Myanmar police occupy hospitals as labour strike called
Myanmar careened deeper into crisis, as police occupied hospitals and universities and reportedly arrested hundreds of people involved in protesting last month’s military seizure of power, while a coalition of labour unions called a strike for today.
Tension was high yesterday in the country’s biggest city, Yangon, where for a second night running gunshots from heavy weapons rang out randomly in the streets of several neighbourhoods after the start of an 8pm curfew. The sounds of what apparently were stun grenades could also be heard on videos posted on social media.
The purpose for security forces using such weapons when protesters had left the streets appeared to be part of a strategy to strike fear in anyone who might think about defying the authorities. In a similar vein, there were many filmed incidents of police and soldiers in plain view savagely beating protesters they had taken into custody.
Some of the shooting was heard near hospitals, where reports said neighbourhood residents sought to block the entry of police and soldiers. Taking over hospitals would allow the authorities to easily arrest wounded people presumed to be protesters.
Large protests have occurred daily across many cities and towns in Myanmar, and security forces have responded with ever greater use of lethal force and mass arrests. At least 18 protesters were shot and killed on February 28, and 38 on Thursday, according to the UN Human Rights Office. More than 1500 have been arrested.
Protests in various cities and towns were again met yesterday by police firing warning shots, and employing tear gas, rubber bullets and stun grenades.
Myanmar labour unions, meanwhile, issued a joint call for a nationwide work stoppage beginning today, with the goal of a shutting down the Myanmar economy.
Earlier yesterday, police in Myanmar’s ancient former capital, Bagan, opened fire on demonstrators protesting the February 1 coup, wounding several people, according to witness accounts and videos on social media.
Multiple reports from Yangon said there had been police raids on Sunday seeking to seize organisers and supporters of the protest movement. A ward chairman from Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party, which was ousted from power in the coup, was found dead in a military hospital yesterday by fellow residents of his Pabedan neighbourhood, according to a post on Facebook by NLD lawmaker Sithu Maung.
Suspicion was rampant on social media that Khin Maung Latt, 58, died due to a beating in custody after being taken from his residence, but no official cause of death was immediately announced.
In Yangon and elsewhere, raids are carried out nightly after the 8pm curfew by police and soldiers. The arrests are often carried out at gunpoint, without warrants.