Myanmar Military
States urged to take decisive, impactful, measures against Myanmar military
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet on Tuesday urged States to take immediate, decisive and impactful measures to push Myanmar’s military leadership into halting its campaign of repression and slaughter of its people.
The High Commissioner called on the Myanmar military and neighbouring States to facilitate humanitarian access to populations in need.
Also read: Myanmar cuts wireless internet service amid coup protests
She urged neighbouring States to give temporary protection to people fleeing the violence, and to refrain from returning people fleeing Myanmar at this time, in accordance with the principle of non-refoulement.
“We have witnessed yet another weekend of coordinated bloodshed in many parts of the country, including the reported mass killing of at least 82 people in Bago between Friday and Saturday. The military seems intent on intensifying its pitiless policy of violence against the people of Myanmar, using military-grade and indiscriminate weaponry,” Bachelet said in a statement issued from Geneva.
There are clear echoes of Syria in 2011, she said adding that there too, they saw peaceful protests met with unnecessary and clearly disproportionate force.
The State’s brutal, persistent repression of its own people led to some individuals taking up arms, followed by a downward and rapidly expanding spiral of violence all across the country.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights at the time warned in 2011 that the failure of the international community to respond with united resolve could be disastrous for Syria and beyond.
The past ten years have shown just how horrific the consequences have been for millions of civilians.
Also read:Myanmar writes to Bangladesh explaining military takeover: FM
“I fear the situation in Myanmar is heading towards a full-blown conflict. States must not allow the deadly mistakes of the past in Syria and elsewhere to be repeated.”
Over the weekend, credible reports indicate that Tatmadaw forces opened fire with rocket-propelled grenades, fragmentation grenades and mortar fire in Bago in the south of the country.
Security forces also reportedly prevented medical personnel from helping the wounded, as well as charging relatives a “fine” of roughly USD 90 to claim the bodies of those who were killed. Some individuals are also now resorting to the use of makeshift or primitive weapons in self-defence.
Clashes between the military and ethnic armed groups have also intensified in several locations in Kachin, Shan and Kayin states, where the military have been employing airstrikes that have killed and displaced civilians.
As arrests continue, with at least 3,080 people currently detained, there are reports that 23 people have been sentenced to death following secret trials – including four protesters and 19 others who were accused of political and criminal offences.
The mass arrests have forced hundreds of people to go into hiding, and reports suggest that many journalists, civil society activists, celebrities and other public figures are being sought, many simply because of the dissent they have been expressing on-line.
Wireless broadband and mobile data services were cut indefinitely on 2 April, leaving the vast majority of people without access to vital sources of information and communication.
Meanwhile, the country’s economy, education and health infrastructure have been brought to the brink of collapse, leaving millions of Myanmar people without livelihood, basic services and, increasingly, food security.
Thousands of internal migrants have left urban centres for their home communities – which once relied on their income. COVID-19 measures have effectively been brought to a standstill.
Also read:Myanmar military 'reaches out' to Rohingyas in Rakhine
“Statements of condemnation, and limited targeted sanctions, are clearly not enough. States with influence need to urgently apply concerted pressure on the military in Myanmar to halt the commission of grave human rights violations and possible crimes against humanity against the people,” Bachelet said.
The High Commissioner made particular reference to the report of the UN Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar, which contains clear recommendations for impactful action in relation to the military.
Bachelet stressed the need to cut off the supply of arms and finances to the military leadership that aid its commission of serious human rights violations.
Myanmar junta attacks again as spokesman defends crackdown
Security forces in Myanmar cracked down heavily again on anti-coup protesters Friday even as the military downplayed reports of state violence.
Reports on online news outlets and social media said at least four people were killed in Bago, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) northeast of Yangon, in an attack by government troops and police that began before dawn and continued sporadically until after dark.
The Bago Weekly Journal Online said a source at the city’s main hospital, whom it didn’t name, believed about 10 people had been killed.
It was the third attack this week involving the massive use of deadly force by security forces to try to crush active opposition to the Feb. 1 coup that ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.
On Wednesday, attacks were launched on opponents of military rule in the towns of Kalay and Taze in the country’s north. In both places, at least 11 people -- possibly including some bystanders -- were reported killed. Security forces were accused of using heavy weapons in their attacks, including rocket-propelled grenades and mortars. The allegations could not be independently confirmed by The Associated Press.
Also read:Will Myanmar learn its lessons?
