Medics: one man in critical condition after at least 16 shot in Yangon on Sunday

Medics: one man in critical condition after at least 16 shot in Yangon on Sunday

Four have died from gunshot wounds during attacks by police and soldiers in the city while others were hospitalised after beatings or inhaling tear gas

The regime intensified its brutal attacks on Sunday as it sought to stop a massive popular uprising aimed at removing it from power (Myanmar Now)

Content warning: This report contains graphic images of wounded and dead protesters

At least 16 people were shot in Yangon on Sunday as the military ordered deadly attacks on peaceful protesters across the country, according to hospital records seen by Myanmar Now and statements from medics. 

Four of those shot in the city were killed and a 31-year-old man is in a critical condition after being shot in the neck. At least 14 other deaths have been confirmed in other parts of the country, including in Dawei and Mandalay. 

It was the bloodiest day since the February 1 coup, as military chief Min Aung Hlaing sought to stamp out a massive nationwide uprising aimed at removing his regime from power. 

 

 

There were a total 19 admissions to Yangon General Hospital in the wake of the attacks and another two at Thingangyun Sanpya Hospital. 

Three of those brought to Yangon General Hospital were already dead when they arrived. They were 23-year-old IT worker Nyi Nyi Aung Htet Naing, 59-year-old middle school teacher Tin Nwet Yee, and a young man named Zin Lin Htet.

 

 

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Zin Lin Thu, 20, was shot in the left eye during a protest crackdown at Hledan Junction in Yangon. He was pronounced dead on arrival at Yangon General Hospital. He was one of three people killed during the crackdowns in Yangon on February 28. (Myanmar Now)

The records show Nyi Nyi Aung Htet Naing died after a bullet penetrated his lower torso. Three Myanmar Now reporters witnessed him being shot in Hledan on Sunday morning before protesters carried him away. 

A fourth person, 23-year-old Hein Htut Aung, was pronounced dead when he arrived at Thingangyun Sanpya Hospital with a bullet wound in his chest.

Others were injured by bullet wounds in the shoulder, thigh, big toe and neck, while a 21-year-old woman suffered a massive wound in her leg from a “bomb blast” believed to have been from a stun grenade.   

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Nyi Nyi Aung Het Naing, 24, was shot in the abdomen during a protest at Hledan Junction on February 28. He was taken to Yangon General Hospital by fellow protesters and pronounced dead on arrival. He was one of three people killed in crackdowns in Yangon that day.

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X-rays seen by Myanmar Now showed bullets had shattered patients’ bones, while photos taken by medics showed large areas of skin and flesh missing.  

Two people were treated for injuries from being beaten by security forces and another two were admitted after inhaling tear gas. One man arrived with a puncture wound in his arm from falling on a fence spike while trying to escape the police. 

Most of the hospitalised protesters were from Hledan, with others injured at rallying areas in Tamwe and Yankin.

Five patients have been discharged from Yangon General Hospital and another 10 were transferred to a private hospital, a doctor said. The doctor declined to reveal which hospital the 10 were transferred to out of concern for their safety. 

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Tin Nwet Yee, 40, was one of several teachers protesting against military rule on lower Kyimyindaing Road on February 28 when she was shot and killed during a police crackdown. She was pronounced dead on arrival at Yangon General Hospital.


 

The hospital’s emergency department, which had been closed for weeks amid a nationwide general strike aimed at crippling the junta, was reopened “out of necessity” on Sunday, a doctor said.

Medics, who have been at the forefront of mass work stoppages, made a collective decision to reopen to treat the wounded while continuing to disobey orders from the military regime.    

At least 270 were arrested on Sunday, according to the Assistance Association of Political Prisoners. But the group said it was trying to confirm reports of more than 1,000 being detained. 

A total of 13 journalists, including Myanmar Now’s multimedia reporter Kay Zon Nway, were confirmed as among those detained over the weekend.

