Two people in critical condition after police shoot peaceful protesters with live bullets in Naypyitaw - doctor 

Two people in critical condition after police shoot peaceful protesters with live bullets in Naypyitaw - doctor 

Attack comes amid increasingly brutal crackdown after the regime banned gatherings of more than four people

Myanmar Now
Published on Feb 9, 2021
 Crowds in Naypyitaw were pummeled with water cannons amid an increasingly brutal crackdown (Myanmar Now) 
 Crowds in Naypyitaw were pummeled with water cannons amid an increasingly brutal crackdown (Myanmar Now) 

Two people were fighting for their lives on Tuesday after police fired live bullets into a crowd of peaceful protesters in Naypyitaw, a doctor at a hospital in the capital told Myanmar Now. 

A 30-year-old man and a 19-year-old woman were in critical condition after being shot, the doctor said, requesting anonymity. 

The attack came as demonstrators calling for the fall of the new dictatorship braved water cannons, rubber bullets and tear gas during a fourth day of mass nationwide demonstrations against last week’s coup.

Tuesday’s protests went ahead in defiance of a ban on gatherings of more than four people imposed by the new regime on Monday.

The two injured protesters were among a crowd that gathered at the Thabyay Gone Centre in Naypyitaw that was also pummeled with jets of water and about 50 rounds of rubber bullets.

Than Htike Aung, a reporter with the Mizzima news website, was injured by a rubber bullet during the attacks. Two others were also injured. 

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A protester was injured after police use water cannon on crowd demonstrating against the coup in Naypyidaw. (Nyan Hlaing Lin/Myanmar Now)

In Mandalay, where dozens have been violently snatched off the streets and arrested, police fired tear gas at a crowd of protesters.

About a dozen police and military trucks blocked the entrance to University Avenue at Hledan junction In Yangon as a large crowd gathered there.

On Monday, a week after staging a coup against a newly elected government, the military released a statement warning that action would be taken against “wrongdoers” if the protests continued.

Later that evening, the General Administration Department announced the ban on gatherings and an indefinite 8pm to 4am curfew.  

The department said groups of people had been trying to disrupt public stability, safety and law enforcement, which can cause riots, and that gatherings, giving speeches, and protesting were therefore banned.

Aung Myo, a 50-year-old protester who helped lead hundreds rallying in Yangon’s Thaketa township on Tuesday, said people did not need to follow the orders imposed by the military.

“It was not imposed by our elected government but by the military dictator. We are totally against it and condemn it,” he said, as protesters demanded the release of those detained last week and chanted “Down with the military dictatorship!”

Thousands of civil servants from the ministries of foreign affairs, education, agriculture and health, as well as staff from the Anti-Corruption Commission and the railways department have joined walkouts throughout the country aimed at crippling the regime. 

we_need_democracy.jpg

Yan Moe Naing/Myanmar Now 

People from many other walks of life, from lawyers, engineers and construction workers to nurses and medical students, have also joined a general strike called on Monday.

At least one police officer in Naypyitaw and four police officers in the central town of Magwe have also joined the protests, with some wearing red ribbons, the symbol of  the civil disobedience movement.

Khun Aung Ko Ko, the police lieutenant who joined demonstrators in Naypyitaw, called for the “fall of dictator Min Aung Hlaing” in a printed statement handed out to protesters.

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The police officer who switched to the protesters' side gave a speech to the crowd, calling for the “fall of dictator Min Aung Hlaing", the country's army chief and coup leader. 

“I am aware I will be put in jail with a long prison sentence if our fight for democracy does not succeed,” he wrote. “But it’s worth fighting for over 50 million people in this country by doing what I believe in.”

“Even if I lose my dearest daughter in this fight for our next generation, it’s worth it. I will be happy to die together with my daughter. I do not want my daughter to live under the rule of dictator Min Aung Hlaing and witness his wickedness and selfishness,” he added. “My sacrifice for the people and members of the police force, to fight for democracy and the fall of dictator Min Aung Hlaing, will be worth it.”  

 

 

Nationwide protests against the military coup continue all over Myanmar.
Myanmar Now

Myanmar Now is an independent news service providing free, accurate and unbiased news to the people of Myanmar in Burmese and English.
Op-ed
Seeking justice in the wake of Myanmar’s coup

The country’s military leaders have acted with impunity for decades, but now there is a mechanism to bring them to justice

Lin Htet
Published on Mar 19, 2021
Nationwide protests against the coup have been responded with murders, torture and mass arrests by the military regime. (Myanmar Now)

On March 8, U Ko Ko Lay, a 62-year-old teacher, bled to death on a street in the Kachin state capital Myitkyina. He had been shot in the head while protesting the military coup of February 1. That same night, U Zaw Myat Lynn, an official from the National League for Democracy, was taken from his home in Shwepyithar on the outskirts of Yangon and tortured to death. The list keeps growing.

