YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – Large crowds protesting against military takeover in Myanmar again defied a ban on protests on Wednesday, even after security forces used force against them and raided the headquarters of the ousted leader’s political party Aung San Suu Kyi.
Witnesses estimated that tens of thousands, if not more, of protesters showed up in Yangon and Mandalay, the country’s largest cities. Rallies also took place in the capital Naypyitaw and elsewhere.
Protesters are demanding that power be restored to the ousted civilian government of Suu Kyi. They are also seeking freedom for her and other members of the ruling party, as the military detained them after the new parliamentary session on 1 February was blocked.
“As part of Generation Z, we are first-time voters. It is the first time we are protesting and “, said a student who refused to give her name out of fear of harassment. “We were denied votes, and this is totally unfair. We don’t want that. We hope that our leaders will be released and that a true democracy will be implemented. ”
The military says they acted because the November election, which Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy won in a landslide, was marred by irregularities. The Electoral Commission rejected the accusation.
Protesters in Yangon have gathered at foreign embassies to seek international pressure against the coup.
A small group outside the Japanese Embassy held signs and chanted “We want democracy, we have dictators!” They sat in several children’s viewing pools, three or fewer per pool, in what appeared to be a way to show compliance with an emergency law banning gatherings of more than five people.
Others marched through the city, chanting and waving flags of Suu Kyi’s party.
Another group carried a fake coffin as part of a mock funeral for senior General Min Aung Hlaing, the country’s new military leader.
Civil servants in many areas risked their jobs to go with the protesters and even some police officers changed sides to oppose the coup. In a dramatic video filmed Wednesday in a small village in Kayah State in eastern Myanmar, a group of 42 police officers and women declared their loyalty to the elected government and resisted the demands of a senior officer to return to work. Locals gathered on their side to remove any arrest efforts.
The head of the UN International Labor Organization, Guy Ryder, urged Myanmar’s military leaders “to ensure that workers and employers can exercise their rights to freedom of association in a climate of complete freedom and security without violence and threats.”
“I call on the military to immediately remove orders restricting the gathering of more than five people, stop the repression of dissenting voices and fully respect the fundamental and human rights and freedoms of workers,” Ryder said. “I urge military leaders to ensure that no worker, including civil servants, is detained, intimidated or harassed for participating in peaceful protests.”
The growing protests and the latest raid on the junta suggest there is little room for reconciliation. The military, which led directly for five decades after a 1962 coup, used deadly force to quell a massive 1988 uprising and a 2007 uprising led by Buddhist monks.
In Naypyitaw and Mandalay on Tuesday, police sprayed water cannons and fired warning shots to try to remove the protesters. In Naypyitaw, they shot rubber bullets and apparently live rounds, injuring a protesting woman, according to witnesses and footage on social media. The reports could not be confirmed independently.
Human Rights Watch quoted a doctor at a hospital in Naypyitaw as saying that the woman was in critical condition. The doctor said the woman had a projectile in her head, she thought it was a bullet that penetrated the back of her right ear and lost significant brain function. The doctor said that a man was also treated with an upper body wound in accordance with that of live ammunition.
The state television network MRTV, in one of its few reports on the protests, broadcast on Tuesday night scenes claiming that the protesters were responsible for the violence.
“Myanmar police should immediately stop using excessive and lethal force,” the New York guard urged.
No major incidents were reported in connection with the large turnout in Wednesday’s protest in Mandalay. Social media users said 82 people who were arrested were released because of the work of local lawyers.
Buddhist students and medical staff, lawyers and monks were in a huge section of residents who marched in Mandalay, but the most buzz on social media was generated by a contingent of shirtless muscular men with six well-defined packages. which members of a gym were talking about.
The most photogenic in Yangon were a group of young women who dressed in formal dresses more suitable for a wedding reception.
The army on Tuesday evening attacked the national headquarters of Suu Kyi’s party, which before the army took power had been scheduled to take power for a second five-year term.
Kyi Toe, a party spokesman, wrote on Facebook that the army had entered Yangon headquarters and another office and taken documents and computer hardware. The headquarters was closed on Wednesday.
US President Joe Biden on Wednesday ordered new sanctions, saying he is issuing an executive order that will prevent Myanmar generals from accessing $ 1 billion in assets in the United States. Biden added that more measures are expected.
“The army must relinquish the power it has taken and show respect for the will of the people of Burma,” he said.
A day earlier, the United States had strongly condemned the violence against protesters.
“We reiterate our calls for the military to relinquish power, restore the democratically elected government, release those detained and lift all telecommunications restrictions and refrain from violence,” the State Department spokesman said. Ned Price.
New Zealand has suspended all high-level military and political contact with Myanmar, Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta said in Wellington, adding that any aid from New Zealand should not go or benefit the Myanmar military government.
The UN Human Rights Council, a 47-member body based in Geneva, will hold a special session on Friday to consider “the human rights implications of the Myanmar crisis”.
The United Kingdom and the European Union led the request for the session, which will mean a high-quality public debate among diplomats on the situation in Myanmar and could lead to a resolution that raises concerns about the situation or recommends international action.