In a statement on Monday, striking medics and doctors condemned the “brutal killings of peaceful, unarmed protesters by the security forces.” 

“The military council not only seized state power unjustly but also is committing killings continuously,” the statement said. “While we will be documenting and reporting those, we will also continue to do the civil disobedience movement until it succeeds.”  

 

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A list of dead and injured protesters who were treated or examined at Yangon General Hospital on February 28.

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Shine Kaung Khant, 24, sustained gunshot injuries to his left buttock during a protest at Hledan Junction in Yangon on February 28.

 

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Mya Witt Yee, 18, sustained a severe fracture in her left leg after being shot at by security forces in front of the Yuzana Plaza shopping mall in Yankin township in Yangon on February 28.

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Myint Mo Hein, 20, sustained injuries to his left leg during a protest crackdown at Hledan Junction in Yangon on February 28.

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Min Htet Naing, 19, sustained a gunshot wound to his right leg during a protest at Hledan Junction on February 28.

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Kyaw Kyaw Win, 24, sustained a major fracture in his left shoulder after being shot by security forces during a protest in Yangon on February 28.

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Htoo Mon Naing, 31, was shot in the nape of the neck during the crackdown on protesters at Hledan Junction in Yangon on February 28.

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 Htet Htet Khaing, 21, sustained fractures in her left leg and thigh after being hit with explosive devices thrown at protesters by security forces in Yangon on Feb 28.

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Hein Min Kyaw, 31, sustained a knee injury following the crackdown on protesters at Yankin township in Yangon on February 28.

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San San Aye, 46, was shot through her right thigh while she was protesting at Myaynigone Junction in Yangon on February 28.

 

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Aung Phyo Paing, 18, was shot in the left shoulder while he was protesting against the military junta at Hledan Junction in Yangon on February 28.

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Aung Ko Paing, 23, was shot in the abdomen while he was protesting against the military junta at Hledan Junction in Yangon on February 28.

Myanmar becomes a nation without newspapers

The closure of Myanmar’s last independent newspaper marks a new milestone in the country’s political descent 

Myanmar Now
Published on Mar 18, 2021
Staring March 17, the country no longer has a single independent newspaper in publication.

Years from now, March 17, 2021, will be remembered as the day that Myanmar’s brief era of press freedom—however partial and imperfect it was—well and truly died.

As of this day, the country no longer has a single independent newspaper in publication. On Wednesday, The Standard Time (San Taw Chain) joined The Myanmar Times, The Voice, 7Day News and Eleven in suspending operations in the wake of last month’s military coup.

It was less than a decade ago that the quasi-civilian administration of former President Thein Sein began slowly lifting restrictions on Myanmar’s long-suppressed press.

As overt censorship became a thing of the past and new licenses were issued, the number of news outlets proliferated, in the surest sign of confidence in ongoing political and economic reforms.  

Now only online news media remain as the last lifeline for millions of citizens desperate for reliable sources of information amid the military-induced freefall.

With this in mind, the new regime is acting to sever this last connection as it moves to plunge the country into darkness.

“The situation for press freedom is only going to get worse as they cut off the internet,” says political analyst Sithu Aung Myint, before adding: “The country no longer has democracy or an ounce of freedom.”

Piling pressure on news media

It took 10 days for the regime’s Ministry of Information to start making Orwellian demands. On February 11, it issued new instructions to the Myanmar Press Council, “urging” news media to “practice ethics” and stop referring to the “State Administration Council” as a junta.   

Citing provisions in Myanmar’s military-drafted constitution, the junta’s arbiters of truth claimed that the regime came to power by legitimate means because a state of emergency had been duly declared.

Newspapers, journals, and websites that persisted in using language that suggested otherwise were not merely wrong, but were also violating media ethics and inciting unrest, the ministry insisted.

Eleven days later, on February22, the coup maker himself, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, warned the media that their publishing licenses would be revoked if they continued to use words that didn’t meet with his approval.