In the more than six weeks since Senior General Min Aung Hlaing seized power, images of soldiers and police officers shooting, beating, and arresting protesters have flooded social media and Myanmar and international news outlets. So far, the regime’s forces have killed well over 200 people (more than half of them in the past week) and seriously injured many more. The junta has also arrested nearly 2,200 people, some of whom, like U Zaw Myat Lynn, have died in custody.

Each day, Myanmar human rights organizations update lists with names, dates, locations, and causes of death. Around 600 police and a handful of soldiers have decided they do not want to be involved in such actions. They have left their posts and even joined the anti-coup movement.

Many soldiers, police officers, and commanding officers are acting with impunity now. But they can face prosecution, not only in Myanmar’s courts but also internationally. Like any country, Myanmar is subject to international law. Because of its history of atrocities, most recently against the Rohingya people, Myanmar is also already subject to special international legal proceedings that apply to the current situation.

The most relevant is the United Nations’ Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM). The IIMM was created in 2018 after the Myanmar military’s brutal campaign against the Rohingya people, but it applies to the whole country. Its mission is to investigate “international crimes” from 2011 to the present.

International crimes are generally defined as “widespread and systematic” in nature, involving many victims and locations. These include crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide.

In keeping with its mandate, the IIMM is collecting information on the current situation. In a statement released on February 11 (available in Myanmar here), it highlighted the “use of lethal force against peaceful protesters and the detention of political leaders, members of civil society and protesters.”

More recently, on March 17, the IIMM also called on recipients of illegal orders to share this evidence so that those ultimately responsible for these crimes can be held accountable.

"The persons most responsible for the most serious international crimes are usually those in high leadership positions. They are not the ones who physically perpetrate the crimes and often are not even present at the locations where the crimes are committed,” the head of the IIMM, Nicholas Koumjian, says in the statement (available in Myanmar here).

The crimes the IIMM investigates could be tried in Myanmar courts, courts in other countries, or international courts. International crimes are crimes that are so serious that they are considered to be against the international community, and are therefore not limited to courts in one country.

In other words, an international crime committed in Myanmar—for example, widespread and systematic attacks on civilians—can be tried in a court in another country or in an international court.

The Myanmar military is used to getting away with murder. Decades of well-documented killing, rape, and torture of civilians in ethnic minority areas have gone unpunished. No one has ever been tried for the killing of protesters during previous mass uprisings against military rule in 1988 and 2007.

But this time may be different. On March 4, the International Commission of Jurists said in a statement that “the killing of peaceful protesters by Myanmar’s security forces should be independently investigated as possible crimes against humanity.”

The IIMM is already set up and working. It provides a mechanism for just such an investigation. Those doing the shooting should be aware of this.

For further information:

The Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM) on Facebook

International Accountability Mechanisms for Myanmar (learning materials in English, Myanmar, and Karen)

Lin Htet is a pen name for a team of Myanmar and international writers

Lin Htet
Continue Reading
Seeking justice in the wake of Myanmar’s coup

The country’s military leaders have acted with impunity for decades, but now there is a mechanism to bring them to justice

Lin Htet
Published on Mar 19, 2021
Nationwide protests against the coup have been responded with murders, torture and mass arrests by the military regime. (Myanmar Now)

 

On March 8, U Ko Ko Lay, a 62-year-old teacher, bled to death on a street in the Kachin state capital Myitkyina. He had been shot in the head while protesting the military coup of February 1. That same night, U Zaw Myat Lynn, an official from the National League for Democracy, was taken from his home in Shwepyithar on the outskirts of Yangon and tortured to death. The list keeps growing.

 

In the more than six weeks since Senior General Min Aung Hlaing seized power, images of soldiers and police officers shooting, beating, and arresting protesters have flooded social media and Myanmar and international news outlets. So far, the regime’s forces have killed well over 200 people (more than half of them in the past week) and seriously injured many more. The junta has also arrested nearly 2,200 people, some of whom, like U Zaw Myat Lynn, have died in custody.

 

Each day, Myanmar human rights organizations update lists with names, dates, locations, and causes of death. Around 600 police and a handful of soldiers have decided they do not want to be involved in such actions. They have left their posts and even joined the anti-coup movement.

