Thousands protest in Myanmar to denounce coup, demand Suu Kyi's release
Issued on: 06/02/2021 -
Text by: NEWS WIRES
Thousands of people took to the streets of Yangon on Saturday to denounce this week's coup and demand the release of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi, in the first such demonstration since the generals seized power.
"Military dictator, fail, fail; Democracy, win, win," protesters chanted, calling for the military to free Nobel Peace laureate Suu Kyi and other leaders of her National League for Democracy (NLD) who have been detained since the coup on Monday.
"Against military dictatorship" read the banner at the front of the march. Many protesters dressed in the NLD's red colour and some carried red flags.
Myanmar's junta has tried to silence dissent by temporarily blocking Facebook and extended the social media crackdown to Twitter and Instagram on Saturday in the face of the growing protest movement.
Authorities ordered internet providers to deny access to Twitter and Instagram "until further notice", said Norwegian mobile phone company Telenor Asa.
Demand for VPNs has soared in Myanmar, allowing some people to evade the ban, but users reported more general disruption to mobile data services, which most people in the country of 53 million rely on for news and communications.
"We lost freedom, justice and urgently need democracy," wrote one Twitter user. "Please hear the voice of Myanmar."
Army chief Min Aung Hlaing seized power alleging fraud in a Nov. 8 election that the NLD won in a landslide. The electoral commission dismissed the army's accusations.
The junta announced a one-year state of emergency and has promised to hand over power after new elections, without giving a timeframe.
The takeover drew international condemnation with a United Nations Security Council call for the release of all detainees and targeted sanctions under consideration by Washington.
Suu Kyi, 75, has not been seen in public since the coup. She spent some 15 years under house arrest during a struggle against previous juntas before the troubled democratic transition began in 2011.
The lawyer for Suu Kyi and ousted President Win Myint said they were being held in their homes and that he was unable to meet them because they were still being questioned. Suu Kyi faces charges of importing six walkie-talkies illegally while Win Myint is accused of flouting coronavirus restrictions.
"Of course, we want unconditional release as they have not broken the law," said Khin Maung Zaw, the veteran lawyer who is representing both of them.
Sean Turnell, an Australian economic adviser to Suu Kyi, said in message to Reuters on Saturday he was being detained.
"I guess you will soon hear of it, but I am being detained," he said. "Being charged with something, but not sure what. I am fine and strong, and not guilty of anything," he said, with a smile emoji.
It was not subsequently possible to contact him.
Saturday's protest is the first sign of street unrest in a country with a history of bloody crackdowns on protesters. There were also anti-coup protests in Melbourne, Australia, and the Taiwanese capital Taipei on Saturday.
A civil disobedience movement has been building in Myanmar all week, with doctors and teachers among those refusing to work, and every night people bang pots and pans in a show of anger.
In addition to about 150 arrests in the wake of the coup reported by human rights groups, local media said around 30 people have been detained over the noise protests.
Protests break out in Myanmar in defiance of military coup
Pro-democracy protests broke out in Myanmar's largest city on Saturday, with thousands of people taking to the streets of Yangon in the first major organized demonstration since the military seized power in a coup earlier this week
Issued on: 06/02/2021 -
Protesters hold up the three finger salute during a demonstration against the military coup in Yangon on February 6, 2021. AFP - STR
Text by: NEWS WIRES
Thousands of people took to the streets of Yangon on Saturday to denounce this week's coup and demand the release of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi, in the first such demonstration since the generals seized power.
"Military dictator, fail, fail; Democracy, win, win," protesters chanted, calling for the military to free Nobel Peace laureate Suu Kyi and other leaders of her National League for Democracy (NLD) who have been detained since the coup on Monday.
"Against military dictatorship" read the banner at the front of the march. Many protesters dressed in the NLD's red colour and some carried red flags.
Myanmar's junta has tried to silence dissent by temporarily blocking Facebook and extended the social media crackdown to Twitter and Instagram on Saturday in the face of the growing protest movement.
Authorities ordered internet providers to deny access to Twitter and Instagram "until further notice", said Norwegian mobile phone company Telenor Asa.
Demand for VPNs has soared in Myanmar, allowing some people to evade the ban, but users reported more general disruption to mobile data services, which most people in the country of 53 million rely on for news and communications.
"We lost freedom, justice and urgently need democracy," wrote one Twitter user. "Please hear the voice of Myanmar."
Army chief Min Aung Hlaing seized power alleging fraud in a Nov. 8 election that the NLD won in a landslide. The electoral commission dismissed the army's accusations.
The junta announced a one-year state of emergency and has promised to hand over power after new elections, without giving a timeframe.