Some of the protesters used homemade weapons, especially in Kalay, where defenders called themselves a “civil army,” and some were equipped with rudimentary hunting rifles.
Most protests in cities and town around the country have been nonviolent, with demonstrators espousing civil disobedience.
Violence by security forces was also reported Friday in several other areas, including Loikaw, the capital of Kayah sate in the east, where live ammunition was employed, according to numerous social media posts.
At least 614 protesters and bystanders have been killed by security forces through Thursday, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, which monitors casualties and arrests.
At a news conference in the capital, Naypyitaw, a spokesman for the ruling junta defended the actions of the security forces.
Also read:Myanmar cuts wireless internet service amid coup protests
Brig. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, when asked about reports that automatic weapons have been fired at protesters, replied that if that were the case, 500 people would have been killed in just a few hours.
He challenged the death toll issued by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners and said the government’s tally was 248. He also said 16 policemen had been killed.
Asked about air strikes carried out by government jets on territory held by guerrillas from the Karen ethnic minority in eastern Myanmar, which reportedly killed at least 14 civilians, Zaw Min Tun said the aerial raids allowed more exact targeting than ground attacks which would have caused more deaths. Supporters of the Karen charge that the army is carrying out a ground offensive as well, including the use of artillery.
Myanmar junta charges celebrities with promoting protests
Myanmar’s ruling junta stepped up its campaign against celebrities who support nationwide protests against its seizure of power, publishing wanted lists in the state press and warning against using their work.
The move follows weeks of escalating violence by security forces in breaking up street protests against the Feb. 1 coup that ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. At least 570 protesters and bystanders, including 47 children, have been killed since the takeover, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, which monitors casualties and arrests and says the true toll is likely higher. The coup reversed the country’s gradual return to democracy after five decades of military rule.
Also Read: Myanmar death toll mounts amid protests, military crackdown...
The lists published Sunday and Monday in the Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper include actors, musicians and social media influencers charged with violating Section 505(A) of the Penal Code for “spreading news to affect state stability.” The penalty for the offense is up to three years’ imprisonment.
A chart filling most of a page lists 20 people, along with photos, hometowns and Facebook pages of each.
Several actors and directors were also charged in February, but the campaign against celebrity protest supporters was stepped up last week when army-controlled Myawaddy TV broadcast a wanted list. There are now at least 60 people on such lists.
Also Read: Will Myanmar learn its lessons?
May Toe Khine, who describes herself in her Twitter profile as “Full Time Burmese Actress / Part Time Fashion Designer Student,” tweeted after the TV announcement that her arrest warrant was “for simply doing my job as a civilian: using my platform to speak out the truth.”
“Please always pay attention to news in Myanmar until we win,” she wrote.
What appears to be a leaked document from the Information Ministry advises broadcasters and production agencies of the accusations against people in the fields of literature, film, theater arts, music and journalism. It warns them not to publish or broadcast any of their work or face prosecution themselves.
The April 4 document, which could not be authenticated by The Associated Press, was reported by Khit Thit Media and widely circulated on social media.
Protests continued Monday around the country, but generally on a smaller scale than recently and often in ways intended to avoid confrontations. On Sunday, an “Easter Egg Strike” was held with eggs painted in support of the protests displayed in public places and online.
In Dawei, a city in southeastern Myanmar that is a stronghold of the protest movement, a short march was accompanied by a motorcycle procession.
In Yangon, the country’s biggest city, a memorial march for the dead was held by mourners clad in black. Separately, about 20 people gathered briefly on a city street and burned Chinese flags. Many protesters believe that Beijing backs the military regime with economic and political support, including the threat of a veto at the U.N. Security Council against international sanctions.
Myanmar junta deepens violence with new air attacks
Violence in eastern Myanmar, including air raids that drove thousands of members of the Karen ethnic minority to seek shelter across the border in Thailand, deepened Tuesday with new air attacks by the military that seized power from an elected government last month.
Thailand's prime minister denied that his country's security forces had forced villagers back to Myanmar who had fled from military airstrikes over the weekend, saying they returned home on their own accord.
But the situation in eastern Myanmar appeared to be getting more, not less, dangerous.
Saw Taw Nee, head of the foreign affairs department of the Karen National Union, the main political body representing the Karen minority there, confirmed that new raids Tuesday left six civilians dead and 11 wounded.
Dave Eubank, a member of the Free Burma Rangers, which provides medical assistance to villagers in the region, provided the same information.
