Election sub-commission members released after more than one month in detention

Some of those released were made to sign a statement confirming military allegations of electoral fraud in their respective townships, an official said.

An election official shows a ballot for verification in Yangon’s Kyauktada Township on November 8 (Myanmar Now)

The military regime on Wednesday released all election sub-commission members who were detained following last month’s coup, state and township level election officials said.

The coup regime detained the state, regional and township-level sub-commission members on February 11, ten days after it seized power, and tried to justify the move with unsubstantiated claims of fraud during Myanmar’s 2020 general election.

They members were released on Wednesday morning, confirming rumours on Tuesday that they would be freed.

State and regional commission members were detained at divisional military headquarters, while township level members were detained at guest quarters inside battalion bases.

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Some members of township-level sub-commissions were made to sign a statement before their release confirming the military’s findings about voting irregularities in their areas during the November 8 poll, said a chair of a state-level sub-commission who asked not to be named.

But one member of a township sub-commission denied that they had to sign such a statement.

Kyi Myint, chair of the Yangon Region sub-commission, said that the military didn’t ask him to sign anything and there was no interrogation.

“We were summoned and asked to take a rest,” Kyi Myint said.

He added that he didn’t know why the military had allowed them to go home. Nor did he know the situation of members of the union-level commission who were also detained.

Kin Khanh Pawng, chair of the township sub-commission in Kale, Sagaing, was detained in mid-February and was among those released on Wednesday. He said he was called in to help with data and paperwork.

“I had to help them find the data they wanted to see,” he said.

A new union election commission body was formed a day after the military seized state power and arrested civilian leaders on February 1.

The new commission met with 53 political parties on February 26 and officially annulled the results of the 2020 general election.

Another 38 registered parties did not attend that meeting. They include the Shan National League for Democracy, the Democratic Party for a New Society, and the People's Party.

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At least six killed after factory owner calls in military in Hlaing Tharyar

Police publicly executed a woman who was the leader of the workers

Myanmar Now

Published on Mar 17, 2021

The site of a protest in Hlaing Tharyar that saw an intense face off between the protesters and the junta’s armed forces on March 14 (Supplied)

At least six people were killed on Tuesday following a wage dispute at a Chinese-owned shoe factory in Yangon’s Hlaing Tharyar Township after the owner called in the junta’s armed forces.

The workers had gone to the Xing Jia factory in Industrial Zone (1) to collect their wages, but conflict arose when they were not given the full payment they were owed, according to a Hlaing Tharyar resident from Daing Su ward who was familiar with the incident.

The owner, a Chinese national, then called the military and police, according to local sources.

“The soldiers and police came into the factory and surrounded it. The police slapped a girl who was the leader of the workers. When she hit back, they shot her,” the Hlaing Tharyar local told Myanmar Now.

The troops and police then arrested around 70 workers and loaded them onto two prisoner transport trucks. When people gathered to demand their release, the armed forces opened fire into the crowd, killing five more people, all men.

“The confrontation at the factory happened in the morning. When we gathered and went to demand the release of the arrested workers, it was about 2:30 in the afternoon,” the Hlaing Tharyar local said.

“They used live ammunition to shoot us. We all had to run, but five were killed. We couldn’t bring their bodies back, so we had to drag them away and put them in ditches.”

They were able to recover the body of one fallen worker at 9:00 p.m. on Tuesday, and some of the remaining bodies by 4:00 a.m. on Wednesday.

“We had to hide all night. There were six dead, we got four bodies back. They’re being kept at a Buddhist hall in the ward. We can’t take back two of the bodies, that of the girl shot in the factory and another man,” the local said.

At the time of reporting, he said he was on the run, along with 17 others, after being reported by another local for leading the protest. That individual is now also reportedly in hiding.

Injured protesters are being treated at Pun Hlaing hospital.

Myanmar Now is still gathering further information about the incident, and other reports of new fatal crackdowns in Hlaing Tharyar.

An official at the Hlaing Tharyar hospital said that no bodies or injured persons had been sent there on March 16 or 17.

“No one came in last night. The hospital is not far from places like Aung Zeya bridge or Mee Kwat market, so we’d know if there were something happening. The streets were relatively calm in the morning today,” another doctor from the same hospital said.

A local aid group reported that shots had been fired in Yay Oak Kan ward in Hlaing Tharyar, but further details were not known at the time of reporting.

Myanmar Now

Myanmar Now is an independent news service providing free, accurate and unbiased news to the people of Myanmar in Burmese and English.

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High-ranking Buddhist abbots move to suspend activities, echoing Civil Disobedience Movement

Ma Ha Na members say it is ‘an undeniable truth’ that the people of Myanmar are suffering

Myanmar Now

Published on Mar 17, 2021

The 47-member State Saṅgha Maha Nayaka Committee, a government-appointed body of high-ranking Buddhist abbots, have announced a decision to suspend their activities amid the junta’s violent crackdown on anti-coup protesters.

