YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – Myanmar security forces have drastically increased their crackdown on protests against last month’s coup and killed at least 34 protesters in several cities on Wednesday, according to social media reports. local news reports compiled by a data analyst.
This is the highest daily death toll since the February 1 inauguration, which exceeds the 18 that the UN Human Rights Office said died on Sunday and could galvanize the international community , which has so far responded adequately to the violence. Wednesday’s videos also showed security forces firing gunfire at protesters, chasing them and even brutally hitting an ambulance crew.
Even the toll could be higher; the Democratic Voice of Burma, an independent online television and news service, claimed 38 lives.
Protesters have regularly flooded the streets of cities across the country since the military seized power and ousted the elected government of leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Their numbers have remained high even as security forces have repeatedly fired tear gas, rubber bullets and live wheels to disperse the crowds and arrested protesters en masse.
Unfortunately, the intensification of the confrontation is familiar in a country with a long history of peaceful resistance to military government and brutal repression. The coup reversed years of slow progress toward 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 condition of anonymity because he feared for his safety. He also collected information where he could about the names of the victims, their ages, their cities, and where and how they were killed.
The Associated Press could not independently confirm most of the reported deaths, but several places with online publications did. The data analyst, who is based in Yangon, the country’s largest city, said he collected the information to honor the dead 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 generated a large crowd, eight deaths were recorded. Three deaths were reported in Mandalay, the second largest city in the country, 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, had a single death.
As part of the crackdown, security forces have also arrested hundreds of people, including journalists. On Saturday, at least eight journalists, including Thein Zaw of The Associated Press, were arrested. A video showed him walking away from the road as police charged into a street against protesters, but then police officers grabbed him, handcuffed him and briefly held him in a suffocation before leaving. .
He has been charged with violating a public safety law this could see him imprisoned for up to three years.
The escalation of repression has led to increased diplomatic efforts to resolve Myanmar’s political crisis, but there appear to be few viable options. It’s still unclear whether Wednesday’s rising death toll could change the dynamic.
The UN Security Council is expected to hold a closed meeting on the situation on Friday, according to council diplomats, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to make the information public before the official announcement. . The UK requested the meeting, they said.
However, any coordinated action at the United Nations will be difficult, as two permanent members of the Security Council, China and Russia, would veto it safely. 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 daily messages from people in Myanmar, many “who are desperate to see action. of the international community “.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, of which Myanmar is a member, held a teleconference meeting of foreign ministers on Tuesday to discuss the crisis.
But there is also an unlikely action to be taken there. The regional group of ten nations has a tradition of non-interference in the internal affairs of others. A statement by the president after the meeting only called for an end to violence and talks on how to reach a peaceful settlement.
Ignoring this resource, Myanmar security forces continued this Wednesday to attack peaceful protesters.
In addition to the deaths, there have been reports of other violence. In Yangon, a high-profile video taken from a security camera showed city police brutally beating members of an ambulance crew, apparently after they were arrested. Police can be seen kicking the three crew members and hitting them with rifle butts.
Security forces are believed to select medical workers to detain and mistreat them because members of the medical profession initiated the country’s civil disobedience movement to resist the junta.
In Mandalay, riot police, backed by soldiers, broke up a rally and chased about 1,000 teachers and students down a tear-filled street while gunfire could be heard.
The AP video showed a team of police firing gunfire in the apparent direction of the protesters as they dispersed.
___
Associated Press writer Edith M. Lederer at the UN headquarters in New York contributed to this report.
___
This story has been updated to correct that there has been a report of one death in Myingyan, not two.