YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – Images of a brutal crackdown on protests against a coup in Myanmar sparked outrage and call for a stronger international response on Thursday, a day after the deaths of 38 people. Videos showed security forces firing at one person from a distance and chasing and beating wild protesters.
Despite the shocking violence of the previous day, protesters returned to the streets on Thursday to denounce the acquisition of the military on February 1 and were again met with tear gas.
The international response to the coup has so far been successful, but a flood of online shared videos showing security forces brutally targeting protesters and other civilians sparked a call for more action. The United States branded the images terrifying, the UN human rights chief said it was time to “end control of democracy in Myanmar” and the world’s independent human rights expert country urged the Security Council to watch the videos before meeting Friday to discuss the crisis.
The coup reversed years of slow progress towards democracy in Myanmar, which for five decades had languished under strict military government that led to isolation and international sanctions. As the generals loosened control in recent years, the international community lifted most of the sanctions and invested.
UN Special Envoy to Myanmar Christine Schraner Burgener described Wednesday as the “bloodiest day” since taking office, when the military ousted the elected government of leader Aung San Suu Kyi. It is confirmed that more than 50 civilians, mostly peaceful protesters, have been killed by police and soldiers since then, including the 38 he said died Wednesday.
“Today I saw some very disturbing video clips,” Schraner Burgener said, in statements to UN journalists in New York via a video link from Switzerland. “One was the police hitting a volunteer medical crew. They were not armed. Another video clip showed police taking a protester and shooting him from close range, perhaps just a meter away. He did not resist his arrest and it seems that he died on the street.
He seemed to be referring to a video shared on social media that begins with a group of security forces following a civilian, who appears to have just pulled out of a building. A shot sounds and the person falls. After the person raises his head briefly, two of the troops drag the person down the street by the arms.
In other images, about two dozen security forces, some with their firearms drawn, chase two people wearing construction helmets that several protesters put on the street. When they reach people, they are repeatedly beaten with sticks and kicked. One of the officers is filming the scene on his cell phone.
In another video, several police officers punch and punch repeatedly at a person with wands, while the person bends to the ground, with their hands on their head. Officers walk in and out of the box, getting a few kicks and then casually walking away.
While some countries have imposed or threatened to impose sanctions after the coup, others, including Myanmar’s neighbors, have been more hesitant in their response. The large volume of violent images shared on Wednesday, along with the high death toll, made hope that the dynamic could change.
Michelle Bachelet, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, on Thursday urged all those with “information and influence” to hold military leaders accountable.
“This is the time to turn the tables towards justice and end the control of democracy in Myanmar,” he said.
State Department spokesman Ned Price said the United States was “dismayed” by the “horrific violence” and the UN’s independent human rights expert in Myanmar, Tom Andrews, said that the systematic brutality of the military junta is once again proving horrible. ”
“I urge members of the UN Security Council to view photos / videos of the shocking violence unleashed on peaceful protesters before meeting,” he said on Twitter.
The Security Council has scheduled closed-door consultations on Friday on calls to reverse the coup (including UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres) and stop escalating repression.
But Justine Chambers, associate director of the Myanmar Research Center at the National University of Australia, said that while graphic imagery would undoubtedly lead to strong condemnation, action in Myanmar would be tougher.
“Unfortunately, I don’t think the brutality captured on camera changed much,” he said. “I think the national public around the world is not very keen on stronger actions, that is, intervention, given the current state of the pandemic and the associated economic problems.”
Any kind of coordinated action at the United Nations will be difficult, as two permanent members of the Security Council, China and Russia, would almost veto it.
Even if the council took action, UN envoy Schraner Burgener warned it might not make much of a difference. He said he warned the Myanmar army that the nations of the world and the Security Council “could take enormous strong action”.
“And the response was, ‘We are used to sanctions and we have survived those sanctions in the past,'” he said. When he also warned that Myanmar would be isolated, Schraner Burgener said: “The response was, ‘We have to ‘learn to walk with only a few friends’.
The highest number of deaths on Wednesday occurred in Yangon, the country’s largest city, where an estimated 18 people died. Video from a city hospital showed grieving relatives picking up the bodies of blood-soaked family members. Some relatives sobbed uncontrollably, while others seemed outraged at the scene around them.
Protesters gathered again Thursday in Yangon. Police again used tear gas to try to disperse the crowds, while protesters re-established barriers on major roads.
Protests also continued in Mandalay, where three people were reported dead on Wednesday. A formation of five fighter jets flew over the city Thursday morning in what appeared to be a show of strength.
City protesters threw the three-fingered salute which is a symbol of defiance as they rode a motorcycle to follow a funeral procession for Kyal Sin, also known by his Chinese name Deng Jia Xi, a college student who was shot dead. while attending. a demonstration the day before.
As part of the crackdown, security forces have also arrested more than a thousand people, including journalists, according to the Independent Association for Assistance to Political Prisoners. On Saturday, at least eight journalists, including Thein Zaw of The Associated Press, were arrested. He and several other members of the media have been accused of violating a public safety law that could see them jailed for up to three years.