YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – Myanmar police escalated violence against protesters against this month’s military takeover, deploying them early and in effect on Saturday as protesters attempted to rally in the country’s two largest cities and elsewhere .
Security forces in some areas appeared to be becoming more aggressive in using force and making arrests, using more plainclothes agents than previously disclosed. Photos on social media showed that residents of at least two cities, Yangon and Monywa, resisted by erecting makeshift street barricades to hinder the advance of the police.
The crisis in Myanmar took a dramatic turn on the international scene during a special session of the United Nations General Assembly on Friday, when the country’s UN ambassador declared his loyalty to the deposed civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi and the world called for pressure on the military to relinquish power.
There were arrests on Saturday in Myanmar’s two largest cities, Yangon and Mandalay, where protesters took to the streets daily to peacefully demand the restoration of the government of Suu Kyi, whose National League for Democracy won a landslide election victory in November. The police are increasingly enforcing an injunction by the junta banning gatherings of five or more people.
Many other cities and towns have also staged major protests against the February 1 coup.
Police in Dawei, in the southeast, and Monywa, 135 kilometers northwest of Mandalay, used violence against protesters. Both cities, each with fewer than 200,000 inhabitants, have witnessed major demonstrations.
Social media reported unconfirmed reports of a protester who had been shot dead in Monywa. The reports could not be immediately independently confirmed, but appeared credible, with both photos and identification of the victim. Monywa’s reports also said dozens or more people were arrested.
The military takeover reversed years of slow progress towards democracy after five decades of military rule. Suu Kyi’s party would have been installed for a second five-year term, but the army blocked parliament and detained her and President Win Myint, as well as other top members of its government.
At the General Assembly in New York, UN Ambassador to Myanmar, Kyaw Moe Tun, expressed in an emotional address to fellow delegates that he represented Suu Kyi’s “popularly elected civilian government” and supported the fight against military rule.
He urged all countries to issue public statements strongly condemning the coup and refusing to recognize the military regime. He also called for stronger international action to end security forces’ violence against peaceful protesters.
He received loud applause from many diplomats in the 193-nation global body, as well as rave praise from other Burmese on social media, who described him as a hero. The ambassador threw a three-fingered salute adopted by the civil disobedience movement at the end of his speech, addressing the people at home in Burmese.
In Yangon, police began arrests early on Saturday morning at the intersection of the Hledan Center, which has become the rallying point for protesters who then fan out to other parts of the city. Police took similar measures in residential areas.
Security forces also tried to thwart protests in Mandalay, where roadblocks were set up at several key intersections and the regular meeting venues flooded with police.
Buddhist monks featured prominently in Saturday’s march in Mandalay, as they have regularly been, granting moral authority to the civil disobedience movement challenging the military rulers.
Mandalay has been the scene of several violent clashes, and at least four out of eight confirmed deaths are related to the protests, according to the independent Assistance Association of Political Prisoners. At least three people were injured there on Friday, including two who were shot in the chest by rubber bullets and another who received a gunshot wound to the leg.
According to the association, as of Friday 771 people had been arrested, charged or convicted in connection with the coup, and 689 were held or wanted for arrest.
The junta said it seized power because last year’s polls were marred by massive irregularities. The election commission had refuted the allegation of widespread fraud before the military’s seizure of power. The junta fired the members of the old committee and appointed new ones, which quashed the election results on Friday.
Associated Press writer Edith Lederer of the United Nations contributed to this report.