But on February 25, in a show of defiance, some 50 news outlets declared their intention to keep reporting on the situation as it unfolded, and to describe the regime and its actions as they saw fit.

The arrests begin

Two days later, the junta began targeting the most vulnerable and essential participants in the whole news-making process: reporters.

On February 27, five journalists covering the junta’s crackdowns on anti-dictatorship activities were arrested and later charged with incitement under section 505a of the Penal Code.

Myanmar Now’s multimedia reporter Kay Zon Nway was one of those arrested that day. She was doing her job of documenting the brutal assault on protesters in Yangon’s Sanchaung township when she was apprehended while fleeing the regime’s forces as they lashed out at everyone in sight. 

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Police arrest Myanmar Now journalist Kay Zon Nwe covering protests in Yangon on February 27, 2021. Credit: YE AUNG THU / AFP

The four others—Aung Ye Ko from 7Days News, Ye Myo Khant from Myanmar Pressphoto Agency, Thein Zaw from AP, and Hein Pyae Zaw from ZeeKwat Media—were reporting near Hledan when they were taken into custody. 

All five are now in Yangon’s notorious Insein prison awaiting trial on charges based on the ludicrous notion that they were somehow responsible for the mayhem that they were merely there to witness, at great risk to their own lives.

Under recent amendments to section 505a, they now face up to three years in prison for the crime of sharing what they saw with their fellow citizens.

According to data compiled by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners and last updated on March 8, as many as 33 journalists have been arrested or targeted for arrest since the February 1 coup.

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A policeman chasing a journalist holding a camera in Yangon on February 26, 2021. 

Taking action against news organizations

The regime hasn’t just put individual journalists in its sights; as its efforts to end resistance to its rule continue to escalate, it has also moved to neutralize entire new organizations.  

On March 8, the Ministry of Information announced that it had revoked the publishing licenses of Myanmar Now and four other outlets—7Day News, Mizzima, DVB and Khit Thit media.

7Days News stopped printing the following day, and a day later, Eleven announced that it would also be suspending its operations, at least until April 18.

By that time, two other well-known local publications, The Myanmar Times and The Voice, had already shut down shop for various reasons.

That left only The Standard Time, which for the past week has been the only print newspaper in the country not controlled by the regime. And now it, too, is gone.

All of this is just another chapter in Myanmar’s long and often troubled news media history.

After Myanmar gained independence in 1948, private daily newspapers flourished in the country. Published in Myanmar, English, Chinese and Hindi, these publications were part of a vibrant culture that cherished the free exchange of ideas and information.

But that came to an abrupt end in 1962, when the former dictator General Ne Win seized power and put most daily newspapers under government control. After his 1973 constitution was ratified, privately owned dailies were effectively banned.

It wasn’t until nearly 40 years later, in late 2012, that the state-owned media’s monopoly on daily news ended under the Thein Sein government.

Now this fleeting moment of relative freedom is past, and Myanmar has returned to the dark days of an uprising that was brutally crushed, ushering in an even darker era of absolute military rule.   

“I wasn’t a journalist in ‘88, but in my 12 years in this profession, this current situation is the worst. It’s not just a matter of being afraid to go out to report; now you can be arrested just for being a person in media,” one female reporter who asked to remain anonymous remarked.

As trying as these times are, however, they have more than proven the true value of press freedom as a weapon in the fight against oppression.

“Help the news media so that the local and international community know the people’s bravery, sacrifices, and the atrocities that the dictators have committed,” Sithu Aung Myint, the political analyst, wrote on social media recently. 

“Take record of incidents yourself,” he added, reminding his readers that in this age of citizen journalists, we all have a responsibility to act as witnesses.

But even with so much courage and commitment on full display, it’s difficult not to see this day as a chilling sign of things to come.

Reflecting on what the loss of Myanmar’s last news publication means for the country, Sithu Aung Myint concluded: “As a nation without newspapers, we are now in the dark ages.”

