YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – Police cracked down on protesters who oppose Myanmar’s military coup, firing warning shots and water cannons to disperse the crowds that returned to the streets on Tuesday, defying the rules that make protests illegal.
Water cannons were used in Mandalay, Myanmar’s second largest city, where witnesses said at least two warning shots were fired to try to disperse the crowd. Social media reports said the police arrested more than two dozen people there. Police also used water cannons in the capital, Natpyitaw, for the second day, and fired into the air.
Police also fired rubber bullets at the crowd in Naypyitaw, injuring several people. Photos on social media showed an alleged sniper – a policeman with a short-barreled gun – and several wounded.
Unconfirmed news from social media circulated about live gunfire shootings and deaths among protesters, with the potential to unleash violent retaliation against the authorities, a result against which advocates of the country’s civil disobedience movement warned. The AP was unable to immediately confirm the reports.
Protesters demand that power be restored to the deposed civilian government and seek freedom for the country’s elected leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, and other members of the ruling party detained since the military took control and blocked the meeting of the new session of the Parliament on February 1. .
The growing challenge is impressive in a country where past demonstrations have been met with deadly force and are a reminder of earlier movements in the Southeast Asian country’s long and bloody struggle for democracy. The military used deadly force to suppress a massive 1988 uprising against the military dictatorship and a 2007 uprising led by Buddhist monks.
The decrees issued on Monday night for some areas of Yangon and Mandalay prohibited rallies and meetings of more than five people, along with motorized processions, while imposing a curfew from 8 pm to 4 am. It was not immediately clear whether the regulations were imposed on other areas.
The violation of the orders, emanating from art. 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, is punishable by imprisonment of up to six months or a fine.
The demonstrations were also held in other cities on Tuesday, including Bago – where city elders negotiated with the police to avoid a violent confrontation – and Dawei, and upstate Shan.
In Magwe, in central Myanmar, where water cannons were also used, unconfirmed reports on social media claim that several police officers crossed the territory to join the ranks of the protesters. A policeman in Naypyitaw would also have switched sides. The AP was unable to immediately confirm the reports.
Crowds have also gathered in Yangon, the country’s largest city where thousands of people have demonstrated since Saturday, despite the increased security presence. No violence was reported.
The soldiers do not appear to have been deployed to prevent the demonstrations, a small indicator of restraint by the military government. The army has a history of brutality in crushing previous uprisings, as well as in fighting ethnic minorities in border areas in search of self-determination. He was also accused of committing genocide in his 2017 counter-insurgency campaign, which led more than 700,000 members of the Muslim minority Rohingya to cross the border in search of security in Bangladesh.
State media for the first time on Monday referred to the protests, saying they were putting the country’s stability at risk.
“Democracy can be destroyed if there is no discipline,” said a statement from the Ministry of Information, read on the state television station MRTV. “We will have to take legal measures to prevent acts that violate state stability, public security and the rule of law.”
However, the military commander who led the coup and is now the leader of Myanmar made no mention of the disturbances in a 20-minute speech on television on Monday night, the first to the public since the seizure of power.
Instead, General Min Aung Hlaing repeated allegations of electoral fraud that were the justification for the seizure of power by the military, allegations that were refuted by the state electoral commission. He added that his board will hold new elections as promised in a year and will hand over power to the winners, and explained the board’s intended policies for controlling COVID-19 and the economy.
The general’s comments, which included incentives for foreign investors, did nothing to ease concerns about the coup in the international community.
The UN Human Rights Council, a body of 47 member states based in Geneva, is due to hold a special session on Friday to consider “the human rights implications of the crisis in Myanmar”.
Britain and the European Union led the request for the session, which will result in a high-level public debate among diplomats about the situation in Myanmar and could lead to a resolution that raises concerns about the situation or recommends international action.
The call for the special session – the 29th in almost 15 years of the council’s history – required support from at least one-third of the council’s 47 member states.
New Zealand has suspended all high-level military and political contacts with Myanmar, Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta announced on Tuesday in Wellington, adding that no aid from New Zealand should go to Myanmar’s military government or benefit. them.
“We do not recognize the legitimacy of the military-led government and we ask the military to immediately release all detained political leaders and restore civilian rule,” said Mahuta. She said New Zealand is also banning travel by military leaders and has joined other countries to convene a special session at the United Nations Human Rights Council.
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Associated Press writer Jamey Keaten in Geneva and Nick Perry in Wellington, New Zealand contributed to this report.