YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – Large crowds demonstrating against the military takeover in Myanmar again challenged the ban on protests on Wednesday, even after security forces increased the use of force against them and invaded the headquarters of the political party of the deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Witnesses estimate that tens of thousands of protesters, if not more, attended Yangon and Mandalay, the country’s largest cities. The rallies also took place in the capital Naypyitaw and elsewhere.
Protesters are demanding that power be restored to Suu Kyi’s deposed civilian government. They are also seeking freedom for her and other members of the ruling party, as the military detained them after blocking the new session of Parliament on February 1.
“As part of Generation Z, we are voters for the first time. This is our first time to protest too, ”said a student who refused to reveal her name for fear of being harassed. “They denied our votes, and that is totally unfair. We don’t want that. We hope that they will free our leaders and implement a real democracy ”.
The military says they acted because the November election, which Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy won overwhelmingly, was marked by irregularities. The electoral commission refuted the claim.
Some protesters in Yangon met at foreign embassies to seek international pressure against the coup.
A small group outside the Japanese Embassy held signs and shouted “We want democracy, we have dictators!” They sat in several children’s pools, three or less per pool, in what appeared to be an ironic way of showing compliance with an emergency law that prohibits meetings of more than five people.
Others marched through the city, singing and waving Suu Kyi’s party flags.
Another group pulled a fake coffin as part of a mock funeral for General Min Aung Hlaing, the military chief who is the country’s new leader.
Public officials in many areas have risked their jobs to march with the protesters, and even some policemen have switched sides to oppose the coup. In a dramatic video shot on Wednesday in a small village in eastern Myanmar’s Kayah state, a group of 42 policemen and women declared their loyalty to the deposed elected government and resisted calls from a senior official to return to duty. Local residents rushed to his side to avoid any attempt to arrest them.
The head of the UN International Labor Organization, Guy Ryder, urged Myanmar’s military leaders “to ensure that workers and employers can exercise their freedom of association rights in a climate of total freedom and security, free from violence and threats” .
“I call on the military to immediately remove orders restricting the assemblies of more than five people, an end to the crackdown on dissident voices and full respect for workers’ human rights and fundamental freedoms,” said Ryder. “I urge military leaders to ensure that no worker, including civil servants, is detained, intimidated or harassed for participating in peaceful protests.”
The growing protests and the last strike of the military junta suggest that there is little room for reconciliation. The military, who ruled directly for five decades after a 1962 coup, used deadly force to suppress a major uprising in 1988 and a 2007 uprising led by Buddhist monks.
In Naypyitaw and Mandalay, on Tuesday, police spread water cannons and fired warning shots to try to ward off protesters. In Naypyitaw, they fired rubber bullets and apparently live shots, injuring a protester, according to witnesses and images on social media. The reports could not be independently confirmed.
Human Rights Watch quoted a doctor at a Naypyitaw hospital as saying the woman was in critical condition. The doctor said the woman had a projectile lodged in her head, which was believed to be a bullet that had penetrated the back of her right ear and had lost significant brain function. The doctor said a man was also treated with an upper body wound compatible with live ammunition.
The state television network MRTV, in one of its few reports about the protests, on Tuesday night broadcast scenes that it claimed showed that the protesters were responsible for the violence.
“The Myanmar police must immediately end the use of excessive and lethal force,” urged the New York watchdog.
No major incidents were reported in connection with the large turnout at Wednesday’s protest in Mandalay. Social media users said 82 people arrested were released due to the work of local lawyers.
Medical students and staff, lawyers and Buddhist monks were among a large number of residents who marched in Mandalay, but most of the buzz on social media was generated by a contingent of muscular shirtless men with well-defined tanks who were said to be members of a gym.
Yangon’s most photogenic protesters were a group of young women who wore formal dresses best suited for a wedding reception.
The military invaded Suu Kyi’s party headquarters on Tuesday night, which before the military took power was scheduled to take power for a second five-year term.
Party spokesman Kyi Toe wrote on Facebook that the army broke into Yangon headquarters and another office and removed documents and computer hardware. The headquarters was closed on Wednesday.
U.S. President Joe Biden ordered new sanctions on Wednesday, saying he was issuing an executive order that will prevent Myanmar generals from accessing $ 1 billion in assets in the United States. Biden added that more measures are to come.
“The military must renounce the power they have seized and show respect for the will of the people of Burma,” he said.
The previous day, the United States had “strongly” condemned violence against protesters.
“We repeat our calls for the military to renounce power, restore the democratically elected government, release detainees and lift all telecommunications restrictions and avoid violence,” said State Department spokesman Ned Price.
New Zealand has suspended all high-level military and political contacts with Myanmar, Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta in Wellington announced, adding that no aid from New Zealand should go to or benefit the military government of Myanmar.
The UN Human Rights Council, a body of 47 member states based in Geneva, will 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.