YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – Myanmar security forces have dramatically stepped up crackdown on protests against last month’s coup, killing at least 34 protesters in several cities on Wednesday, according to social media accounts and reports. local news compiled by a data analyst.
This is the highest daily death toll since the February 1 takeover, surpassing the 18 that the UN Office for Human Rights said were killed on Sunday and could galvanize the international community, which has so far responded to the violence. Wednesday’s videos also showed security forces firing slingshots at protesters, chasing and even brutally beating an ambulance crew.
The fee can be even higher; The Democratic Voice of Burma, an independent television and online news service, has claimed 38 lives.
Protesters have regularly flooded the streets of cities across the country since the military took power and ousted the elected government of leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Their numbers remained high even as security forces repeatedly fired tear gas, rubber bullets and live rounds to disperse the crowds and arrested the protesters en masse.
The intensifying confrontation is unfortunately familiar in a country with a long history of peaceful resistance to military rule – and brutal repression. The coup reversed years of slow progress toward democracy in the Southeast Asian nation after five decades of military rule.
Wednesday’s death toll was compiled by a data analyst who spoke on condition of anonymity because he feared for his safety. He also collected information where he could about the victims’ names, ages, hometowns and where and how they were killed.
The Associated Press failed to independently confirm most of the reported deaths, but several squares with online posts. The data analyst, who is in Yangon, the country’s largest city, said he collected the information to honor those who were killed for their heroic resistance.
According to his list, the highest number of deaths was in Yangon, where the total was 18. In the central city of Monywa, which proved to be a huge crowd, eight deaths were reported. Three deaths have been reported in Mandalay, the country’s second largest city and two in Salin, a town in the Magwe region. Mawlamyine, in the southeast of the country, and Myingyan and Kalay, both in central Myanmar, each had one death.
During the crackdown, security forces also arrested hundreds of people, including journalists. At least eight journalists, including Thein Zaw of the Associated Press, were detained on Saturday. A video showed him moving out of the way while police attacked a street against the protesters, but then he was confiscated by police officers, who handcuffed him and held him briefly in a suffocation before he remove.
He was accused of violating a public safety law that could see him imprisoned for up to three years.
The escalation of repression has led to increased diplomatic efforts to resolve the political crisis in Myanmar – but there seem to be few viable options. It is not yet clear whether the number of increases on Wednesday could change the dynamics.
The UN Security Council is expected to hold a closed session on the situation on Friday, council diplomats said on condition of anonymity, as they were not allowed to release the information before the official announcement. Britain requested the meeting, they said.
However, any coordinated action at the United Nations will be difficult, as two permanent members of the Security Council, China and Russia, would almost certainly have a veto. Some countries have imposed or intend to impose their own sanctions.
On Wednesday, UN Special Envoy for Myanmar Christine Schraner Burgener told reporters at the UN headquarters in New York that she receives about 2,000 messages a day from people in Myanmar, many “who are really desperate to see action from the community. international agreements ”.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, of which Myanmar is a member, held a teleconference meeting of foreign ministers on Tuesday to discuss the crisis.
But even there the action is unlikely. The regional group of 10 nations has a tradition of not intervening in each other’s internal affairs. A statement by the president after the meeting only called for an end to the violence and talks on how to reach a peaceful agreement.
Ignoring the call, Myanmar security forces continued to attack peaceful protesters on Wednesday.
In addition to deaths, other violence was reported. In Yangon, a video taken from a security camera showed city police brutally beating members of an ambulance crew – apparently after they were arrested. Police can be seen kicking the three crew members and throwing rifle butts at them.
Security forces are believed to be identifying medical workers for arrest and ill-treatment, as members of the medical profession have launched the country’s civil disobedience movement to resist the junta.
In Mandalay, riot police, backed by soldiers, broke up a rally and watched about 1,000 teachers and students on a tear gas street as gunfire was heard.
The AP video showed a team of policemen firing slingshots at the apparent direction of the protesters as they dispersed.
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Associated Press writer Edith M. Lederer of the UN headquarters in New York contributed to this report.
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This story has been updated to correct the fact that there was a report of one death in Myingyan, not two.