The attacks by Myanmar's military led the KNU to issue a statement from one of its armed units saying that the government's "military ground troops are advancing into our territories from all fronts," and vowing to respond.
"We have no other options left but to confront these serious threats posed by the illegitimate military junta's army in order to defend our territory, our Karen peoples, and their self-determination rights," said the statement, issued in the name of the KNU office for the district that was first attacked on Saturday.
It said the attacks were the latest in a series of actions by Myanmar's military breaking a cease-fire agreement. The KNU has been fighting for greater autonomy for the Karen people.
Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, speaking before the latest air attacks, said his country is ready to shelter anyone who is escaping fighting, as it has done many times for decades. His comments came a day after humanitarian groups said Thailand has been sending back some of the thousands of people who have fled the air attacks by Myanmar's military.
"There is no influx of refugees yet. We asked those who crossed to Thailand if they have any problem in their area. When they say no problem, we just asked them to return to their land first. We asked, we did not use any force," Prayuth told reporters.
"We won't push them back," he said. 'If they are having fighting, how can we do so? But if they don't have any fighting at the moment, can they go back first?"
The governor of Thailand's Mae Hong Son province, where as many as 3,000 refugees had sought shelter, said later that those still on Thai soil were expected to return to their own country in a day or two.
The attacks are a further escalation of the violent crackdown by Myanmar's junta on protests against its Feb. 1 takeover.
At least 510 protesters have been killed since the coup, according to Myanmar's Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, which says the actual toll is likely much higher. It says 2,574 people have been detained.
Protests continued Tuesday despite the deaths of more than 100 people on Saturday alone.
Engineers, teachers and students from the technology university in the southern city of Dawei marched without incident.
The number of protesters killed in the city rose to eight with the announcement of the death of a teenager who was shot by soldiers on Saturday as he rode a motorbike with two friends. According to local media, a hospital certificate attributed his death to "serious injuries as he fell from a motorbike."
Medical workers in Mandalay, the country's second biggest city, honored three of their colleagues who have been killed by security forces. The two doctors and a nurse were remembered in a simple ceremony in front of a banner with their photographs and the words "Rest In Power."
At a cemetery in the biggest city, Yangon, three families gave their last farewells to relatives killed Monday in a night of chaos in the South Dagon neighborhood. Residents said police and soldiers moved through the streets firing randomly with live ammunition.
The coup that ousted the government of Aung San Suu Kyi reversed the country's progress toward democracy since her National League for Democracy party won elections in 2015 after five decades of military rule.
At Thailand's Mae Sam Laep village along the Salween River, which forms the border with Myanmar, paramilitary Thai Rangers on Tuesday twice waved off a boat that had come from the other side carrying seven people, including one lying flat and another with a bandage on his head. But ambulances soon arrived on the Thai side and it landed anyway.
Thai villagers helped medical staff carry the injured people on stretchers to a small clinic at a nearby checkpoint. One man had large bruises on his back with open wounds, an injury one medical staffer said could have been caused by an explosion.
An elderly woman in the group had small cuts and scabs all over her face. Thai nurses in protective gear to guard against COVID-19 attended to her, giving her and others tests for the coronavirus.
Another villager from the boat, 48-year-old Aye Ja Bi, said he had been wounded by a bomb dropped by a plane. His legs were hit by shrapnel and his ears were ringing, he said, but he was unable to travel to get help until Tuesday.
The airstrikes appeared to be retaliation for an attack by guerrillas under the command of the KNU on a government military outpost in which they claimed to have killed 10 soldiers and captured eight. Tuesday's KNU statement charged that the strikes had been planned before that.
About 2,500-3,000 refugees crossed into Thailand on Sunday, according to several humanitarian aid agencies who have long worked with the Karen.
They said on Monday, however, that Thai soldiers had begun to force people to return to Myanmar.
"They told them it was safe to go back even though it is not safe. They were afraid to go back but they had no choice," said a spokesperson for the Karen Peace Support Network, a group of Karen civil society organizations in Myanmar.
The army has restricted journalists' access to the area where the villagers crossed the border.
Myanmar's government has battled Karen guerrillas on and off for years — along with other ethnic minorities seeking more autonomy — but the airstrikes marked a major escalation of violence.
Political organizations representing the Karen and Kachin in northern Myanmar have issued statements in recent weeks warning the government against shooting protesters in their regions and threatening a response.
