Suu Kyi aide among new wave of arrests in Myanmar as Biden approves sanctions
- A close aide to ousted Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi was detained in a new wave of arrests following last week's military coup, a party official said today, as Washington moved a step closer to imposing sanctions on the junta.
The aide, Kyaw Tint Swe, had served as minister for the office of the state counsellor under Suu Kyi, who has been detained since the Feb. 1 coup.
Kyi Toe, an information committee member of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD), said Kyaw Tint Swe and four other people linked to the previous government had been taken from their homes overnight.
He said officials of the electoral commission had also been arrested overnight, including some down to township level, but he did not immediately have an exact number of those arrested.
The military launched the coup after what it said was widespread fraud in November elections, won by the NLD in a landslide. The electoral commission had rejected those claims. Myanmar authorities did not immediately respond to a request for comment and Reuters was unable to confirm the arrests independently. Scores of officials have been detained since the coup.
U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday approved an executive order for new sanctions on those responsible for the coup, and repeated demands for the generals to give up power and free civilian leaders.
Biden said the order enabled his administration "to immediately sanction the military leaders who directed the coup, their business interests as well as close family members."
Washington would identify the first round of targets this week and was taking steps to prevent the generals in Myanmar, also known as Burma, having access to $1 billion in Myanmar government funds held in the United States.
"We're also going to impose strong exports controls. We're freezing U.S. assets that benefit the Burmese government, while maintaining our support for health care, civil society groups, and other areas that benefit the people of Burma directly," Biden said at the White House. The Feb. 1 coup and detention of Suu Kyi presents Biden with his first major international crisis, and a test of his dual pledges to recenter human rights in foreign policy and work more closely with allies.
U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said Washington was rolling out collective actions with partners on Myanmar.
"We can impose substantial costs ourselves. We can impose costs that are even steeper ... by working with our like-minded partners and allies," he told a briefing.
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Even so, analysts say Myanmar's new junta will not be as isolated as previous iterations, with China, India, Southeast Asian neighbors and Japan unlikely to cut ties given the country's strategic importance.
Derek Mitchell, a former U.S. ambassador to Myanmar, said it was vital to get nations such as Japan, India and Singapore involved in a strong response.
"The key will not be just what America does," he said. "It’s going to be how we get others along with us, allies who may have more skin in the game, more leverage, or at least better relationships with the key players."
The United Nations' top human rights body is to consider a resolution on Friday drafted by Britain and the European Union condemning the coup and demanding urgent access for monitors.
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haitian police yesterday clashed with rock-hurling protesters in the capital Port-Au-Prince amid street demonstrations against President Jovenel Moise after his government retired three Supreme Court judges earmarked as his potential replacements.
Police fired teargas and shot in the air in an attempt to disperse pockets of protesters, who pelted the security officials with rocks, according to a Reuters witness.
“We are back to dictatorship! Down with Moise!” the protesters shouted as music blared from speakers amid chaotic scenes in the poor Caribbean nation of about 11 million people.
The protesters also yelled “Down with Sison,” a reference to the U.S. Ambassador to Haiti, Michele Jeanne Sison. Washington has so far backed Moise’s claim that he should step down in February 2022 after presidential elections are held this year.
The latest political tumult in the volatile island nation comes amid a crippling economic crisis and a sharp rise in crime, especially kidnappings for ransom.
The opposition is demanding Moise leaves power immediately, accusing him of acting like an authoritarian leader and violating the constitution.
Tensions intensified over the weekend after Moise alleged there was an attempt to overthrow his government. Authorities on Sunday arrested 23 people, including a Supreme Court judge and a senior police official.
On Monday, the government issued an executive decree retiring the arrested judge and two other Supreme Court justices.
All three had been approached by the opposition as possible interim leaders to replace Moise and head a transitional government. In the end, the opposition chose magistrate Joseph Mecene Jean Louis, 72.
The opposition says Moise should have stepped down on Feb. 7, when they say his five-year term in office expired, following disputed 2015 elections. Moise rejects that, citing a term that began in February 2017
after he won fresh elections in 2016. He has pledged to step down in February next year.
A group of journalists on Wednesday also complained to security officials about heavy-handed policing.
Two journalists covering the protests received minor injuries when the police dropped a tear gas canister into a pickup truck, labeled as media, which was transporting journalists, according to reporters and television footage.
Police could not immediately be reached for comment.