YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – Police cracked down on protesters opposing Myanmar’s military coup, firing warning shots and firing water cannons to disperse crowds that once again took to the streets on Tuesday defying the rules that they make the protests illegal.
Water cannons were used in Mandalay, Myanmar’s second largest city, where witnesses said at least two warning shots were fired to try to break up the crowd. According to reports posted on social media, police arrested more than two dozen people there. Police also used water cannons in the capital, Natpyitaw, for a second day and fired into the air.
Police were also reported to have fired rubber bullets at the Naypyitaw crowd, injuring several people. Photos on social media showed an alleged shooter – an officer with a short-barreled pistol – and several people injured.
Unconfirmed reports were spread on social media of live-action shootings and deaths among protesters, with the potential to provoke violent reprisals against authorities, warners of the country’s civil disobedience movement have warned. The AP was unable to confirm the reports immediately.
Protesters demand that power be restored to the ousted civilian government and seek the release of the nation’s elected leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, and other ruling party members detained since the military took control and blocked the call. of the new session of Parliament on 1 February. .
The growing challenge is striking in a country where past demonstrations have been deadly and reminiscent of previous movements in the long and bloody struggle for democracy in the Southeast Asian country. The military used deadly force to quell a massive 1988 uprising against the military dictatorship and a 2007 uprising led by Buddhist monks.
Decrees issued Monday night for some areas of Yangon and Mandalay banned rallies and gatherings of more than five people, along with motorized processions, while imposing a curfew from 8pm to 4am. It was not immediately clear whether regulations had been imposed for other areas.
Violation of orders, issued under Article 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, is punishable by up to six months in prison or a fine.
Demonstrations were also held on Tuesday in other cities, including Bago, where city elders negotiated with police to prevent a violent confrontation, and Dawei, and northern Shan state.
In Magwe, in central Myanmar, where water cannons were also used, unconfirmed reports on social media claimed that several police officers had crossed to join the ranks of the protesters. A Naypyitaw police officer was also said to have changed sides. The AP was unable to confirm the reports immediately.
Crowds also gathered in Yangon, the country’s largest city where thousands of people have demonstrated since Saturday, despite a higher security presence. No violence was reported.
It appears that no soldiers have been deployed to stop the demonstrations, a small indicator of military government moderation. The military has a history of brutality in crushing past uprisings, as well as in fighting ethnic minorities in border areas seeking self-determination. He has also been accused of carrying out genocide in his 2017 counterinsurgency campaign that drove more than 700,000 members of the Rohingya Muslim minority to the border to seek security in Bangladesh.
State media for the first time referred to the protests on Monday, claiming they endangered the country’s stability.
“Democracy can be destroyed if there is no discipline,” a statement from the Ministry of Information, read on state television MRTV, said. “We will have to take legal action to prevent acts that violate state stability, public safety and the rule of law.”
However, the military commander who led the coup and is now the leader of Myanmar made no mention of the unrest in a 20-minute televised speech Monday night, the first to be made public since the taking possession.
General Min Aung Hlaing, on the other hand, reiterated claims about voting fraud that have been the justification for the army’s acquisition, allegations that were refuted by the state election commission. He added that his Board would hold new elections as promised in a year and hand over power to the winners, and explained the policies planned for the Board for the control and economy of COVID-19.
The general’s statements, which included encouragement to foreign investors, did nothing to calm concern over the international community’s coup.
The UN Human Rights Council, the body of 47 member states in Geneva, will hold a special session on Friday to consider “the implications of the human rights crisis in Myanmar.”
Britain and the European Union led the request for the session, which would involve a high-profile public debate among diplomats on the situation in Myanmar and could lead to a resolution that raised concerns about the situation or recommended international action.
The convening of the special session – the 29th in the council’s nearly fifteen-year history – required the support of at least a third of the 47 member states of the council.
New Zealand has suspended all high-level military and political contact with Myanmar, Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta announced in Wellington on Tuesday, adding that any aid from New Zealand should not go to the military government. of Myanmar or benefit them.
“We do not recognize the legitimacy of the army-led government and call on the military to immediately release all detained political leaders and restore civilian rule,” Mahuta said. He said New Zealand also banned military leaders and had joined other countries in convening the special session of the United Nations Human Rights Council.
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Associated Press writer Jamey Keaten in Geneva and Nick Perry in Wellington, New Zealand contributed to this report.