The takeover drew international condemnation with a United Nations Security Council call for the release of all detainees and targeted sanctions under consideration by Washington.
Suu Kyi, 75, has not been seen in public since the coup. She spent some 15 years under house arrest during a struggle against previous juntas before the troubled democratic transition began in 2011.
The lawyer for Suu Kyi and ousted President Win Myint said they were being held in their homes and that he was unable to meet them because they were still being questioned. Suu Kyi faces charges of importing six walkie-talkies illegally while Win Myint is accused of flouting coronavirus restrictions.
"Of course, we want unconditional release as they have not broken the law," said Khin Maung Zaw, the veteran lawyer who is representing both of them.
Sean Turnell, an Australian economic adviser to Suu Kyi, said in message to Reuters on Saturday he was being detained.
"I guess you will soon hear of it, but I am being detained," he said. "Being charged with something, but not sure what. I am fine and strong, and not guilty of anything," he said, with a smile emoji.
It was not subsequently possible to contact him.
Saturday's protest is the first sign of street unrest in a country with a history of bloody crackdowns on protesters. There were also anti-coup protests in Melbourne, Australia, and the Taiwanese capital Taipei on Saturday.
A civil disobedience movement has been building in Myanmar all week, with doctors and teachers among those refusing to work, and every night people bang pots and pans in a show of anger.
In addition to about 150 arrests in the wake of the coup reported by human rights groups, local media said around 30 people have been detained over the noise protests.
International pressure
The United States is considering targeted sanctions on individuals and on entities controlled by Myanmar's military.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken pressed top Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi in a phone call on Friday to condemn the coup, the State Department said.
China, which has close links to Myanmar's military, joined the consensus on the Security Council statement but has not condemned the army takeover and has said countries should act in the interests of the stability of its neighbour Myanmar.
U.N. Myanmar envoy Christine Schraner Burgener strongly condemned the coup in a call with Myanmar's deputy military chief Soe Win, and called for the immediate release of all those detained, a U.N. spokesman said.
The generals have few overseas interests that would be vulnerable to international sanctions, but the military's extensive business investments could suffer if foreign partners leave - as Japanese drinks company Kirin Holdings said it would on Friday.
Telenor, another company attracted to invest by Myanmar's decade of opening, said it was legally obliged to follow the order to block some social media, but "highlighted the directive’s contradiction with international human rights law."
U.S. based pressure group Human Rights Watch called for the lifting of the internet restrictions, the release of detainees and an end to threats against journalists.
"A news and information blackout by the coup leaders can’t hide their politically motivated arrests and other abuses," said Asia director Brad Adams.
(REUTERS)
The United States is considering targeted sanctions on individuals and on entities controlled by Myanmar's military.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken pressed top Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi in a phone call on Friday to condemn the coup, the State Department said.
China, which has close links to Myanmar's military, joined the consensus on the Security Council statement but has not condemned the army takeover and has said countries should act in the interests of the stability of its neighbour Myanmar.
U.N. Myanmar envoy Christine Schraner Burgener strongly condemned the coup in a call with Myanmar's deputy military chief Soe Win, and called for the immediate release of all those detained, a U.N. spokesman said.
The generals have few overseas interests that would be vulnerable to international sanctions, but the military's extensive business investments could suffer if foreign partners leave - as Japanese drinks company Kirin Holdings said it would on Friday.
Telenor, another company attracted to invest by Myanmar's decade of opening, said it was legally obliged to follow the order to block some social media, but "highlighted the directive’s contradiction with international human rights law."
U.S. based pressure group Human Rights Watch called for the lifting of the internet restrictions, the release of detainees and an end to threats against journalists.
"A news and information blackout by the coup leaders can’t hide their politically motivated arrests and other abuses," said Asia director Brad Adams.
(REUTERS)
Myanmar broadens social media crackdown as anti-coup protests grow
Issued on: 06/02/2021 -
Issued on: 06/02/2021 -
Anger has grown in Myanmar since the coup that overthrew
the country's civilian leaders this week YE AUNG THU AFP
Yangon (AFP)
Myanmar's military rulers have broadened a crackdown on social media in a bid to stifle growing signs of popular dissent, as a UN envoy made direct contact with the new regime to pressure it into reversing this week's coup.
Twitter confirmed on Saturday it had become the latest platform blocked by the junta, following a surge of new users seeking to circumvent blocks on Facebook and other internet domains.
The move "undermines the public conversation and the rights of people to make their voices heard," a Twitter spokesperson told AFP.
The dawn arrests of de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other senior leaders this week brought a sudden halt to Myanmar's brief 10-year experiment with democracy, and catalysed an outpouring of fury that has migrated from social media to the streets.