They were joined Tuesday by the Three Brothers Alliance, which represent the guerrilla armies of the Rakhine, Kokang and Ta-ang -- also known as Palaung -- minorities.
The alliance condemned the killing of protesters and said if it did not stop immediately, they would abandon a self-declared cease-fire and join with other groups to protect the people.
Their statement, like those of the Karen and Kachin, seemed to suggest that any military response by them would be in their home areas, not in the cities of central Myanmar where the protests and repression have been the strongest.
Supporters of the protest movement are hoping that the ethnic armed groups could help pressure the junta. Protest leaders in hiding say they have held talks, but there have been no commitments.
The United States on Monday suspended a trade deal with Myanmar, also known as Burma, until a democratic government is restored in the Southeast Asian country.
The office of the U.S. Trade Representative said the country was immediately suspending "all U.S. engagement with Burma under the 2013 Trade and Investment Framework Agreement." Under the agreement, the two countries cooperated on trade and investment issues in an effort to integrate Myanmar into the global economy, a reward for the military's decision to allow a return to democracy — a transition that ended abruptly with last month's coup.
The announcement Monday doesn't stop trade between the two countries. Last week, the United States restricted American dealings with two giant Myanmar military holding companies that dominate much of that country's economy.
END/AP/UNB
Thousands flee into Thailand following Myanmar air strikes
Thai authorities along the country’s northwestern border braced themselves Monday for a possible influx of more ethnic Karen villagers fleeing new airstrikes from the Myanmar military.
Myanmar military aircraft carried out three strikes overnight Sunday into Monday, according to Free Burma Rangers, a humanitarian relief agency that delivers medical and other assistance to villagers. The strikes possibly injured one person but caused no apparent fatalities, a member of the agency said.
Also read: 320 killed in Myanmar military's crackdowns on protests, group says
Earlier Sunday, an estimated 3,000 people crossed the river dividing the two countries into Thailand’s Mae Hong Son province following two days of aerial attacks.
Video shot that day shows a group of villagers, including many young children, resting in a forest clearing inside Myanmar, having fled their homes. They carried their possessions in bundles and baskets.
In Sunday’s previous attacks, Myanmar military aircraft dropped bombs on a Karen guerrilla position in an area on the Salween River in Karen state’s Mutraw district, according to workers for two humanitarian relief agencies.
Two guerrillas were killed and many more were wounded in those attacks, said a member of the Free Burma Rangers.
Also read: Myanmar protests continue a day after more than 100 killed
On Saturday night, two Myanmar military planes twice bombed Deh Bu Noh village in Mutraw district, killing at least two villagers.
The attacks may have been retaliation for the Karen National Liberation Army, which is fighting for greater autonomy for the Karen people, attacking and capturing a government military outpost on Saturday morning.
According to Thoolei News, an online site that carries official information from the KNU, eight government soldiers including a second lieutenant were captured in the attack and 10 were killed, including a lieutenant colonel who was a deputy battalion commander. The report said one Karen guerrilla had been killed.
The tension at the frontier comes as the leaders of the resistance to last month’s coup that toppled Myanmar’s elected government are seeking to have the Karen and other ethnic groups band together and join them as allies, which would add an armed element to their struggle.
The airstrikes mark an escalation in the increasingly violent crackdown by the Myanmar government against opponents of the Feb. 1 military takeover.
At least 114 people across the country were killed by security forces on Saturday alone, including several children — a toll that has prompted a U.N. human rights expert to accuse the junta of committing “mass murder” and to criticize the international community for not doing enough to stop it.
Also read: Myanmar crackdown: UN chief demands firm, unified and resolute international response
The Security Council is likely to hold closed consultations on the escalating situation in Myanmar, U.N. diplomats said Sunday, speaking on condition of anonymity ahead of an official announcement. The council has condemned the violence and called for a restoration of democracy, but has not yet considered possible sanctions against the military, which would require support or an abstention by Myanmar’s neighbor and friend China.
The coup, which ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government, reversed years of progress toward democracy after five decades of military rule. It has again made Myanmar the focus of international scrutiny as security forces have repeatedly fired into crowds of protesters.
As of Sunday, at least 459 people have been killed since the takeover, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, which has tallied deaths it was able to verify. The true toll is thought to be higher.
Funerals become scenes of Myanmar resistance, more violence
Myanmar security forces opened fire Sunday on a crowd attending the funeral of student who was killed on the bloodiest day yet of a crackdown on protests against last month’s coup, local media reported.