The committee, locally known as Ma Ha Na, met on March 16 and called for an immediate end to attacks on protesters, a committee member told Myanmar Now on Tuesday night.

The abbot said that an official statement would be issued only after the decision had been submitted to the Union Minister for Religious Affairs and Culture on March 18.

“It is similar to the CDM,” the committee member said of Ma Ha Na’s move, referring to the ongoing Civil Disobedience Movement

“After the decision is submitted to the religious affairs minister, the statement may change. I want you to know what the original says, because it may be changed. This is the decision of the 47 abbots.”

Among the Sangha Maha Nayaka’s five demands were calls for the violent crackdown on and arrests of unarmed civilians to be halted, and as well as for the looting and destruction of people’s property to be prevented.

The committee said that the future and pride of all Myanmar citizens-- especially the younger generation-- must be taken into account. It called on the responsible authorities to refrain from acts that could tarnish the image of the nation, its races, religions and cultures.

The abbots also urged all stakeholders to find solutions to the crisis by holding on to the principle of loving kindness and engaging in dialogue.

The committee said that it would completely halt its activities until the political situation had eased, stability was achieved and the citizens could move freely.

There was no argument among the Ma Ha Na abbots about whether to ask the junta to end its violent crackdown on civilians, the committee member said. The point that did raise debate in the meeting was whether examinations for Buddhist monks could still go ahead.

The statement described it as “an undeniable truth” that the people of the country were suffering because of the current political situation.

If the people are unhappy, Buddhist monks would also be unhappy and miserable, the letter said. If rulers and politicians remain divided, all Myanmar citizens would suffer, and that was why the abbots had made the request, the statement read.

Myanmar Now

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Death toll from Monday’s violence climbs to at least 20

The number of fatalities from a day of deadly crackdowns continues to rise

Myanmar Now

Published on Mar 17, 2021

Anti-coup protesters are seen in Hlaing Tharyar township in Yangon on March 14 (Supplied)

The number of civilians killed by regime forces on Monday has now reached at least 20, according to the latest information received by Myanmar Now.

The week started with a fresh outbreak of deadly violence that came after the worst weekend so far in the junta’s efforts to crush opposition to its February 1 coup.

Killings were reported around the country, with the highest concentration occurring in Yangon, where at least 63 people died on Sunday after soldiers opened fire in several townships.

In Hlaing Tharyar, the scene of some of the deadliest violence over the weekend, six people were murdered, including a man in his 50s who was collecting trash near the Aung Zeya bridge when a soldier approached him and shot him in the head.

Two women in their 60s were also killed when they were hit by bullets fired into their homes on Da Bin Shwe Htee road.

A night of terror

Indiscriminate shooting continued well into the night, resulting in at least two more deaths in the township, according to local residents.

The night of terror began at around 4:30pm, when the military sealed off main roads between the Aung Zeya bridge and the fire station about 2km away and started shooting.

“They were on trucks and shot at anything that moved. They shot anyone they saw,” said one resident, describing the scene on Monday night.

“There were two crab sellers in the area that night. When the trucks came by, they poked their heads out for a look and got shot. Both of them died,” the resident said.

On the other side of Yangon, a crackdown on a peaceful vigil for fallen protesters in Dawbon township left two men dead and four others seriously injured on Monday, a member of a township-based aid group told Myanmar Now.

There was also another death on Monday in South Dagon, one of six townships in Yangon placed under martial law since the weekend as the regime moves to clamp down on protests.

The killing continued in South Dagon on Tuesday, with reports that a man in his 40s had been shot in the head by junta forces. No further details were available.

Shooting at ambulances

Monday’s death toll also rose outside of Yangon, as more of the injured died and earlier figures were revised to reflect the latest available information.

In Myingyan, a town in Mandalay region, six people, including three boys in their teens and a 20-year-old woman, were confirmed dead, doubling the previously reported death count.

At least 17 others were injured during the crackdown, including five who are in critical condition, according to a member of a team that is caring for the wounded protesters.

“We’ve had to hide the dead bodies because we’re worried [the military] might take them away,” the medical support worker said late Monday evening.

He added that soldiers shot into the houses of local people who hid the injured protesters and also at ambulances that transported the dead and wounded to a makeshift clinic.

There were also two confirmed deaths in Chanmya Tharzi, a township in downtown Mandalay, as well as at least five others in smaller centres to the north of the city.

A total of four deaths were also reported in Aunglan in Magway region, Gyobingauk in Bago region, and Monywa in Sagaing region, according to local aid groups.

According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, Myanmar’s military has killed at least 183 people in the six weeks since it seized power.