YANGON: Eight protesters were killed in Myanmar on Thursday (Mar 11) when security forces opened fire on protests against the Feb 1 coup, witnesses and local media said.
Six people were killed in the central town of Myaing when forces fired on a protest, a man who took part in the demonstration and helped carry bodies to hospital told Reuters by telephone. A health worker there confirmed all six deaths.
"We protested peacefully," the 31-year-old man said. "I couldn't believe they did it."
One person was killed in the North Dagon district of the biggest city of Yangon, local media said.
Before Thursday's deaths, an advocacy group, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, had said more than 60 protesters were killed and about 2,000 people detained by security forces since the Feb 1 coup against Aung San Suu Kyi's elected government.
Anti-coup protesters take cover behind makshift barricades as trucks with riot policemen arrive in Yangon, Myanmar on Mar 11, 2021. (AP Photo)
Amnesty International accused the army of using lethal force against protesters and said many killings documented amounted to extrajudicial executions.
"These are not the actions of overwhelmed, individual officers making poor decisions," said Joanne Mariner, Director of Crisis Response at Amnesty International.
"These are unrepentant commanders already implicated in crimes against humanity, deploying their troops and murderous methods in the open."
Social media posts showed protesters marching in the town of Tamu in Chin State on Thursday chanting: "Will we revolt or will we serve them? We will revolt."
A Reuters witness said there was also a small rally in the Sanchaung area of Yangon, a district where security forces this week fired guns and used stun grenades as they checked houses to hunt down protesters.
People carry bricks to help anti-coup protesters to build makeshift barricades in Yangon, Myanmar on Mar 11, 2021. (AP Photo)
Overnight people defied a curfew to hold several more candlelit vigils in parts of Yangon and also in Myingyan, southwest of the second city of Mandalay.
The junta has previously said it is acting with utmost restraint in handling what it describes as demonstrations by "riotous protesters" whom it accuses of attacking police and harming national security and stability.
A military spokesman declined to comment on the violence.
"ILLEGAL PAYMENTS"
The spokesman, Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun, told a news conference in the capital Naypyidaw, that Aung San Suu Kyi had accepted illegal payments worth US$600,000 as well as gold while in government.
The information had been verified and many people were being questioned, he added.
A woman on a motorbike flashes three-fingered salute as a group of people flee after seeing a convoy of soldiers and policemen's arrival to remove makeshift barricades made by anti-coup protesters in Mandalay, Myanmar on Mar 11, 2021. (AP Photo)
He said President Win Myint and several cabinet ministers had also engaged in corruption and that he had pressured the country's election commission not to act on the military's reports of irregularities.
US SANCTIONS GENERAL'S CHILDREN
State media said the junta had removed Arakan Army (AA) insurgents from its list of terrorist groups because the faction has stopped attacks and in order to help establish peace across the country.
The move comes at a time the army is struggling to contain daily protests against the coup.
The AA is fighting for greater autonomy in the western Rakhine state and had become one of the most formidable forces in challenging an army that has been fighting various ethnic wars for seven decades.
In a bid to increase pressure on the military as it continues its crackdown, the US Treasury Department on Wednesday imposed sanctions on two children of military leader Min Aung Hlaing and six companies they control.
In New York, the United Nations Security Council condemned violence against peaceful protesters and called for the military to "exercise utmost restraint".
The UN Security Council on Wednesday condemned violence against protesters and urged the army to show restraint.
But language that would have condemned the coup and threatened possible further action was removed from the British-drafted text, due to opposition by China, Russia, India and Vietnam.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he hoped the Security Council statement would push the military to realise it "is absolutely essential" that all prisoners are released and that the results of a November election are respected.
The army has justified the coup by saying that the election, won by Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy, was marred by fraud - an assertion rejected by the electoral commission. The junta has promised a new election within a year, but has not set a date.
BG Zaw Min Tun said Myanmar's military respects its neighbours and the international community but will forge ahead with objectives it set out when it took power last month.
"We will hold an election and we will hand over to the wining party," BG Zaw Min Tun told a news conference. "We respect neighbouring countries and the international community but we will continue with our five objectives."
The military also respects and values media freedom and has only arrested journalists who were inciting unrest, he said.
BEIJING: China's parliament voted overwhelmingly on Thursday (Mar 11) for changes to Hong Kong's electoral system including plans to grant Beijing veto powers over who gets to be nominated and elected to run the Asian financial hub, as leaders move towards a "patriotic" government after huge pro-democracy rallies in the city.
Beijing has acted decisively to dismantle Hong Kong's democratic pillars after massive and sometimes violent protests tremored through the financial hub in 2019.
At last year's meeting of the National People's Congress, the Communist Party leadership imposed a sweeping national security law on the finance hub.
That has since been used to jail dozens of democracy campaigners and has defanged the protest movement in a city which had enjoyed greater political freedoms than on the mainland under the "one country, two systems" rule.
"GOOD INTENTIONS"
"The central authorities have good intentions," the Liaison Office, Beijing's representative body in Hong Kong, said in a statement.
"We expect all sectors of the community and the general public to take ownership of the work to amend the law and offer suggestions, so that a strong positive energy can be gathered under the banner of patriotism and love for Hong Kong."
Only one member of the National People's Congress abstained in the vote, which critics say will be one of the final nails in the coffin of Hong Kong's democracy movement.
In a separate statement, Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam pledged her "staunch support" and expressed "sincere gratitude."
The restructuring is aimed at getting the city "back on the right track," Lam said.
The decision aims to place the power of governing the city "firmly in the hands of forces that are patriotic and love Hong Kong", according to parliamentary spokesman Wang Chen.
Although the exact shape of the latest changes is unclear in China's opaque political system, the vote clears the path towards a "qualification vetting system" for the electoral process in Hong Kong.