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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Regime’s forces threaten to shoot into people’s homes unless residents remove roadblocks 

Some have complied with the order but others say they are leaving the barricades up 

Myanmar Now
Published on Mar 17, 2021
The junta’s armed forces approach a protest column in Tamwe, Yangon on February 27 (Myanmar Now) 

Police and soldiers patrolled neighbourhoods in Yangon and Mandalay on Wednesday and threatened to shoot into people’s houses unless locals removed defensive roadblocks they had set up amid spiralling one-sided violence.

A video of the coup regime’s forces making the threats through a loudspeaker circulated on social media and residents from several different neighbourhoods later told Myanmar Now they had received similar threats. 

“The next time we see barricades on roads, we will turn this entire residential quarter upside down and shoot,” a voice said in the video. 

The regime’s forces came to Khaymarthi Road and Nweni Road in Yangon’s North Okkalapa township in the afternoon to demand the removal of barricades, residents there told Myanmar Now. 

“We did not remove the barricades, so they are still on the roads,” one resident said. “We only set up the barricades in our quarter. If they didn’t not shoot, we wouldn’t need barricades. But now they’re shooting, so it is more appropriate for the people to block the roads.” 

A woman living in Hlaing Tharyar township, which this week witnessed the biggest massacre so far by regime forces since the February 1 coup, said locals removed the barricades from major roads after soldiers threatened to shoot into people’s homes. 

She then saw military trucks driving around the township, she added. 

On Wednesday morning the regime’s forces detained people and forced them to clear sandbags and other barricades on major roads elsewhere in Yangon, according to social media posts by people who said they were detained.

The junta’s security forces made similar threats in South Okkalapa, Thingangyun and Tamwe townships in Yangon and Manawramman Quarter in Mandalay, residents said. 

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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More than 300 students detained in Tamwe in early March hit with 505a charge

Families and lawyers are still being kept in the dark about the status of court proceedings against them

Myanmar Now
Published on Mar 17, 2021
University students and young people have been playing a leading role in the nationwide protests against the military coup on Februrary 1. (Myanmar Now)

The regime has charged more than 300 students who were detained at a protest in Tamwe on March 3 after keeping their families in the dark about their status for two weeks. 

They were detained as police and soldiers used tear gas, rubber bullets and live ammunition to attack a march organised by the University of Yangon Students’ Union and the All Burma Federation of Student Unions.

At least five were injured by rubber bullets during the attack. Police initially detained 389 people but last week released 50 who are under the age of 18.

The students have been charged under section 505a of the Penal Code, which the junta recently amended to give prison sentences of up to three years for causing fear, spreading fake news or agitating against government employees.

Lawyers say they have been unable to obtain an exact list of names of those being held and that police have been evasive regarding the case. 

“The person in charge of the case was not present. We were told that he went to the court,” one of the lawyers said. “We can’t reach him via phone, so we followed him to Tamwe court, but there was no one at the court except security.” 

Parents have been informed about the charges but not the details of the court proceedings, the lawyer said. 

Because the military junta has shut down mobile internet, court proceedings have been adjourned as video conferencing is not available. In-person hearings were stopped last year in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. 

“We, the Students’ Union, do not believe in their judicial process and therefore we do not recognize these court proceedings as legitimate,” a student activist said, requesting anonymity. “The Students’ Union will continue to fight to topple the military regime.” 

Among those detained on March 3 was Wai Yan Phyo Moe, Vice President of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions.

Three members of the central executive committee of the Yangon University Students’ Union were also arrested. They are Phone Htet Naung, Aung Phone Maw, and Lay Pyay Soe Moe.

The majority of those detained are from various universities in Yangon, with 176 being students of Yangon University. A few are from universities in rural areas of Myanmar. 

Hundreds of other students have also been arrested at protests in Mandalay and Magway, on February 28 and March 7. Only 19 of them have been released.

 

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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