The escalating violence — which took the lives of at least 114 people Saturday, including several children — has prompted a U.N. human rights expert to accuse the junta of committing “mass murder” and to criticize the international community for not doing enough to stop it.
The Security Council is likely to hold closed consultations on the escalating situation in Myanmar, U.N. diplomats said Sunday, speaking on condition of anonymity ahead of an official announcement. The council has condemned the violence and called for a restoration of democracy, but has not yet considered possible sanctions against the military, which would require support or an abstention by Myanmar’s neighbor and friend China.
The mounting death tolls have not stopped the demonstrations against the Feb. 1 takeover — or the violent response of the military and police to them. Myanmar Now reported that the junta’s troops shot at mourners at the funeral in the city of Bago for Thae Maung Maung, a 20-year-old killed on Saturday. He was reportedly a member of the All Burma Federation of Student Union, which has a long history of supporting pro-democracy movements in the country.
Also read: Myanmar crackdown: UN chief demands firm, unified and resolute international response
According to the report, several people attending the funeral were arrested. It did not say if anyone was hurt or killed. But at least nine people were killed elsewhere Sunday as the crackdown continued, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, which has been documenting deaths during demonstrations against the coup.
Some of the funerals held Sunday became themselves opportunities to demonstrate resistance to the junta.
At one in Bhamo in the northern state of Kachin, a large crowd chanted democracy slogans and raised the three-finger salute that has come to symbolize defiance of the takeover. Family and friends were paying their respects to Shwe Myint, a 36-year-old who was shot dead by security forces on Saturday.
The military had initially seized her body and refused to return it until her family signed a statement that her death was not caused by them, according to the Democratic Voice of Burma, a broadcast and online news service.
In Yangon, the country’s largest city, meanwhile, mourners flashed the three-finger salute as they wheeled the coffin of a 13-year-old boy. Sai Wai Yan was shot dead by security forces as he played outside his home.
The Feb. 1 coup that ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government reversed years of progress toward democracy after five decades of military rule. It has again made Myanmar the focus of international scrutiny as security forces have repeatedly fired into crowds of protesters. At least 459 people have been killed since the takeover, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. The crackdown extends beyond the demonstrations: Humanitarian workers reported that the military had carried out airstrikes Sunday against guerilla fighters in the eastern part of the country.
Henrietta Fore, head of the U.N. children’s agency UNICEF, said in Saturday’s bloodiest day since the coup “an 11-year-old boy, an 11-year-old girl, two 13-year-old boys, a 13-year-old girl, three 16-year-old boys and two 17-year-old boys, (were) all reportedly shot and killed.” She said “a 1-year-old baby girl gravely injured after being struck in the eye with a rubber bullet.”
“In less than two months, at least 35 children have allegedly been killed, countless others seriously injured and almost 1,000 children and young people reported arbitrarily detained by security forces across the country” she said, condemning the indiscriminate killings and demanding that those responsible be held accountable.
The junta has accused some of the demonstrators of perpetrating the violence because of their sporadic use of Molotov cocktails and has said its use of force has been justified to stop what it has called rioting. While protesters have occasionally hurled firecrackers at troops and on Saturday carried bows and arrows, they remain vastly outgunned and have shown commitment to methods of nonviolent civil disobedience.
Saturday’s death toll far exceeded the previous single-day high that ranged from 74 to 90 on March 14. The killings happened throughout the country as Myanmar’s military celebrated the annual Armed Forces Day holiday with a parade in the country’s capital, Naypyitaw.
“Today the junta of Myanmar has made Armed Forces Day a day of infamy with the massacre of men, women and very young children throughout country,” said Tom Andrews, the U.N.’s independent expert on human rights for Myanmar. “Words of condemnation or concern are frankly ringing hollow to the people of Myanmar while the military junta commits mass murder against them. ... It is past time for robust, coordinated action.”
Also read: Myanmar protests continue a day after more than 100 killed
Those calls were echoed by others. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was shocked by the killings of civilians, including children, and a group of defense chiefs from 12 countries also condemned the violence.
U.N. Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, Alice Wairimu Nderitu, and U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, said: “The shameful, cowardly, brutal actions of the military and police – who have been filmed shooting at protesters as they flee, and who have not even spared young children – must be halted immediately.”