A Beijing-controlled election committee in the city would also be tasked with "electing a large proportion of Legislative Council members," he added, referring to the city's LegCo assembly.
The measures will alter the size and composition of Hong Kong's legislature and an electoral committee selecting the chief executive in favour of pro-Beijing figures.
The committee will also be given powers to select many city legislators. A new mechanism will be set up to vet candidates and screen election winners' behaviour to make sure only those seen as patriots rule Hong Kong.
Beijing will increase the size of the electoral committee from 1,200 to 1,500, and the legislature from 70 to 90 seats.
Currently half of the 70 seats in the Legislative Council, known as LegCo, are directly elected, a proportion which will shrink with the extra seats picked by the electoral committee. The other half represents industries, unions, and professions and is largely stacked with pro-Beijing figures.
"SETBACK"
The move is a "setback" for Hong Kong's progress on democratic development since 1997, said Bernard Chan, a top adviser to city leader Carrie Lam, this week.
"Over the last 23 years, we clearly didn't do a good job to show to the central government that these so-called political reforms are actually helping 'One Country, Two Systems'," Chan told AFP.
British foreign secretary Dominic Raab said on Thursday that proposed changes to Hong Kong's electoral system would further undermine international trust in China.
"This is the latest step by Beijing to hollow out the space for democratic debate in Hong Kong," Raab said.
China had committed to giving Hong Kong a degree of autonomy when it reverted from British colonial rule in 1997, a status that has unravelled in recent months - drawing international criticism.
Until recently Hong Kong has maintained a veneer of choice, allowing a small and vocal opposition to flourish at certain local elections.
Generally when Hong Kongers are allowed to vote, they vote in droves for pro-democracy candidates.
In recent years, however, authorities have ramped up the disqualification of politicians either sitting in the city's semi-elected legislature or standing as candidates, based on their political views.
Last month Hong Kong announced its own plans to pass a law vetting all public officials for their political loyalty to Beijing.
Wang had said the "chaos in Hong Kong society shows that there are obvious loopholes and defects in the current electoral system", giving an opportunity for "anti-China forces in Hong Kong" to seize power.
YANGON: At least six protesters were killed on Thursday (Mar 11) as people took to the streets in several parts of Myanmar to protest the military coup against Aung San Suu Kyi's elected government.
According to a witness and local media, one protester was killed in the North Dagon district of Yangon, while five other protesters were killed in the central town of Myaing.
The witness, who was in Myaing hospital, said doctors had declared five people dead. One person was unconscious and it was not clear if he was alive, the witness said.
More than 60 protesters have been killed and about 2,000 people have been detained by security forces since the coup against Aung San Suu Kyi's elected government, an advocacy group said.
Social media posts showed protesters marching in the town of Tamu in Chin State on Thursday chanting: "Will we revolt or will we serve them? We will revolt."
A Reuters witness said there was also a small rally in the Sanchaung area of Yangon, a district where security forces this week fired guns and used stun grenades as they checked houses to hunt down protesters.
FILE PHOTO: People take part in a sit-in protest in Mandalay, Myanmar on Mar 10, 2021, in this picture obtained by Reuters from social media.
Overnight people defied a curfew to hold several more candlelit vigils in parts of Yangon and also in Myingyan, southwest of the second city of Mandalay.
The UN Security Council on Wednesday condemned violence against protesters and urged the army to show restraint, but failed to denounce the military takeover as a coup or threaten further action due to opposition from China and Russia.
Amnesty International accused the army of using lethal force against protesters and said many killings documented amounted to extrajudicial executions.
"These are not the actions of overwhelmed, individual officers making poor decisions," said Joanne Mariner, Director of Crisis Response at Amnesty International.
"These are unrepentant commanders already implicated in crimes against humanity, deploying their troops and murderous methods in the open."
A junta spokesman declined to give an immediate comment but said there would be a news conference held by the military's council in the capital Naypyitaw at 2pm local time on Thursday.
FILE PHOTO: People take part in a sit-in protest in Mandalay, Myanmar on Mar 10, 2021, in this still image obtained by Reuters from a social media video.
The junta has previously said it is acting with utmost restraint in handling what it describes as demonstrations by "riotous protesters" whom it accuses of attacking police and harming national security and stability.
US SANCTIONS GENERAL'S CHILDREN
State media said the junta had removed Arakan Army (AA) insurgents from its list of terrorist groups because the faction has stopped attacks and in order to help establish peace across the country.
The move comes at a time the army is struggling to contain daily protests against the coup.
The AA is fighting for greater autonomy in the western Rakhine state and had become one of the most formidable forces in challenging an army that has been fighting various ethnic wars for seven decades.
On Wednesday, security forces firing teargas and rubber bullets trapped hundreds of anti-junta protesters late into the night in two districts of Yangon.
Some protesters who managed to evade blockades set up by police in surrounding streets told of scores of arrests and said that some of those who got caught were beaten.
Anti-coup protesters retreat from the frontlines after discharging fire extinguishers towards a line of riot policemen in Yangon, Myanmar on Mar 10, 2021. (AP Photo)
In a bid to increase pressure on the military as it continues its crackdown, the US Treasury Department on Wednesday imposed sanctions on two children of military leader Min Aung Hlaing and six companies they control.
In New York, the United Nations Security Council condemned violence against peaceful protesters and called for the military to "exercise utmost restraint".
But language that would have condemned the coup and threatened possible further action was removed from the British-drafted text, due to opposition by China, Russia, India and Vietnam.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he hoped the Security Council statement would push the military to realize it "is absolutely essential" that all prisoners are released and that the results of a November election are respected.
The army has justified the coup by saying that the election, won by Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy, was marred by fraud - an assertion rejected by the electoral commission. The junta has promised a new election within a year, but has not set a date.
