[WSMDiscuss] Fwd: Resistance to the Myanmar coup, rebuilding popular movements (ESSF) / Myanmar protests continue to grow as hundreds of thousands take to streets (Reuters)

Sat Feb 13 20:05:42 CET 2021

Saturday, February 13, 2021

Myanmar / Burma in movement…, Resistance in movement…, Democracy in movement…, Peoples in movement…, Ecosystems in movement…

[Here, a digest of articles on what is happening in Myanmar prepared and posted by ESSF (Europe Solidaire Sans Frontières (ESSF – ‘European Solidarity Without Frontiers’) – thanks, Pierre and all of you at ESSF -, preceded by an update news report :

Resistance to the Myanmar coup, rebuilding popular movements

ESSF (Europe Solidaire Sans Frontières (ESSF – ‘European Solidarity Without Frontiers’)

Myanmar protests continue to grow as hundreds of thousands take to streets

Reuters

Published February 12, 2021

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-myanmar-protests-continue-to-grow-as-hundreds-of-thousands-take-to/?symbol=print-msg <https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-myanmar-protests-continue-to-grow-as-hundreds-of-thousands-take-to/?symbol=print-msg>

Protesters hold up the three-finger salute during a demonstration in Naypyidaw, Myanmar, on Feb. 12, 2021.  (STR/AFP/Getty Images)

Supporters of ousted Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi clashed with police on Friday as hundreds of thousands joined nationwide pro-democracy demonstrations in defiance of the military junta’s call to halt mass gatherings.

The United Nations human-rights office said more than 350 people, including officials, activists and monks, have been arrested in Myanmar since the Feb. 1 coup, including some who face criminal charges on “dubious grounds.”

The UN rights investigator for Myanmar told a special session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva that there were “growing reports, photographic evidence” that security forces have used live ammunition against protesters, in violation of international law.

Special Rapporteur Thomas Andrews urged the UN Security Council to consider imposing sanctions and arms embargoes.

SEE VIDEO AT LINK TO ARTICLE

‘We are ‘Rivals’, but we come together to fight for democracy’

Supporters of ousted Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi clashed with police on Friday as hundreds of thousands joined nationwide pro-democracy demonstrations in defiance of the junta's call to halt mass gatherings. Reuters 

Myint Thu, Myanmar’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, told the session that Myanmar did not want “to stall the nascent democratic transition in the country,” and would continue international co-operation.

Friday’s mostly peaceful protests were the biggest so far, and came a day after Washington imposed sanctions on generals who led the takeover.

Three people were wounded when police fired rubber bullets to break up a crowd of tens of thousands in the southeastern city of Mawlamyine, a Myanmar Red Cross official told Reuters.

Footage broadcast by Radio Free Asia showed police charging at protesters, grabbing one and smashing him in the head. Stones were then thrown at police before the shots were fired.

“Three got shot – one woman in the womb, one man on his cheek and one man on his arm,” said Myanmar Red Cross official Kyaw Myint, who witnessed the clash.

Several people in Mawlamyine were arrested but later released when a thousands-strong crowd stood outside the police station and demanded they be freed, according to live footage broadcast by Radio Free Asia.

Police arrest a protester during a demonstration against the military coup in Mawlamyine.  (AFP Contributor#AFP/AFP/Getty Images) 

A broadcast by state-run Myanmar Radio and Television (MRTV) said police had fired 10 rubber bullets because protesters were “continuing violent acts without dispersing from the area.” The report made no mention of any people being wounded.

Doctors have said they do not expect a 19-year-old woman shot during a protest in the capital Naypyitaw on Tuesday to survive. She was hit in the head with a live round fired by police, witnesses said.

In the biggest city Yangon on Friday, hundreds of doctors in white duty coats and scrubs marched past the golden Shwedagon pagoda, while in another part of town, football fans wearing team kits marched with humorous placards.

Other demonstrations took place in Naypyitaw, the coastal town of Dawei, and in Myitkyina, the capital of northern Kachin state, where young men played rap music and staged a dance-off.

Military supporters carry a portrait of junta leader General Min Aung Hlaing as they celebrate the coup in Naypyitaw, Myanmar.  (STRINGER/Reuters) 

Social-media giant Facebook said it would cut the visibility of content run by Myanmar’s military, saying they had “continued to spread misinformation” after seizing power.

The generals have sought to justify their takeover by saying there was fraud in an election last November won by Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD), a claim rejected by the country’s election committee.

In a letter read out to the UN rights council in Geneva, some 300 elected parliamentarians from Myanmar called on the United Nations to investigate “gross human rights violations” committed by the military since its coup.

The 47-member council later adopted a resolution calling on Myanmar to release Ms. Suu Kyi and other officials from detention and refrain from using violence on protesters. Myanmar’s envoy said before the vote that the resolution was “not acceptable.”

CALL FOR ‘MORE ACTIONS’

Supporters of the NLD welcomed the U.S. sanctions but said tougher action was needed.

“We are hoping for more actions than this as we are suffering every day and night of the military coup here in Myanmar,” Suu Kyi supporter Moe Thal, 29, told Reuters.

Myint Thu, Myanmar’s UN ambassador in Geneva, told the special rights council session that his government wanted “better understanding of the prevailing situation in the country, and constructive engagement and co-operation from the international community.”

The United Nations’ Myanmar office said on Friday it was “essential that life-saving humanitarian assistance continues unimpeded” in the country “and that humanitarian partners are given timely and safe access to the populations in need.”

Friday’s protests marked the seventh consecutive day of demonstrations, including one on Thursday outside the Chinese Embassy where NLD supporters accused Beijing of backing the junta, something Beijing has denied.

