Myanmar fight for democracy continues!
Burmese police beating up paramedics who tried to help injured civilians.
At least nine dead in Myanmar as police open fire with live rounds across several cities
Source: Independent
Police in Myanmar opened fire on protesters in several cities on Wednesday with live rounds, witnesses and local media reported, killing at least nine people and leaving many others wounded.
The nine protesters were shot dead during separate agitations in different cities, including Mandalay, Yangon, Myingyan and Monywa. The videos and pictures on social media showed soldiers threatening and brutally beating people working for medical aid after forcing them out of the ambulance.
The soldiers have been using tear gas, stun guns grenades and rubber bullets as well to disperse the protesters but they have been defying the military and returning to the streets every day to protest against the 1 February military coup. At least 18 protesters were killed by security personnel on Sunday, in some of the worst violence in the country following the takeover.
Student activist Moe Myint Hein, 25, who was wounded in the leg, said “they opened fire on us with live bullets. One was killed, he’s young, a teenage boy, shot in the head,” reported Reuters news agency.
This comes even as the foreign ministers from Southeast Asian neighbours, who met via video conference on Tuesday, failed to solve the crisis.
Some of the neighbouring countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore have been demanding that Myanmar’s military release Aung San Suu Kyi and other political leaders who were detained after the coup and exercise restrain against the use of lethal force against unarmed protesters.
Singapore’s prime minister Lee Hsien Loong called the use of lethal force by Myanmar’s military against unarmed protesters “disastrous” and unacceptable.
Since 1 February, protests have continued across Myanmar despite the use of lethal force by security forces. On 28 February, according to reports, at least 18 people were killed while 30 were injured.
In addition, hundreds of protesters have also been arrested. Salai Lian, an activist in Chin State, said: “We’re aiming to show that no one in this country wants dictatorship.”
Si Thu Maung, who is a protest leader in Myingyan town, said the soldiers marched towards them and fired tear gas and stun grenades without any warning.
“Then they didn’t spray us with water cannon, no warning to disperse, they just fired their guns,” he said.
While the Archbishop of Yangon, Cardinal Charles Maung Bo tweeted: “Myanmar has already the Concentration Camp in Arakan State. Today, the country is like the Tiananmen Square in most of its major cities.”
Myanmar’s military replaced the democratically-elected government alleging irregularities in November 2020 where Ms Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) won 396 out of the 476 available seats compared to the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party that won only 33 seats.
On Monday, Ms Suu Kyi was seen in public for the first time since the coup as she was summoned to attend a court hearing in the capital Naypyidaw via video conferencing where two more charges were added against her.
Nearly 40 killed in violent day of protests against Myanmar coup, U.N. envoy says
Thirty-eight people were killed in Myanmar as the military quelled protests in several towns and cities on Wednesday, the United Nations said, the most violent day since demonstrations against last month’s military coup first broke out.
Police and soldiers opened fire with live rounds with little warning, witnesses said.
The bloodshed occurred one day after neighbouring countries had called for restraint in the aftermath of the military’s overthrow of the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.
“It’s horrific, it’s a massacre. No words can describe the situation and our feelings,” youth activist Thinzar Shunlei Yi told Reuters via a messaging app.
The dead included four children, an aid agency said. Hundreds of protesters were arrested, local media reported.
“Today it was the bloodiest day since the coup happened on the 1st of February. We had today — only today — 38 people died. We have now more than over 50 people died since the coup started, and many are wounded,” United Nations special envoy on Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener, said in New York.
A spokesman for the ruling military council did not answer telephone calls seeking comment.
Schraner Burgener said that in conversations with Myanmar’s deputy military chief Soe Win, she had warned him that the military was likely to face strong measures from some countries and isolation in retaliation for the coup.
“The answer was: ‘We are used to sanctions, and we survived’,” she told reporters in New York. “When I also warned they will go (into) isolation, the answer was: ‘We have to learn to walk with only few friends’.”
The U.N. Security Council is due to discuss the situation on Friday in a closed meeting, diplomats said.
Further reading: Inquirer
Stop murdering and jailing protestors, UN human rights chief tells Myanmar military
Source: UN News
“It is utterly abhorrent that security forces are firing live ammunition against peaceful protesters across the country”, Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said.
“I am also appalled at the documented attacks against emergency medical staff and ambulances attempting to provide care to those who have been injured”, she added.
According to the High Commissioner’s Office (OHCHR), of the 54 cases it has documented, at least 30 people were killed in Yangon, Mandalay, Sagaing, Magway and Mon by security forces on Wednesday. Another person was documented to have been killed on Tuesday, 18 people on Sunday, and five prior to that.
The actual death toll, however, OHCHR said, could be much higher as these are the figures it has been able to verify. It is also difficult to establish the number of injuries, but credible information indicates, at a minimum, hundreds have been wounded during protests, the Office added.
Furthermore, over 1,700 people have been arbitrarily arrested and detained in relation to their participation in protests or engagement in political activity, since the military takeover on 1 February. On Wednesday alone, at least 700 people were detained, said the UN human rights office.
They include members of parliament, political activists and election officials, authors, rights defenders, teachers, healthcare workers, civil servants, journalists, monks, and celebrities.
Children also among the deceased
There are also reports that at least five children have been killed, at least four severely wounded, and over 500 arbitrarily detained by security forces since protests began last month, according to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
In addition to those killed or seriously wounded, many children are being exposed to harm from tear gas and stun grenades, and are witnessing horrific scenes of violence, in some cases directed against parents or family members, putting them at risk of severe psychosocial distress, the agency said in a statement.
