San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Coup protesters rally despite growing aggression of police
YANGON, Myanmar — Police in Myanmar escalated their crackdown on demonstrators against this month’s military takeover, deploying early and in force on Saturday as protesters sought to assemble in the country’s two biggest cities and elsewhere.
Security forces in some areas appeared to be more aggressive in using force and making arrests. And more plainclothes officers deployed. Photos posted on social media showed residents of at least two cities, Yangon and Monywa, resisted by erecting makeshift street barricades to try to hinder the advance of the police.
Myanmar’s crisis took a dramatic turn on the international stage at a special session of the United Nations General Assembly on Friday when the country’s U.N. ambassador declared his loyalty to the ousted civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi and called on the world to pressure the military to cede power. The ambassador, Kyaw Moe Tun, declared that he represented Suu Kyi’s “civilian government elected by the people” and supported the fight against military rule. MRTV, a Myanmar staterun television channel, broadcast an announcement Saturday from the Foreign Ministry that the ambassador, Kyaw Moe Tun, has been dismissed from his post for abusing his power and betraying the government.
There were arrests Saturday in Myanmar’s two biggest cities, Yangon and Mandalay, where demonstrators have been hitting the streets daily to peacefully demand the restoration of the government of Suu Kyi, whose National League for Democracy party won a landslide election victory in November. Police have increasingly been enforcing an order by the junta banning gatherings of five or more people.
Many other cities and towns have also hosted large protests against the Feb. 1 coup. Police in Dawei, in the southeast, and Monywa, 85 miles northwest of Mandalay, used force against protesters.
The military takeover reversed years of slow progress toward democracy after five decades of military rule. Suu Kyi’s party would have been installed for a second fiveyear term in office, but the army blocked Parliament from convening and detained her and President Win Myint, as well as other top members of her government.
In Yangon on Saturday, police began arrests early at the Hledan Center intersection, which has become the gathering point for protesters who then fan out to other parts of the city. Police took similar action in residential neighborhoods.
Security forces also tried to thwart protests in Mandalay, where roadblocks were set up at several key intersections and the regular venues for rallies were flooded with officers. Buddhist monks were prominent in Saturday’s march in Mandalay, lending moral authority to the civil disobedience movement that is challenging the military rulers.
The junta said it took power because last year’s polls were marred by major irregularities. The election commission before the military seized power had refuted the allegation. The junta appointed new commission members, who annulled the election results.