YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – Images of a brutal crackdown on coup protests in Myanmar sparked outrage and called for a stronger international response on Thursday, a day after 38 people were killed. Videos showed that security forces shot a person at close range and chased and brutally beat protesters.
Despite the shocking violence the day before, protesters took to the streets on Thursday to denounce the takeover of the army on Feb. 1 – and were again confronted with tear gas.
The international response to the coup has so far been erratic, but a deluge of videos shared online showing security forces brutally targeting protesters and other civilians sparked calls for more action. The United States called the images terrible, the UN human rights chief said it was time to “end the military’s stranglehold on democracy in Myanmar,” and the independent world human rights organization expert in the matter. land urged the Security Council to watch the videos earlier. meeting Friday to discuss the crisis.
The coup ended years of slow progress towards democracy in Myanmar, which has languished for five decades under strict military rule leading to international isolation and sanctions. As the generals loosened their grip in recent years, the international community lifted most sanctions and plunged into investment.
UN Special Envoy to Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener, described Wednesday as “the bloodiest day” since the takeover, when the military overthrew leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government. It is confirmed that more than 50 civilians, mostly peaceful protesters, have since been killed by police and soldiers, including the 38 who she says died on Wednesday.
“I saw very disturbing video clips today,” said Schraner Burgener, speaking to UN reporters in New York via video link from Switzerland. One was when the police beat up a voluntary medical team. They were not armed. Another video clip showed that a protester was taken by the police and they shot him from very close range, maybe just three feet. He did not oppose his arrest and it appears that he died in the street. “
She appeared to be referring to a video shared on social media that begins with a group of security forces following a civilian they appear to have just taken out of a building. A shot sounds and the person falls. After the person raises his head briefly, two of the troops drag the person by the arms across the street.
In other images, about two dozen security forces, some with firearms drawn, chase two people wearing the hard hats donned by many protesters on a street. If they catch up with the people, they hit them repeatedly with bars and kick them. One of the officers is filming the scene on his cell phone.
In yet another video, several police officers repeatedly kick and hit a person with rods, while the person bows to the ground, with their hands above their head. Cops move in and out of the frame, get up a few flights of stairs, and then casually walk away.
While some countries have imposed or threatened sanctions following the coup, others, including neighboring Myanmar, have been hesitant in their response. The sheer number of violent images shared Wednesday, along with the high death toll, raised hopes that the dynamic could change.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet on Thursday urged all those with “information and influence” to hold military leaders to account.
“Now is the time to turn the tables on justice and end the military’s stranglehold on democracy in Myanmar,” she said.
State Department spokesman Ned Price said the US was “shocked” by the “horrific violence,” and UN independent human rights expert in Myanmar, Tom Andrews, said the “systematic brutality of the military junta is shown again atrocious. ”
“I urge members of the UN Security Council to view the photos / videos of the shocking violence unleashed on peaceful protesters before they meet,” he said on Twitter.
The Security Council has scheduled behind-the-scenes talks for Friday on calls to reverse the coup – including from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres – and stop the escalating crackdown.
But Justine Chambers, the deputy director of the Australian National University’s Myanmar Research Center, said that while the graphic images would undoubtedly lead to strong convictions, action against Myanmar would be more difficult.
“Unfortunately, I don’t think the cruelty captured on camera will change much,” she said. “I think there is little point in the domestic public around the world for more vigorous action, ie intervention, given the current state of the pandemic and the associated economic problems.”
Any concerted action at the UN will be difficult, as two permanent members of the Security Council, China and Russia, would almost certainly veto it.
Even if the council took action, UN envoy Schraner Burgener warned it might not matter. She said she had warned the Myanmar military that the nations of the world and the Security Council “could take enormous forceful measures.”
“And the answer was, ‘We are used to sanctions and we’ve survived those sanctions in the past,’” she said. When she also warned that Myanmar would become isolated, Schraner Burgener said, “The answer was, ‘We have to learn to walk with just a few friends.’ ”
The highest death toll on Wednesday was in Yangon, the country’s largest city, where an estimated 18 people died. Video in a hospital in the city showed grieving relatives collecting the blood-soaked bodies of relatives. Some family members cried uncontrollably, while others looked shocked at the environment around them.
Protesters gathered again in Yangon on Thursday. Police again used tear gas to try to disperse the crowd, while protesters re-erected barriers along main roads.
Protests also continued in Mandalay, where three people were killed on Wednesday. A formation of five fighter jets flew over the city on Thursday morning in what appeared to be a display of power.
Demonstrators in the city displayed the three-fingered salute which is a symbol of resistance as they rode their motorbike to join a funeral procession for Kyal Sin, also known by her Chinese name Deng Jia Xi, a university student who was shot while attending used to be. a demonstration the day before.
As part of the crackdown, security forces have also arrested more than 1,000 people, including journalists, according to the independent Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. At least eight journalists on Saturday, including Thein Zaw of The Associated Press, were detained. He and several other members of the media have been charged with violating a public security law that could give them up to three years in prison.