President Joe Biden told reporters: “It’s terrible. It’s absolutely outrageous. Based on the reporting I’ve gotten, an awful lot of people have been killed. Totally unnecessary.” Biden said his administration is working on a response but offered no details.
It’s still not clear what action is possible — or how quick it could be. The U.N. Security Council has not advocated concerted action against the junta, such as a ban on selling it arms. China and Russia are both major arms suppliers to Myanmar’s military as well as politically sympathetic.
If the Security Council isn’t able to do anything, Andrews called for an emergency international summit. Human rights group Amnesty International also criticized the hesitancy to do more.
“U.N. Security Council member states’ continued refusal to meaningfully act against this never-ending horror is contemptible,” said Ming Yu Hah, the organization’s deputy regional director for campaigns.
In the meantime, protesters have continued to rally in Myanmar’s streets. In one demonstration in Yangon on Sunday, a small group made its way through a residential area that the day before had seen chaos with police shooting at demonstrators and the protesters responding with fireworks and Molotov cocktails. The march finished without incident.
In addition to unleashing violence against demonstrators, the military is also continuing to battle ethnic Karen fighters in the country’s east. About 3,000 villagers from territory controlled by the Karen fled across the border to Thailand on Sunday after Myanmar military aircraft dropped bombs on a Karen guerrilla position, said workers for two humanitarian relief agencies.
The Karen National Union is one of more than a dozen ethnic organizations that have been fighting for decades to gain more autonomy from Myanmar’s central government.
The tension at the border comes as the leaders of the resistance to the coup are seeking to have the Karen and other ethnic groups join them as allies. So far the ethnic armed groups have only committed to providing protection to protesters in areas they control.
Myanmar protests continue a day after more than 100 killed
Protesters in Myanmar returned to the streets Sunday to press their demands for a return to democracy, just a day after security forces killed more than 100 people in the bloodiest day since last month's military coup.
Protests were held in Yangon and Mandalay, the country’s two biggest cities, as well as elsewhere. Some of the demonstrations were again met with police force.
At least 114 people were killed Saturday as security forces cracked down on protests against the Feb. 1 coup that ousted Aung San Suu Kyi's elected government, according to the online news service Myanmar Now. The reported fatalities included several children under 16 years old.
Also read: 93 killed in one of deadliest days since Myanmar coup
Similar tallies of the death toll were issued by other Myanmar media and researchers, far exceeding the previous highest death toll on March 14. The number of killings since the coup is now more than 420, according to multiple counts.
The coup reversed years of progress toward democracy after five decades of military rule and has again made Myanmar the focus of international scrutiny.
The Saturday killings by police and soldiers took place throughout the country as Myanmar’s military celebrated the annual Armed Forces Day holiday with a parade in the country’s capital, Naypyitaw.
The bloodshed quickly drew international condemnation, both from diplomatic missions within Myanmar and from abroad.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was shocked by the killings of civilians, including children.
“The continuing military crackdown is unacceptable and demands a firm, unified & resolute international response,” he wrote on Twitter.
Also read: 320 killed in Myanmar military's crackdowns on protests, group says
In the United States, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a tweet that his country was “horrified by the bloodshed perpetrated by Burmese security forces, showing that the junta will sacrifice the lives of the people to serve the few.”
The military chiefs of 12 nations issued a joint statement condemning the use of force against unarmed people.
“A professional military follows international standards for conduct and is responsible for protecting — not harming — the people it serves,” it said. “We urge the Myanmar Armed Forces to cease violence and work to restore respect and credibility with the people of Myanmar that it has lost through its actions.
The statement was issued by the defense chiefs of Australia, Canada, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Denmark, the Netherlands, New Zealand, South Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The human rights group Amnesty International revived criticism that the international community was not doing enough to end the state violence in Myanmar.
“U.N. Security Council member states’ continued refusal to meaningfully act against this never-ending horror is contemptible,” said Ming Yu Hah, the organization’s deputy regional director for campaigns.
Also read: Myanmar crackdown: UN chief demands firm, unified and resolute international response
The Security Council has condemned the violence but not advocated concerted action against the junta, such as a ban on selling it arms. China and Russia are both major arms suppliers to Myanmar’s military as well as politically sympathetic, and as members of the council would almost certainly veto any such move.
In recent days the junta has portrayed the demonstrators as the ones perpetrating violence for their sporadic use of Molotov cocktails. On Saturday, some protesters in Yangon were seen carrying bows and arrows. It has said its use of force has been justified to stop what it has called rioting.
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