YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – Myanmar security forces have dramatically stepped up their crackdown on last month’s coup protests, killing at least 34 protesters in several cities on Wednesday, according to social media accounts and local news reports compiled by a data analyst. .
That is the highest daily death toll since the Feb. 1 takeover, exceeding 18 murdered on Sunday, according to the UN Human Rights Office, and could stimulate the international community that has responded to the violence so far. Videos from Wednesday also showed security forces firing catapults at protesters, chasing them and even brutally beating an ambulance crew.
The toll could be even higher; the Democratic Voice of Burma, an independent television and online news service, left 38 dead.
Protesters have regularly flooded the streets of cities across the country since the military seized power and ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government. Their numbers have remained high despite security forces repeatedly firing tear gas, rubber bullets and live rounds to disperse the crowd and massively arresting protesters.
Sadly, the growing stalemate is well known in a country with a long history of peaceful resistance to military rule – and brutality. The coup reversed the years of slow progress towards democracy in the Southeast Asian nation after five decades of military rule.
The death toll on Wednesday was compiled by a data analyst who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he feared for his safety. He also gathered information about the names, ages, places of residence of the victims and where and how they were murdered where he could.
The Associated Press was unable to independently confirm most of the reported deaths, but some squared off with online reports. The data analyst, who is based in Yangon, the country’s largest city, said he collected the information in honor of those killed for their heroic resistance.
According to his list, the highest number of deaths was in Yangon, where the total was 18. In the central city of Monywa, which has become a huge crowd, eight deaths have been reported. Three deaths were reported in Mandalay, the country’s second largest city, and two in Salin, a city in the Magwe region. Mawlamyine, in the southeast of the country, and Myingyan and Kalay, both in central Myanmar, each had a single death.
As part of the crackdown, security forces have also arrested hundreds of people, including journalists. At least eight journalists, including Thein Zaw of The Associated Press, were detained on Saturday. A video showed that he pulled over when police fell on protesters down a street, but was then picked up by police officers, who put handcuffs on him and held him in a stranglehold for a moment before marching him away.
He has been charged with violating a public security law that could give him a prison sentence of up to three years.
The escalation of the crackdown has led to increased diplomatic efforts to resolve the political crisis in Myanmar, but there seem to be few viable options. It’s not yet clear whether Wednesday’s rising death toll could change the momentum.
The UN Security Council is expected to hold a closed meeting on the situation Friday, said council diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to disclose the information before the official announcement. The UK has requested the meeting, they said.
Still, any concerted action at the United Nations will be difficult, as two permanent members of the Security Council, China and Russia, would almost certainly veto it. Some countries have imposed or are considering imposing their own sanctions.
On Wednesday, UN Special Envoy to Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener, told reporters at UN headquarters in New York that she receives about 2,000 messages a day from people in Myanmar, many “who are really desperate for action from the international. community.”
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, of which Myanmar is a member, held a conference call of foreign ministers on Tuesday to discuss the crisis.
But action is unlikely there too. The regional group of 10 countries has a tradition of non-interference in each other’s internal affairs. A statement by the chairman after the meeting called only for an end to the violence and for discussions to reach a peaceful settlement.
Myanmar’s security forces ignored that appeal and continued to attack peaceful protesters on Wednesday.
In addition to the deaths, there have been reports of other violence. In Yangon, a widespread video from a security camera showed police in the city brutally beating members of an ambulance crew – apparently after they were arrested. The police can kick the three crew members and hit them with rifle butts.
Security forces are believed to select medical workers for arrest and assault because members of the medical profession launched the country’s civil disobedience movement to oppose the junta.
In Mandalay, riot police, backed by soldiers, broke up a demonstration and chased about 1,000 teachers and students from a tear gas street when gunshots were heard.
Video from the AP showed a team of police firing catapults in the apparent direction of protesters as they dispersed.
Associated Press writer Edith M. Lederer at UN Headquarters in New York contributed to this report.
This story has been updated to correct that there is a report of one death in Myingyan, not two.