Deadly violence resumes in Myanmar after peaceful protests
YANGON, Myanmar — At least two people protesting last month’s military coup were reported shot and killed by security forces Tuesday after a morning of peaceful marches in parts of Myanmar.
Security forces have killed scores of their countrymen in recent days, and the U.N. has put the nationwide death toll at 149 since the Feb. 1 coup that toppled Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government.
The independent Assistance Association for Political Prisoners said 183 people have been killed since the coup.
Violence was reported Tuesday in the biggest city, Yangon, where casualties have been the highest. Police fired rubber bullets in several neighborhoods, and one man was reported killed. Another killing was reported in Kawlin city in the northwestern Sagaing Region.
U.N. Human Rights Office spokesperson, Ravina Shamdasani, said at least 11 people were killed Monday, adding to 57 deaths over the weekend. While there were many more reports of killings, it was unable to corroborate them.
“The killing of demonstrators, arbitrary arrests and the reported torture of prisoners violate fundamental human rights and stand in clear defiance of calls by the Security Council for restraint, dialogue and a return to Myanmar’s democratic path,” said U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres.
The coup reversed years of slow progress toward democracy in Myanmar, which for five decades had languished under strict military rule that led to international isolation and sanctions.
Protesters in some areas have recently used tactics meant to avoid violent confrontations. On Tuesday, social media reports said candlelight marches before sunrise were held in Mawlamyaing in Mon State in southeastern Myanmar.
Another tactic has been to use signboards as proxies for human protesters, placing them in rows in public places. This tactic was reported to have been used by a group of engineers in the second-biggest city, Mandalay, in central Myanmar.
More conventional peaceful protests of the sort that have been occurring daily were held without incident Tuesday in Monywa and Ye-U in central Myanmar, the city of Loikaw in the eastern state of Kayaw, and Kalaw in Southern Shan State, also in the east.
Complicating efforts to organize new protests as well as media coverage, cellphone internet service was cut Sunday night, although access was still available through fixed broadband connections.
Mobile data service had been used to stream live video coverage of protests, often showing security forces attacking demonstrators. It previously had been turned off only from 1 a.m. to 9 a.m. for several weeks, with no official explanation.