US Slams Myanmar Military For Brutal Crackdown On Protesters And Responding With Bullets

REPUBLIC WORLD

Written By Vishal Tiwari

16th March, 2021

US State Department criticised Myanmar’s military for “brutally” attacking their own people and killing dozens throughout the country last weekend.

The United States on Monday slammed Myanmar’s junta over a surge in violence against pro-democracy protesters, saying “they have responded to calls for the restoration of democracy with bullets”. US State Department deputy spokesperson Jalina Porter criticised Myanmar’s military for “brutally” attacking their own people and killing dozens throughout the country last weekend. Porter said the crackdown of civilians in Myanmar proves that the military orchestrated the coup for their own benefits.

U.S. says Myanmar military's violence against protesters is 'immoral and indefensible'

REUTERS

By Reuters Staff
APAC

MARCH 15, 2021

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jalina Porter said on Monday the Myanmar military’s violence against protesters was “immoral and indefensible” after the country’s bloodiest day since the Feb. 1 coup.

Supporters of detained elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi took to the streets again on Monday despite the deaths of dozens of protesters on Sunday.

“The junta has responded to calls for the restoration of democracy in Burma with bullets,” Porter said.

Days of Killings and Defiance in Myanmar, With Neither Side Relenting

The New York Times

By Richard C. Paddock
March 14, 2021

At least 51 people were fatally shot over the weekend, but the nationwide protest movement shows no sign of waning.

Seeking help for a wounded man in the Hlaingthaya district of Yangon, Myanmar, where several dozen people were killed by security forces on Sunday.Credit...The New York Times

Soldiers and police officers shot and killed at least 51 people in Myanmar over the weekend, as they pressed their campaign of attrition against protesters who have defied them in cities and towns across the country.

Despite weeks of killings by the security forces, a nationwide civil disobedience movement — which has paralyzed much of the economy as well as the government’s operations — shows no sign of waning, a month and a half after the Feb. 1 military coup that ousted the civilian leadership.

“We must fight until we win,” said Mr. Tin Tun, 46. “The regime must step down. There is no place for any dictator here in Myanmar.”

Late Sunday afternoon, another wave of killing began in the Hlaingthaya district of Yangon, which is heavily populated by factory workers and where the protests against military rule have been among the most aggressive. A large force of soldiers and police officers was deployed to the township and fatally shot at least 31 protesters, according to a doctor at Hlaingthaya General Hospital. It was the highest daily death toll in one location since the coup.

On Sunday evening, the ruling junta declared martial law in the district — the first such declaration since the takeover — allowing the military to assume all authority in the township from the police.

Several More Protesters Die In Myanmar; 'Quad' Leaders Urge Restoration Of Democracy

WYPR

By CATHERINE WHELAN • 

MAR 13, 2021

Protesters against last month's military coup hold a candlelight rally in Yangon, Myanmar, on Saturday. More than 70 people have been killed by security forces since the military overthrew the country's fragile democracy six weeks ago, a United Nations official says.AP

Deadly unrest continues to grip Myanmar as ongoing protests challenge the country's Feb. 1 military coup and President Biden and regional leaders are urging the restoration of democracy in that country.

Several more protesters were killed early Saturday, after 12 died on Thursday, reporter Michael Sullivan tells NPR. Reuters says at least six protesters have been killed in the past day.

'Kill Me Instead': Despite Nun's Pleas, Military Junta Shoots Pro-Democracy Protesters in Myanmar

Common Dreams

Kenny Stancil, staff writer
Tuesday, March 09, 2021

"We heard loud gunshots, and saw that a young kid's head had exploded, and there was a river of blood on the street," said Sister Ann Rose Nu Tawng. "We need to value life. It made me feel so sad."

"I knelt down… begging them not to shoot and torture the children, but to shoot me and kill me instead," Sister Ann Rose Nu Tawng said of her attempt to dissuade police officers in Myitkyina, Myanmar from shooting people at a pro-democracy demonstration on March 8, 2021. (Photo: Twitter screengrab via Reuters)

Kneeling before a group of police officers in a northern Myanmar city on Monday, Sister Ann Rose Nu Tawng courageously begged the forces of the country's new military junta to refrain from shooting pro-democracy activists—a plea that was ultimately ignored by the officers who went on to kill at least two people and injure several others as the violent repression of peaceful demonstrations against last month's coup continues.

"I knelt down… begging them not to shoot and torture the children, but to shoot me and kill me instead," Tawng told AFP on Tuesday after a video of the incident went viral.

For Rohingya Refugees, Myanmar Military Crackdown on Protesters is All Too Familiar

RADIO FREE ASIA
2021-03-05

Rohingya refugees gather behind a barbed-wire fence in a temporary settlement in Myanmar's Rakhine state, April 25, 2018.

Seeing the violence against civilians in Myanmar in the wake of that country’s coup, Rohingya refugees sheltering in southeastern Bangladesh say their own experience has been validated now that the general Burmese population is experiencing the brutality of its military.

Refugee leaders who spoke to BenarNews expressed solidarity with Myanmar protesters, as well as bitterness that they did not receive the same in 2017, when a brutal military crackdown on their community caused 740,000 of the stateless Muslim minority to flee to Bangladesh.

“At that time, if everyone had joined the movement to stop the atrocities against the Rohingya, then they would not have had to join this protest movement,” Muhib Ullah, chairman of the Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Human Rights, told BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service, from the Kutupalong refugee camp this week.

Myanmar Security Forces Open Fire on Protesters, Killing 2

The New York Times

Richard C. Paddock
Feb. 20, 2021

Myanmar Security Forces Crack Down on Protesters

Security forces on Saturday opened fire on protesters in Mandalay, Myanmar, according to witnesses, killing two people and wounding dozens. Demonstrators have been rallying for weeks against the Feb. 1 military coup.

Security forces on Saturday opened fire on protesters in Mandalay, Myanmar, according to witnesses, killing two people and wounding dozens. Demonstrators have been rallying for weeks against the Feb. 1 military coup.CreditCredit...Aso/Associated Press

 

Security forces in Myanmar opened fire on protesters in the city of Mandalay on Saturday, killing two people and wounding dozens, according to witnesses.

The shootings occurred as the authorities were trying to force workers back to their jobs at a local shipyard. They were among hundreds of thousands of workers across Myanmar who have walked off their jobs to protest the military’s Feb. 1 coup and its ouster of elected civilian leaders.

More than 1,000 demonstrators gathered at the shipyard to block the police, leading to a tense standoff that lasted much of Saturday afternoon. The authorities used water cannons, rubber bullets, tear gas, slingshots and ultimately live ammunition to break up the crowd, witnesses said.