Crisis deepens with raids, call for national walkout
YANGON, Myanmar — Myanmar careened deeper into crisis Sunday 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 labor unions called a strike for Monday.
Tension was high 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 neighborhoods after the start of an 8 p.m. curfew.
Security forces have targeted medical personnel and facilities, attacking ambulances and their crews. Members of the medical profession back the Civil Disobedience Movement, which is the nominal coordinator of the protests. Taking over hospitals would allow the authorities to easily arrest wounded protesters.
Large protests have occurred daily across many cities in Myanmar, and security forces have responded with increasing use of lethal force and mass arrests. At least 18 protesters were shot and killed on Feb. 28, and 38 more on Wednesday, according to the U.N. Human Rights Office. More than 1,500 have been arrested, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners said.
Myanmar labor unions meanwhile issued a call for an extended nationwide work stoppage beginning Monday.
Reports from Yangon said there had been police raids Saturday night seeking to seize organizers 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 Sunday. Suspicion was rampant that Khin Maung Latt, 58, died due to a beating in custody after being taken from his residence.