 

Many soldiers, police officers, and commanding officers are acting with impunity now. But they can face prosecution, not only in Myanmar’s courts but also internationally. Like any country, Myanmar is subject to international law. Because of its history of atrocities, most recently against the Rohingya people, Myanmar is also already subject to special international legal proceedings that apply to the current situation.

 

The most relevant is the United Nations’ Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM). The IIMM was created in 2018 after the Myanmar military’s brutal campaign against the Rohingya people, but it applies to the whole country. Its mission is to investigate “international crimes” from 2011 to the present.

 

International crimes are generally defined as “widespread and systematic” in nature, involving many victims and locations. These include crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide.

 

In keeping with its mandate, the IIMM is collecting information on the current situation. In a statement released on February 11 (available in Myanmar here), it highlighted the “use of lethal force against peaceful protesters and the detention of political leaders, members of civil society and protesters.”

 

More recently, on March 17, the IIMM also called on recipients of illegal orders to share this evidence so that those ultimately responsible for these crimes can be held accountable.

 

"The persons most responsible for the most serious international crimes are usually those in high leadership positions. They are not the ones who physically perpetrate the crimes and often are not even present at the locations where the crimes are committed,” the head of the IIMM, Nicholas Koumjian, says in the statement (available in Myanmar here).

 

The crimes the IIMM investigates could be tried in Myanmar courts, courts in other countries, or international courts. International crimes are crimes that are so serious that they are considered to be against the international community, and are therefore not limited to courts in one country.

 

In other words, an international crime committed in Myanmar—for example, widespread and systematic attacks on civilians—can be tried in a court in another country or in an international court.

 

The Myanmar military is used to getting away with murder. Decades of well-documented killing, rape, and torture of civilians in ethnic minority areas have gone unpunished. No one has ever been tried for the killing of protesters during previous mass uprisings against military rule in 1988 and 2007.

 

But this time may be different. On March 4, the International Commission of Jurists said in a statement that “the killing of peaceful protesters by Myanmar’s security forces should be independently investigated as possible crimes against humanity.”

 

The IIMM is already set up and working. It provides a mechanism for just such an investigation. Those doing the shooting should be aware of this.

 

For further information:

 

The Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM) on Facebook

International Accountability Mechanisms for Myanmar (learning materials in English, Myanmar, and Karen)

Lin Htet is a pen name for a team of Myanmar and international writers

Lin Htet
Continue Reading
At least eight killed in junta’s bloody crackdown in Aungban, Shan State

A resident said armed forces used drones to monitor the crowd before opening fire on them

Myanmar Now
Published on Mar 19, 2021
Men carry a wounded protester in Aungban, Shan State, on the morning of March 19 (Supplied)

At least eight anti-coup protesters were killed in Aungban, southern Shan State, during an attack by the military junta on demonstrations on Friday morning, according to the Aungban Free Funeral Service Society.

Sixteen military trucks carrying more than 100 policemen and soldiers arrived at the protest site at around 9:00 a.m. and began shooting at protesters. Seven died at the scene, and another protester who had been shot in the neck was taken to Kalaw Hospital and died by 11:00 a.m.

All eight victims were men. 

The body of the man who died at the hospital was sent to his family’s home, but those who were killed at the protest site were taken away by the junta’s armed forces, a representative of the Free Funeral Service Society told Myanmar Now. 

Aungban resident Nay Lynn Tun told Myanmar Now that police and soldiers had destroyed the doors of nearby homes in order to arrest people, and that at least 10 people had been detained. 

“Initially, police arrived at the site. When the crowd surrounded the police, armed soldiers arrived at the site and began firing,” he told Myanmar Now. “In the coming days, if we cannot gather to protest, we will do it in our own residential areas.”

Since March 13, around 300 volunteer night guards have watched over these residential areas to protect locals from the dangers posed by the junta’s nighttime raids. These forces use drone cameras to monitor the activities of the night guards from 3:00 a.m. until 5:00 a.m. every day, Nay Lynn Tun said. 

He added that hours before Friday’s crackdown, military and police had also used drone cameras to monitor the gathering of protesters in Aungban.

Over the last week, at least 11 protesters have been arrested in Aungban. Only three-- the protesters who were minors-- were released.

South of Shan State, in the Kayah State capital of Loikaw, two pro-democracy protesters were also shot with live ammunition by the regime’s armed forces on Friday. One, 46-year-old Kyan Aung, was shot in the lower abdomen and died from his injuries. The other wounded protester was a nurse, according to eyewitnesses. 

According to a March 18 tally by the advocacy group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, at least 224 people have been killed across the country by junta’s armed forces since the February 1 coup. Thousands more have been arrested. 

 

Myanmar Now

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