Online calls to protest the army takeover have prompted increasingly bold displays of defiance against the new regime including the nightly deafening clamour of people around the country banging pots and pans -- a practice traditionally associated with driving out evil.
Friday saw one of the largest concentrated shows of public dissent within the country so far from around 200 teachers and university students.
The group sang a popular revolutionary song and displayed the three-finger salute borrowed from Thailand's democracy movements, mirroring similar rallies elsewhere in the country.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said a special envoy to the country had made "first contact" with Myanmar's deputy military commander to urge the junta to relinquish power to the civilian government it toppled.
"We will do everything we can to make the international community united in making sure that conditions are created for this coup to be reversed," he told reporters on Friday.
State media in Myanmar reported Saturday that junta figures had spoken with diplomats the previous day to respond to an international outcry and asked them to work with the new leaders.
"The Government understand the concerns of the international community on the continuation of Myanmar's democratic transition process," International Cooperation Minister Ko Ko Hlaing said in the meeting, according to the report.
- 'Freedom from fear' -
As protests gathered steam this week, the junta ordered telecom networks to freeze users out of access to Facebook, an extremely popular service in the country and arguably its main mode of communication.
The platform had hosted a rapidly growing "Civil Disobedience Movement" forum that had inspired civil servants, healthcare professionals, and teachers to show their dissent by boycotting their jobs in civil service and hospitals.
The military widened its efforts to stifle dissent on Friday when it demanded new blocks on other social media services.
Norway-based Telenor said its local phone company had been instructed to cut access to the platform late on Friday, adding it had "challenged the necessity" of the directive.
An apparent ministry document ordering the blockade -- seen by AFP but not verified -- said Twitter and Instagram were being used to "cause misunderstanding among the public".
Some internet-savvy users have managed to circumvent the social media block by using VPN services.
By Saturday morning, trending hashtags like #WeNeedDemocracy, #HeartheVoiceofMyanmar and "Freedom from fear" -- the latter a famed Suu Kyi quote -- had millions of mentions.
An immensely popular figure despite a tarnished reputation in the West, Suu Kyi has not been seen in public since the coup, but a party spokesman said Friday she was under house arrest and "in good health".
Japanese beer giant Kirin -- long under scrutiny over its ties to Myanmar's army-owned breweries -- said Friday it was terminating a joint venture with a military-owned conglomerate.
Yangon (AFP)
Myanmar's military rulers have broadened a crackdown on social media in a bid to stifle growing signs of popular dissent, as a UN envoy made direct contact with the new regime to pressure it into reversing this week's coup.
Twitter confirmed on Saturday it had become the latest platform blocked by the junta, following a surge of new users seeking to circumvent blocks on Facebook and other internet domains.
The move "undermines the public conversation and the rights of people to make their voices heard," a Twitter spokesperson told AFP.
The dawn arrests of de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other senior leaders this week brought a sudden halt to Myanmar's brief 10-year experiment with democracy, and catalysed an outpouring of fury that has migrated from social media to the streets.
Online calls to protest the army takeover have prompted increasingly bold displays of defiance against the new regime including the nightly deafening clamour of people around the country banging pots and pans -- a practice traditionally associated with driving out evil.
Friday saw one of the largest concentrated shows of public dissent within the country so far from around 200 teachers and university students.
The group sang a popular revolutionary song and displayed the three-finger salute borrowed from Thailand's democracy movements, mirroring similar rallies elsewhere in the country.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said a special envoy to the country had made "first contact" with Myanmar's deputy military commander to urge the junta to relinquish power to the civilian government it toppled.
"We will do everything we can to make the international community united in making sure that conditions are created for this coup to be reversed," he told reporters on Friday.
State media in Myanmar reported Saturday that junta figures had spoken with diplomats the previous day to respond to an international outcry and asked them to work with the new leaders.
"The Government understand the concerns of the international community on the continuation of Myanmar's democratic transition process," International Cooperation Minister Ko Ko Hlaing said in the meeting, according to the report.
- 'Freedom from fear' -
As protests gathered steam this week, the junta ordered telecom networks to freeze users out of access to Facebook, an extremely popular service in the country and arguably its main mode of communication.
The platform had hosted a rapidly growing "Civil Disobedience Movement" forum that had inspired civil servants, healthcare professionals, and teachers to show their dissent by boycotting their jobs in civil service and hospitals.
The military widened its efforts to stifle dissent on Friday when it demanded new blocks on other social media services.
Norway-based Telenor said its local phone company had been instructed to cut access to the platform late on Friday, adding it had "challenged the necessity" of the directive.