Security forces carried out more arrests overnight Thursday.

The junta remitted the sentences of more than 23,000 prisoners on Friday, saying the move was consistent with “establishing a new democratic state with peace, development and discipline” and would “please the public.”

The protests have revived memories of almost half a century of direct army rule, punctuated by bloody crackdowns, until the military began relinquishing some power in 2011.

The generals have promised to stick to the 2008 constitution and hand over power after elections. No date has yet been set for the vote.

SEE VIDEO AT LINK TO ARTICLE

U.S. President Joe Biden approved on Wednesday an executive order for new sanctions on those responsible for the military coup in Myanmar. The action comes as a close aide to ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi was detained in a new wave of arrests. Reuters 

fwd
Resistance to the Myanmar coup, rebuilding popular movements

ESSF (Europe Solidaire Sans Frontières (ESSF – ‘European Solidarity Without Frontiers’)

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> From: ESSF <contact at europe-solidaire.org>
> Subject: Resistance to the Myanmar coup, rebuilding popular movements
> Date: February 13, 2021 at 12:00:47 AM EST
> To: <jai.sen at cacim.net>
> Reply-To: ESSF <contact at europe-solidaire.org>

View this email in your browser <https://us8.campaign-archive.com/?e=6b46c9ae1f&u=5c732dd5ee65845cf20fd724a&id=e9f3b66d93>

Europe Solidaire Sans Frontières
The coup in Myanmar is a terrible blow for Burmese democrats. We report on the first signs of popular resistance. 

Ethical minefields: the dirty business of doing deals with Myanmar's military <https://europe-solidaire.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5c732dd5ee65845cf20fd724a&id=b1a9544a75&e=6b46c9ae1f>
By Htwe Htwe Thein
Myanmar's transition from five decades of military rule is a work in progress. 
Despite the junta's formal dissolution in 2010, the release of political prisoners including opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and democratic reforms allowing National League Democracy to win government in 2015, the military (officially known as the Tatmadaw) retains huge political and economic power. 
A quarter of parliamentary seats are reserved for military appointees. The Tatmadaw also controls several major (...)

- Burma / Myanmar <https://europe-solidaire.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5c732dd5ee65845cf20fd724a&id=32a100d721&e=6b46c9ae1f> / Military <https://europe-solidaire.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5c732dd5ee65845cf20fd724a&id=5170325851&e=6b46c9ae1f>, Corruption (Eng) <https://europe-solidaire.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5c732dd5ee65845cf20fd724a&id=a94d379c65&e=6b46c9ae1f>, Rohingya <https://europe-solidaire.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5c732dd5ee65845cf20fd724a&id=955bf17ced&e=6b46c9ae1f>, Arakan / Rakhine <https://europe-solidaire.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5c732dd5ee65845cf20fd724a&id=ebdc388568&e=6b46c9ae1f>,Economy <https://europe-solidaire.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5c732dd5ee65845cf20fd724a&id=c80ad2177d&e=6b46c9ae1f>

Behind the coup in Myanmar <https://europe-solidaire.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5c732dd5ee65845cf20fd724a&id=29cf826edc&e=6b46c9ae1f>
By BOYLE Peter, STOTHARD Debbie
A military coup took place in Burma/Myanmar on February 1, reversing the ostensible shift toward elected civilian government since the 2015 general elections. 
Green Left's Peter Boyle spoke to Debbie Stothard, a veteran Burmese human rights campaigner and founder of the Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma, based in Bangkok, Thailand. 
What has brought on this coup? 
We are seeing an economic crisis in Burma because of COVID-19 and how the government, including the military authorities, (...)

- Burma / Myanmar <https://europe-solidaire.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5c732dd5ee65845cf20fd724a&id=94682f17d5&e=6b46c9ae1f>

Tens of thousands – 'We cannot accept the coup': Myanmar protests despite internet blackout <https://europe-solidaire.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5c732dd5ee65845cf20fd724a&id=40edaaea1d&e=6b46c9ae1f>
By Guardian reporter, RATCLIFFE Rebecca
Demonstrators gather amid demands for release of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi. 
[Thousands march in protest against Myanmar military coup – video] 
Tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets of Myanmar for a second consecutive day to protest against the country's military seizing power, despite a nationwide internet blackout imposed to stifle dissent. 
In the main city Yangon, large crowds gathered on both Saturday and Sunday in support of ousted leaders Aung San Suu Kyi and Win (...)

- Burma / Myanmar <https://europe-solidaire.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5c732dd5ee65845cf20fd724a&id=cf8e1a2b55&e=6b46c9ae1f> / Civil disobedience <https://europe-solidaire.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5c732dd5ee65845cf20fd724a&id=d88c8c94ad&e=6b46c9ae1f>

State of emergency – Burma's Coup Shows How Little Power the Military Ever Gave Up <https://europe-solidaire.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5c732dd5ee65845cf20fd724a&id=6a3b857d0e&e=6b46c9ae1f>
By GALACHE Carlos Sardiña
The military coup against Aung San Suu Kyi marks the end of Burma's ten-year experiment with democracy. Her government spoke of national reconciliation while denying the military's atrocities and doing nothing to stop its war on ethnic minorities — an explicit refusal to “take sides” which ensured the armed forces would continue to dominate the country's politics. 
On February 1, Burma's military put an end to the country's ten-year experiment with democracy with a coup that can best be described (...)

- Burma / Myanmar <https://europe-solidaire.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5c732dd5ee65845cf20fd724a&id=5f73fecda5&e=6b46c9ae1f>

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