Roads and shops in Myanmar were empty as citizens staged a silent strike today, the first anniversary of a coup that toppled the country’s democratically elected government as the United Nations and the United States stepped up pressure on generals.
Rangoon, the financial capital of Myanmar, was deserted at the end of the morning and many shops were closed. The silent strike follows a call by the junta’s opponents.
“No one in my neighborhood is leaving their house, the security forces are patrolling,” said a Rangoon resident.
“Silence is the loudest cry we can make to soldiers and their bloody repression,” one dissident wrote on Twitter.
Following the February 1, 2021 coup against Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi, there have been several silent strikes, one of which in December emptied the country’s streets. The generals had warned at the time that such actions could now be considered ultimate betrayal. They also threatened to take control of the stores that remain closed.
Today, junta leader Min Aung Hlaing vowed in an interview with Global New Light to hold “free and fair” elections “as soon as the situation calms down and stabilizes.”
More than 1,500 civilians have been killed since the coup and nearly 9,000 are being held in the regime’s prisons, according to a local observer who reports incidents of torture, rape and extrajudicial killings.
In the face of rising violence, the international community stepped up pressure on generals on Monday.
The United Nations has said it will investigate whether crimes against humanity were committed.
“International justice has a very long memory,” warned Nicholas Koumzian, head of the UN Independent Investigation Agency in Myanmar, which was set up by the UN Human Rights Council in September 2018 to gather evidence prosecutions.
The United States, in coordination with Britain and Canada, has imposed new economic sanctions on Myanmar. The sanctions target seven people and two entities “linked to the military regime in Myanmar”, as well as the country’s highest-ranking judges, the attorney general, the president of the Supreme Court and the head of the anti-corruption commission, according to a statement. of the US Treasury Department.
“We do not forget”
“As long as the regime deprives the people of Myanmar of their democratic voice, we will force the military and its supporters to pay,” warned US President Joe Biden. “I tell the Burmese people we have not forgotten your battle.”
London will “always defend the right to freedom (…) We will make this violent and repressive regime accountable”, promised British Foreign Secretary Lis Tras.
After the coup that ended a ten-year democratic bracket in the country, 76-year-old Aung San Suu Kyi is under house arrest in an unknown location.
Many accusations have been leveled against the Nobel Peace Prize winner (violation of the law on state secrets, electoral fraud, attitude, incitement to riots, corruption …). New accusations were leveled at her yesterday, this time because she put pressure on the election commission in the 2020 parliamentary elections, which her party won.
Suu Kyi has already been sentenced to six years in prison and risks further sentences.
Myanmar has plunged into chaos for the past twelve months. The uprising, in which militias and various ethnic minority armies are taking part, is intensifying, pushing the junta to intensify its repression. Hundreds of thousands of people have already been displaced by the conflict.
The UN special envoy for Myanmar, Noelin Heiser, yesterday called for a “humanitarian meeting” involving “most of the parties involved” in the conflict.
In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of Australia, Britain, South Korea, the United States, Canada and the European Union called on the international community to stop the flow of “weapons and equipment” to the military in Myanmar.
Very soft statements, as complained by many non-governmental organizations, which call on the UN Security Council to impose an international embargo on arms exports to Myanmar.
SOURCE: AMPE
Source: Capital
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