An apparent ministry document ordering the blockade -- seen by AFP but not verified -- said Twitter and Instagram were being used to "cause misunderstanding among the public".
Some internet-savvy users have managed to circumvent the social media block by using VPN services.
By Saturday morning, trending hashtags like #WeNeedDemocracy, #HeartheVoiceofMyanmar and "Freedom from fear" -- the latter a famed Suu Kyi quote -- had millions of mentions.
An immensely popular figure despite a tarnished reputation in the West, Suu Kyi has not been seen in public since the coup, but a party spokesman said Friday she was under house arrest and "in good health".
Japanese beer giant Kirin -- long under scrutiny over its ties to Myanmar's army-owned breweries -- said Friday it was terminating a joint venture with a military-owned conglomerate.
Protests break out in Myanmar in defiance of military coup
Pro-democracy protests broke out in Myanmar's largest city on Saturday, with thousands of people taking to the streets of Yangon in the first major organized demonstration since the military seized power in a coup earlier this week
.
© STR/AFP/Getty Images
Protesters hold up the three finger salute during a demonstration in Yangon on February 6.
The crowd, many of whom could be seen waiving flags and holding banners, called for the military to release recently deposed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and other democratically-elected lawmakers, who were detained in pre-dawn raids Monday.
Chants of "We demand democracy" could be heard coming from the crowd as they marched close to downtown Yangon, prompting the government to impose an internet blackout.
Dozens of police, some in riot gear, had initially attempted to block the protest route, forcing the crowd to change direction.
During the earlier large-scale march, passers-by could be seen giving the three-finger salute of opposition to army rule, in apparent solidarity with those demonstrating. Others were seen applauding and handing out water to both protesters and police in what one witness described as a way of defusing tension.
The crowd, many of whom could be seen waiving flags and holding banners, called for the military to release recently deposed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and other democratically-elected lawmakers, who were detained in pre-dawn raids Monday.
Chants of "We demand democracy" could be heard coming from the crowd as they marched close to downtown Yangon, prompting the government to impose an internet blackout.
Dozens of police, some in riot gear, had initially attempted to block the protest route, forcing the crowd to change direction.
During the earlier large-scale march, passers-by could be seen giving the three-finger salute of opposition to army rule, in apparent solidarity with those demonstrating. Others were seen applauding and handing out water to both protesters and police in what one witness described as a way of defusing tension.
© Lynn Bo Bp/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock Protesters in Yangon Myanmar, on February 6.
Witnesses described the crowd as expanding in size, before appearing to disperse after several hours. But a number of smaller, scattered protests remained ongoing including one at Yangon University, where several hundred mostly young people gathered and continued to chant.
Witnesses described the crowd as expanding in size, before appearing to disperse after several hours. But a number of smaller, scattered protests remained ongoing including one at Yangon University, where several hundred mostly young people gathered and continued to chant.
© Lynn Bo Bp/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Protesters flash the three-finger salute during a demonstration
against the military coup in Yangon, Myanmar, February 6.
Resistance to the coup had initially proved limited, due in part to widespread communications difficulties, as well as fears of a further crackdown.
Internet monitoring service NetBlocks said Saturday that the country was in the midst of a second "national-scale" internet blackout as the military attempted to secure its grip on power.
According to NetBlocks, real-time network data showed connectivity had fallen to 54% of ordinary levels and users had reported difficultly getting online.
The Myanmar Ministry of Transport and Communications (MoTC) ordered the nationwide shutdown of the data network on Saturday, according to Norwegian telecommunications company Telenor Group, which runs Telenor Myanmar.
The group, writing on Twitter, said the ministry cited "Myanmar's Telecommunication Law, and references circulation of fake news, stability of the nation and interest of the public as basis for the order."
While voice calls and SMS remain operational, Telenor Group said it was deeply concerned by the internet shutdown, but said Telenor Myanmar is a local company and is therefore "bound by local law and needs to handle this irregular and difficult situation."
"We deeply regret the impact the shutdown has on the people in Myanmar," Telenor said.
Witnesses told CNN that internet connection has been intermittent on Saturday, though some people were still able to stream video from the march in Yangon on social media platforms.
The fall in connectivity follows moves to block access to social media platforms Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, as well as a number of prominent local news outlets.
Sudden seizure of power
For more than 50 years, Myanmar -- also known as Burma -- was run by successive isolationist military regimes that plunged the country into poverty and brutally stifled any dissent. Thousands of critics, activists, journalists, academics and artists were routinely jailed and tortured during that time.
