UN rebukes Myanmar's military over violent protest clampdown
YANGON, Myanmar — The United Nations Security Council on Wednesday agreed to condemn the Myanmar military's violent crackdown against peaceful anti-coup demonstrators as American authorities sanctioned members of the junta leader's family.
The Southeast Asian nation has been in turmoil since the military ousted and detained civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi last month, triggering daily protests around the country to demand the return of democracy.
Security forces have responded with an increasingly brutal crackdown involving tear gas, stun grenades and rubber bullets, as well as isolated incidents of live rounds.
Diplomats told AFP the statement agreed by the Security Council "strongly condemns the use of violence against peaceful protesters", the second show of unity on Myanmar's crisis in just over a month for its 15 members, including China.
The United States also applied fresh pressure with sanctions against Aung Pyae Sone and Khin Thiri Thet Mon, two adult children of Myanmar junta leader Min Aung Hlaing.
The pair have a variety of business holdings which have directly benefitted from their "father's position and malign influence", said a US Treasury statement.
Close to 2,000 people have been arrested and the death toll has climbed to more than 60 in a post-coup crackdown.
Thousands of government workers across the country have been participating in a civil disobedience movement aimed at choking state institutions and paralysing the economy.
The movement has resulted in hospital disruptions, bank closures and empty ministry offices.
Hundreds of soldiers and police were deployed early Wednesday morning to Ma Hlwa Gone railway station and its staff housing compound, where about 800 workers were participating in strike action.
"Around 300 security personnel are blocking the road searching for the people who are involved in the civil disobedience movement," a 32-year-old woman who lives at the site told AFP.
"I escaped, but there were many left, I am worried about the remaining workers. I just hope they don't arrest the people, if they do it is troubling because they could beat and kill them."
'Severely beaten'
There was a heavy police presence in Yangon's central San Chaung township on Wednesday following chaos two nights ago when security forces sealed off a block of streets, confining around 200 anti-coup protesters before searching apartments.
They searched apartments again late Wednesday, residents said.
That followed another restless night in parts of Yangon Tuesday, with security forces setting fire to protesters' makeshift barricades in Thingangyun township, according to a 26-year-old resident who accused authorities of trying to incite fear.
There were also tense scenes in the North Okkalapa area as about 100 protesters were arrested.
"Some of them were severely beaten, but the people are still continuing their protest," a local rescue worker told AFP.
A live video stream showed people coughing and washing their faces after tear gas was deployed and there were reports of gunfire.
"A girl was wounded in her pelvic area by gunshot and she was taken to her home because the hospital is occupied by the security forces," a rescue worker said.
The US and British embassies in Yangon said there were reports of innocent students and civilians being surrounded by security forces in North Okkalapa.
"We call on those security forces to withdraw from the area, release those detained, and allow people to depart safely," the US embassy said on Twitter.
The coup and crackdown have triggered international condemnation, with growing demands for the generals to relinquish power and release political prisoners.
In the latest diplomatic effort, the French ambassador visited Yangon's Insein prison on Wednesday.
"I went... to meet the parents of hundreds of students and peaceful protesters arbitrary detained," Christian Lechervy wrote on Facebook.
But not all countries are giving Myanmar the pariah treatment — the Sri Lankan government invited the junta's appointed foreign minister to economic cooperation talks in early April.
'Act of intimidation'
Meanwhile, a lobbyist recruited to represent the junta internationally is set to pocket a $2 million fee, according to documents filed to the US Justice Department seen Wednesday by AFP.
Israeli-Canadian lobbyist Ari Ben-Menashe and his Montreal-based firm Dickens and Madson signed a contract with the regime on March 4.
Part of their remit is "to assist in explaining the real situation in the country", while lobbying to get sanctions lifted.
The military has sought to stem the flow of news of its crackdown, throttling the country's internet every night and stepping up pressure on independent media.
Reporters Without Borders condemned the ongoing media crackdown and characterised the raids on local media as "a shocking act of intimidation".
It said at least 28 journalists had been arrested since the coup and about 11 were still in custody including an Associated Press photographer.
Follow this thread for updates on the situation in Myanmar, where a coup may be happening after de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other officials have reportedly been detained by the military.
Photo: Military officers wearing facemasks who serve as members of Myanmar's parliament leave after a session at the Assembly of the Union (Pyidaungsu Hluttaw) in Naypyidaw on March 10, 2020. AFP/Ye Aung Thu
Myanmar's junta is endangering the life of jailed democracy figurehead Aung San Suu Kyi, her political party says on Thursday, accusing the military of depriving her of medical care and food.
Suu Kyi has been detained since the generals seized power in February 2021, ending a 10-year democratic experiment and plunging the Southeast Asian country into bloody turmoil.
In recent days, local media have reported the Nobel laureate, 78, was suffering dizzy spells, vomiting and unable to eat because of a tooth infection. — AFP
Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi will be pardoned, state media says.
The United States is "deeply concerned" by the decision from Myanmar's ruling junta to extend the country's state of emergency for six months, a State Department spokesman says.
The extension, announced earlier in the day, spelled a delay for elections the military had pledged to hold in August as it battles anti-coup fighters across the country.
"The United States is deeply concerned by the Burma military regime's extension of the state of emergency, which comes as the regime plunges the country deeper into violence and instability," says spokesman Matthew Miller, using an alternate name for the country. — AFP
The United States is "deeply concerned" by the decision from Myanmar's ruling junta to extend the country's state of emergency for six months, a State Department spokesman says.
The extension, announced earlier in the day, spelled a delay for elections the military had pledged to hold in August as it battles anti-coup fighters across the country.
"The United States is deeply concerned by the Burma military regime's extension of the state of emergency, which comes as the regime plunges the country deeper into violence and instability," says spokesman Matthew Miller, using an alternate name for the country. — AFP
Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan says that conditions were not yet right for ASEAN to open high-level talks with Myanmar on the country's political situation.
"We believe it would be premature to re-engage with the junta at a summit level or even at a foreign minister level," Balakrishnan says when asked about a news report that Thailand had proposed talks.
Speaking in a joint press conference in Washington with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Balakrishnan said the leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations had recently reaffirmed their stance. — AFP
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