“Many of those arrested or detained are being held incommunicado, without access to legal counsel, in violation of their human rights”, it said.
UNICEF added that together with its partners, the agency is providing psychosocial support to children, parents, caregivers, and service providers to children through a counselling helpline, that operates in different local languages, and legal aid services for children arbitrarily detained by security forces.
‘Door-to-door searches’
According to OHCHR, dozens of people who are being sought by the military authorities are in hiding; and in many instances, soldiers and police are said to be conducting door-to-door searches and detaining people.
While some are eventually released, in many cases relatives have informed the UN human rights office, that they have received no information about where their loved ones are being held.
The family of one community leader in Yangon said that he had not been heard from since he was taken by soldiers from his home in the middle of the night on 1 February, OHCHR said, adding that its staff have received numerous similar accounts.
“Many of the arbitrary arrests and detentions that have been carried out since 1 February may constitute enforced disappearances”, Ms. Bachelet said, calling for the immediate release of all those who remain arbitrarily detained.
Moment to end ‘stranglehold over democracy’
The High Commissioner also raised alarm at the targeting of journalists.
At least 29 journalists have reportedly been arrested in recent days, at least eight of whom have been charged with crimes, including incitement to opposition, or hatred of the Government, or attending an unlawful assembly.
“I urge all those with information and influence – including Myanmar officials who are now joining the civil disobedience movement – to support international efforts to hold military leaders accountable for the serious human rights violations that have been committed both now and in the past”, Ms. Bachelet said.
“This is the moment to turn the tables towards justice and end the military’s stranglehold over democracy in Myanmar.”
'I will shoot whoever I see': Myanmar soldiers use TikTok to threaten protesters
Source: Reuters
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Armed Myanmar soldiers and police are using TikTok to deliver death threats to protesters against last month’s coup, researchers said, leading the Chinese video-sharing app to announce it was removing content that incites violence.
Digital rights group Myanmar ICT for Development (MIDO) said it had found more than 800 pro-military videos that menaced protesters at a time of increasing bloodshed - with 38 protesters killed on Wednesday alone according to the United Nations.
“It’s just the tip of the iceberg,” said MIDO executive director Htaike Htaike Aung, who said there were “hundreds” of videos of threatening uniformed soldiers and police on the app.
A spokesman for the army and junta did not respond to a request for comment.
One video from late February reviewed by Reuters shows a man in army fatigues aiming an assault rifle at the camera and addressing protesters: “I will shoot in your fucking faces... and I’m using real bullets.”
“I am going to patrol the whole city tonight and I will shoot whoever I see... If you want to become a martyr, I will fulfil your wish.”
Reuters was unable to contact him or the other uniformed men who appear in the TikTok videos or to verify that they are in the armed forces.
TikTok is the latest social media platform to suffer a proliferation of menacing content or hate speech in Myanmar.
U.S. tech giant Facebook has now banned all pages linked to Myanmar’s army - and has itself been banned.
TikTok said in a statement: “We have clear Community Guidelines that state we do not allow content that incites violence or misinformation that causes harm... As it relates to Myanmar, we have been and continue to promptly remove all content that incites violence or spreads misinformation, and are aggressively monitoring to remove any such content that violates our guidelines.”
TikTok’s policies forbid displays of guns unless they are in “safe environments”. According to a Linkedin job posting from Thursday, the platform is currently recruiting for a Myanmar product policy manager.
Reuters reviewed over a dozen videos where uniformed men, sometimes brandishing guns, threatened to harm protesters who are calling for the reversal of the coup and the release of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Some videos had tens of thousands of views. Those reviewed by Reuters were taken down this week. Some used hashtags relating to U.S celebrities.
Already growing fast in Myanmar, TikTok saw a strong rise in downloads after the military banned Facebook last month. It is in the top 20 most downloaded apps in Myanmar, according to industry data. It also became popular with young activists, with the protest hashtag #SaveMyanmar reaching 805 million views.
Facebook, which remains popular in Myanmar despite the ban, has toughened its scrutiny of content since being accused of helping to fan atrocities against the Rohingya Muslim minority in 2017.
Researchers like Htaike say they believe the military is now attempting to grow its presence on other platforms.
YouTube removes channels run by Myanmar military
YouTube has removed five channels tied to television networks run by Myanmar’s military as the country experienced its deadliest week of unrest since its military-led coup last month.
Reuters reported late Thursday said that YouTube confirmed it had removed “a number of channels,” including the state network Myanmar Radio and Television (MRTV), as well as the military-owned Myawaddy Media, MWD Variety and MWD Myanmar.
A YouTube spokeswoman told Reuters that the platform had removed the channels, as well as “several videos… in accordance with our community guidelines and applicable laws.”
This move comes after at least 38 people were killed in Myanmar Wednesday after security forces opened fire on demonstrators protesting against last month’s coup, when the military took country leader Aung San Suu Kyi into custody and declared a year-long state of emergency.
The military had argued that last year’s November election, in which Suu Kyi’s party had massive wins, was the result of widespread fraud. The country’s election commission has refuted this claim.
In December, Google announced that it had removed 34 YouTube channels after an investigation into a coordinated propaganda campaign linked to Myanmar.
Further reading: The Hill
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