Recently deposed civilian leader Suu Kyi shot to international prominence during her decades-long struggle against military rule. When her party, the NLD, won a landslide in elections in 2015 and formed the first civilian government, many pro-democracy supporters hoped it would mark a break from the military rule of the past and offer hope that Myanmar would continue to reform.
The NLD was widely reported to have won another decisive victory in a November 2020 general election, giving it another five years in power and dashing hopes for some military figures that an opposition party they had backed might take power democratically.
The sudden seizure of power came as the new parliament was due to open and after months of increasing friction between the civilian government and the powerful military, known as the Tatmadaw, over alleged election irregularities. The country's election commission has repeatedly denied mass voter fraud took place.
Hundreds of NLD lawmakers were detained in the capital Naypyitaw Monday, where they had traveled to take up their seats. The junta has since removed 24 ministers and deputies from government and named 11 of its own allies as replacements who will assume their roles in a new administration.
Analysts have suggested the coup was more likely to do with the military attempting to reassert its power and the personal ambition of army chief Min Aung Hlaing, who was set to step down this year, rather than serious claims of voter fraud.
"Facing mandatory retirement in a few months, with no route to a civilian leadership role, and amid global calls for him to face criminal charges in The Hague, he was cornered," Jared Genser, an international human rights lawyer who previously served as pro bono counsel to Suu Kyi, wrote for CNN this week.
Monday's coup has been widely condemned internationally, with the United States calling on Myanmar's military leaders to "immediately relinquish the power they have seized, release the activists and officials they have detained, lift all telecommunications restrictions, and refrain from violence against civilians."
Resistance to the coup had initially proved limited, due in part to widespread communications difficulties, as well as fears of a further crackdown.
Internet monitoring service NetBlocks said Saturday that the country was in the midst of a second "national-scale" internet blackout as the military attempted to secure its grip on power.
According to NetBlocks, real-time network data showed connectivity had fallen to 54% of ordinary levels and users had reported difficultly getting online.
The Myanmar Ministry of Transport and Communications (MoTC) ordered the nationwide shutdown of the data network on Saturday, according to Norwegian telecommunications company Telenor Group, which runs Telenor Myanmar.
The group, writing on Twitter, said the ministry cited "Myanmar's Telecommunication Law, and references circulation of fake news, stability of the nation and interest of the public as basis for the order."
While voice calls and SMS remain operational, Telenor Group said it was deeply concerned by the internet shutdown, but said Telenor Myanmar is a local company and is therefore "bound by local law and needs to handle this irregular and difficult situation."
"We deeply regret the impact the shutdown has on the people in Myanmar," Telenor said.
Witnesses told CNN that internet connection has been intermittent on Saturday, though some people were still able to stream video from the march in Yangon on social media platforms.
The fall in connectivity follows moves to block access to social media platforms Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, as well as a number of prominent local news outlets.
Sudden seizure of power
For more than 50 years, Myanmar -- also known as Burma -- was run by successive isolationist military regimes that plunged the country into poverty and brutally stifled any dissent. Thousands of critics, activists, journalists, academics and artists were routinely jailed and tortured during that time.
Recently deposed civilian leader Suu Kyi shot to international prominence during her decades-long struggle against military rule. When her party, the NLD, won a landslide in elections in 2015 and formed the first civilian government, many pro-democracy supporters hoped it would mark a break from the military rule of the past and offer hope that Myanmar would continue to reform.
The NLD was widely reported to have won another decisive victory in a November 2020 general election, giving it another five years in power and dashing hopes for some military figures that an opposition party they had backed might take power democratically.
The sudden seizure of power came as the new parliament was due to open and after months of increasing friction between the civilian government and the powerful military, known as the Tatmadaw, over alleged election irregularities. The country's election commission has repeatedly denied mass voter fraud took place.
Hundreds of NLD lawmakers were detained in the capital Naypyitaw Monday, where they had traveled to take up their seats. The junta has since removed 24 ministers and deputies from government and named 11 of its own allies as replacements who will assume their roles in a new administration.
Analysts have suggested the coup was more likely to do with the military attempting to reassert its power and the personal ambition of army chief Min Aung Hlaing, who was set to step down this year, rather than serious claims of voter fraud.
"Facing mandatory retirement in a few months, with no route to a civilian leadership role, and amid global calls for him to face criminal charges in The Hague, he was cornered," Jared Genser, an international human rights lawyer who previously served as pro bono counsel to Suu Kyi, wrote for CNN this week.
Monday's coup has been widely condemned internationally, with the United States calling on Myanmar's military leaders to "immediately relinquish the power they have seized, release the activists and officials they have detained, lift all telecommunications restrictions, and refrain from violence against civilians."
No comments:
Post a Comment