UN Reliability Council to meet on Myanmar crisis as protesters happen to be again met with gunfire
06 March, 2021
Police found in Myanmar on Friday (Mar 5) opened fire on protesters against last month's military coup, killing one man, seeing as international condemnation rained straight down on the junta ahead of a US Security Council meeting to discuss the crisis.
The violence took place as america announced innovative sanctions targeting military conglomerates after the deaths of a large number of civilian protesters.
Activists demanding the restoration of the elected federal government of veteran democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi held even more demonstrations in a number of towns and cities, with thousands marching peacefully through the next city of Mandalay.
"The stone age is over, we're certainly not scared because you threaten us," the crowd chanted.
Law enforcement opened fire and a single man was killed, witnesses and a health care provider told Reuters by phone.
In the key city of Yangon, police fired rubber bullets and stun grenades to disperse protesters who was simply joined by about 100 doctors in white coats, witnesses said.
Crowds also gathered in Pathein, to the west of Yangon, and found in central Myingyan, where a large number of ladies in straw hats organized signs calling for Aung San Suu Kyi's launching, witnesses said.
A good spokesman for the ruling military council didn't answer calls seeking comment.
Thousands also rallied found in the southeastern Karen state, accompanied by fighters from the Karen National Union (KNU), a great ethnic armed group engaged in a long-jogging war with the army.
During the rally - the strongest indication however of support meant for the anti-coup movement in one of the country's myriad ethnic armed groups - KNU troops flashed the three-finger salute popularised by protesters and handed out water bottles.
The KNU said in a statement it would not tolerate attacks on peaceful protesters by the army.
"People in urban areas, ethnic armed teams, and the international community must interact until the armed service dictatorship falls," it explained.
On Thursday, police split up rallies with tear gas and gunfire in several cities however the crackdown was more restrained than on Wednesday, when the UN stated 38 people were killed in the bloodiest day time of protests.
In all, at least 55 people have been killed because the Feb 1 coup.
UN individual rights chief Michelle Bachelet demanded the security forces halt what she called their "vicious crackdown on calm protesters". Bachelet said a lot more than 1,700 people had been arrested, incorporating 29 journalists.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said some Red Cross volunteers have been injured and wrongfully arrested and Red Cross ambulances have been damaged.
The armed service seized power saying that the landslide victory of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) within an election in November was fraudulent. The electoral commission has got explained the ballot was good.
The junta has promised new elections however, not given a time. Activists possess rejected that and demand the let go of Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been around detention because the coup.
DISOBEDIENCE
Singapore has been the most outspoken of Myanmar's neighbours and its own foreign minister, Vivian Balakrishnan, said it had been a good "national shame" for military to make use of weapons against their people.
But condemnation of the coup and subsequent violence has come largely from the West, with Asian nations, including India, mostly considerably more restrained. The junta can count on some support from Russia and China - a significant investor - at the UN.
The military has weathered isolation and sanctions during previous eras of army rule and has indicated you won't be swayed this time around.
The UN human rights investigator on Myanmar, Thomas Andrews, urged the Security Council - which meets to go over the situation later on Friday - to impose a global arms embargo and targeted economic sanctions on the junta.
AMERICA has told China, which has declined to condemn the coup, that it expects it to play a constructive role. China has said balance is a high priority.
The military, which ruled directly for nearly 50 years until it embarked on a tentative transition to democracy a decade ago, has been struggling to impose its authority on a country where many people abhor the idea of a return of army rule.
A good civil disobedience campaign of strikes running parallel with the protests has been supported by many government staff including a trickle of policemen.
Indian security forces meanwhile stepped up border patrols to stop any more persons entering, Indian officials said. About 20 policemen crossed into India this week fearing persecution for disobeying orders to enforce the crackdown.
"As of this moment, we are not letting anybody enter," Maria Zuali, a federal government official in Mizoram state, told Reuters.
The move follows the defection over the border of some low-ranking Myanmar cops who were unwilling to obey the junta's orders.
A lot more than 10 Myanmar diplomats found in foreign missions have also declared their support for the pro-democracy campaign, the Irrawaddy news wall plug reported. In Washington, it had been unclear whether Myanmar's embassy was still representing the junta.
In New York, a clash over who represents Myanmar at the UN was averted following the junta's replacement quit and the Myanmar UN mission verified that Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun remained in the job.
The junta fired Kyaw Moe Tun on Saturday after he urged countries at the UN General Assembly to use "any means necessary" to reverse the coup.
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