Rangoon, Burma.
Thousands of Burmese protested on the streets of Rangoon this Saturday, in the largest demonstration since the coup against Aung San Suu Kyi and in an attempt to silence these dissident voices, military officials blocked internet access and continued to detain detractors.
The last known arrest is that of one Australian, Sean Turnell, 75, who worked as economic adviser to former de facto head of government Aung San Suu Kyi, and who told the BBC he was detained in Burma. If confirmed, it would be the first arrest of a foreigner since the coup.
In Rangoon, the country’s economic capital, about 3,000 people, many of them young, protested on Saturday near a university wearing red masks, scarves and bracelets, the color of the National League for Democracy (LND), the party of Aung San Suu Kyi, arrested on Monday.
Read: Guatemala reopens fairs, parks and beaches while waiting for vaccines
“Down with the military dictatorship,” the protesters shouted, waving LND flags and saluting with three raised fingers, already turned into a gesture of resistance. “We are here to fight for the new generation, to free them from military dictatorship,” one of the protesters told AFP.
Internet cuts
At the same time, censorship continues and the country on Saturday recorded significant cuts in internet service across the territory, according to the surveillance NGO NetBlocks.
Telenor, one of the country’s leading telecom operators, based in Norway, confirmed that authorities had ordered the blocking of Twitter and Instagram on Friday “until further notice”.
Facebook, a social network that serves as a gateway to the Internet for millions of Burmese, was blocked on Wednesday. Facebook services, such as the WhatsApp messaging network, also record disruptions and many users try to bypass this hurdle with VPN connections.
The aim is to try to silence opponents, very active on social media, where the hashtags #WeNeedDemocracy, #HeartheVoiceofMyanmar or #Freedomfromfear are multiplied, calling for democracy, freedom and urging the world to listen to the voice of Burmese.
The country’s citizens are “in a situation of absolute uncertainty,” laments Amnesty International’s Ming Yu Hah.
The international weight
The international community continues to have Burma among its priorities. This Saturday, the office of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet called for “the Burmese army and police to guarantee the right to peaceful demonstrations and not retaliate against those who protest.”
“The Internet and communication services must be restored to ensure freedom of expression and access to information,” he asked in a message on Twitter.
the HIM-HER-IT, Via Swiss diplomat Christine Schraner Burgener, has already had first contact with the Burmese military since the coup, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Friday, insisting on his calls for civilian leaders to be released.
For their part, the European Union (EU) and the United States have threatened sanctions since the coup was confirmed. China remains Burma’s main supporter of the United Nations, where it opposed any initiative against the army during the Rohingya Muslim crisis.
Besides: Sant Joan Cancuc, the town that refuses to be vaccinated against covid-19
Within the country and despite the fear of reprisals, as happened in the bloody repressions of 1988 and 2007, hundreds of teachers and students are taking to the streets every day. On Friday, dozens of officials suspended work in various ministries and 300 deputies organized an online session to denounce the takeover of Parliament.
In all, some 150 political leaders and activists have been detained since the coup, including Win Htein, a 79-year-old adviser very close to Aung San Suu Kyi, according to the Political Prisoners Assistance Association, which has headquarters in Rangoon.
The coup also has supporters in the country, as evidenced by the hundreds of people gathered Thursday in the capital, Naypyidaw, in support of the new military authorities. The head of the army, Min Aung Hlaing, Which concentrates on virtually all powers, justified the blow by the alleged fraud recorded in the November legislature, and which won by a large majority the LND.
In reality, the generals are afraid to see their influence diminish after the victory of the LND who might have wanted to reform the Constitution, which is very favorable to the military, analysts estimate. Aung San Suu Kyi is accused of violating a trade law and is under house arrest in the Burmese capital, according to an NLD spokesman.
Daughter of a murdered independence hero, she has been revered in her home country since she took over the leadership of the democratic opposition before the junta in 1988, spending 15 years in probation. Its image had deteriorated in the world by its passivity in the crisis of the rohinyás, a Muslim minority victim of a cruel military persecution in Burma.