Hundreds of peaceful protesters against the coup have been cornered by Myanmar security forces in apartment buildings in Yangon, the UN secretary general said in calling for his release “without violence or arrests”.
The Southeast Asian country has been in turmoil since a February 1 coup d’état overthrew civil leader Aung San Suu Kyi and sparked massive protests against the new military junta.
The police and military responded with an increasingly brutal crackdown on protesters, with more than 50 people killed and nearly 1,800 arrested.
While protesters across the country were trying to paralyze the economy with a strike after a weekend of nighttime attacks and arrests, security forces on Monday night stopped some 200 protesters “from leaving an area of four streets” in the municipality of Sanchaung, in the country’s largest city, Yangon, according to the UN law office.
The Associated Press reported that security forces were conducting door-to-door searches for those who sought shelter in the homes of sympathetic strangers.
News of his situation spread quickly on social media, and people rushed to the streets of neighborhoods across the city to show solidarity and in the hope of taking some of the pressure off the persecuted protesters. In some streets, they built improvised barricades.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres was watching events “very closely”, particularly in the municipality “where hundreds of peaceful protesters were barricaded within residential complexes for hours,” his spokesman Stéphane Dujarric told reporters.
Strong, high-pitched strikes could be heard coming from the area, according to an AFP reporter, although it was not immediately clear whether the sounds were caused by gunshots or shock grenades.
Repeated screams were audible on a live Facebook broadcast.
“I just escaped Sanchaung,” wrote Maung Saungkha, an activist, on Twitter.
“Almost 200 young protesters are still blocked by the police and soldiers there. The local and international community needs to help them now! “
At around 10 pm, “the police started shooting and making arrests,” said UN rights office spokeswoman Liz Throssell, although she said that “it is not clear whether they were arresting arrested or newly arrived protesters” .
The UN and the embassies in Yangon – including those of the United States and the former colonial power Great Britain – have asked security forces to release the protesters.
“There is a high tension caused by security forces around Kyun Taw Road in Sanchaung Township, Yangon. We ask these security forces to withdraw and allow people to return home safely, ”said the statement from the United States Embassy.
Around midnight Myanmar time, there were no reports of clashes between police and protesters, although security forces chased crowds, harassed residents who watched from windows and fired shock grenades. There were also some reports of injuries from rubber bullets, the AP reported.
Guterres called for “maximum restraint” and “the safe release of all, without violence or imprisonment,” Dujarric told reporters, adding that “many of the prisoners are women who marched peacefully in celebration of International Women’s Day”.
The statement came after three protesters were shot dead on Monday.
Guterres also classified the occupation of several public hospitals in Myanmar by the security forces as “completely unacceptable”, said the UN spokesman.
In the northern city of Myitkyina, security forces used tear gas and opened fire during street clashes with stone-throwing protesters.
There were horrible images of bloody bodies lying on beds as health workers frantically tried to resuscitate them.
A man was also seen lying on his stomach, with part of the skull burst.
“Two men were shot dead at the scene, while three others, including a woman, were shot in the arm,” a doctor told AFP.
A third protester was shot dead in the city of Pyapon, in the Irrawaddy Delta region, an eyewitness and a rescue officer told AFP.
It was also a dark day for independent media in the country, when security forces stormed Myanmar Now’s office in Yangon.
The vehicle subsequently had its publication license revoked, as did the independent media Mizzima, DVB, Khit Thit and 7Day, following an order from the information ministry, state broadcaster MRTV said.
“These media companies are no longer allowed to broadcast, write or provide information using any type of media platform or any media technology,” the military government told state broadcaster MRTV.
All five offered extensive coverage of the protests, often with live video streaming online.
Media restrictions followed the closure of banks, stores, shopping malls and some clothing factories on Monday, following an appeal by unions for a general strike to paralyze the economy.
“Continuing economic and commercial activities as usual … will only benefit the military, as they repress the energy of the people of Myanmar,” 18 unions said in a statement.
“The time to act in defense of our democracy is now.”
The unions are trying to intensify an ongoing “civil disobedience movement” – a campaign urging public officials to boycott work under military rule that has already hit the state machine hard.
The impact was felt at all levels of national infrastructure, with disruptions to hospitals, empty ministry offices and banks unable to operate.
The board warned that public officials “will be fired” immediately if they continue to strike.