhoods.

“I lived on the highway. The security forces appear regularly,” the eyewitness told CNN, adding that bodies piled up at the morgue after the shooting. “Because of the threat we had to pull into the house in the lane nearby,”

The military is now asking families 120,000 Myanmar kyat ($ 85) to pick up the bodies of family members who died on Friday, according to a Facebook entry from the Bago University Students’ Union.

The Burmese service of Radio Free Asia is in line with the coverage of the Bago University Students’ Union. CNN did not independently verify the report and reached out to the military for comment.

A police vehicle is parked at a road in South Okkalapa township to block the rally against protesters in Yangon, Myanmar on Friday, April 9, 2021.

Myanmar’s army claims that its forces were attacked by protesters in Bago on Friday, according to the state – run newspaper Global New Light of Myanmar.

“Security forces on Thursday attacked by groups of protesters as they remove road blocks by the rioters on the streets in Bago set,” reported Global New Light of Myanmar, adding: “rioters have handmade guns, vuurbottels, arrows, handmade shields and grenades to attack the security forces. ‘

According to the newspaper, one protester was killed during Friday’s incident. “Evidence of confiscated grenades and ammunition indicates that handguns were used,” the report added.

Myanmar’s army detained a Red Cross volunteer doctor in Bago on April 2, the organization confirmed to CNN on Sunday. The volunteer, Nay Myo, who is also the chairman of the Red Cross in Bago, has not been charged but remains in custody, the Red Cross said.

Another volunteer doctor providing free medical care on the ground, Wai Yan Myo Lwin, was detained in Bago on Sunday, his family confirmed to CNN.

Protesters march during a protest against the military coup in Yangon on April 11, 2021.

Recession to violence

The US embassy in Myanmar on Sunday called for an end to the violence.

“We deplore the senseless loss of life in Bago and across the country where regime forces have allegedly used war weapons against civilians,” the embassy said in a statement. post on his official Twitter account.

“The regime has the ability to resolve the crisis and must start by ending violence and attacks,” he added.

Myanmar army denies responsibility for child deaths and says elections could be called off

On Thursday, NGO Human Rights Watch published a letter calling on the European Union to “fully implement” sanctions against the military and “urgently adopt additional sanctions.”

“The people of Myanmar once again find themselves facing the bullets of the army, but they continue their struggle courageously, relentlessly,” the letter reads. “EU condemnation and efforts to promote accountability and justice for serious, widespread and systematic abuse by the military junta are welcome and important, but words and partial steps are not enough.”

But the army’s commander-in-chief, senior general Min Aung Hlaing, defended the coup over the weekend, claiming that the junta “did not seize power but took measures to strengthen the multiparty democracy system”, according to Global New Light of Myanmar.

Military spokesman Zaw Min Tun told CNN earlier that the generals were “protecting” the country just as they were investigating a “fraudulent” election, and that the bloodshed on the streets was the fault of “rioting” protesters.

CNN stringers in Myanmar reported.

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