The civilian leader of Myanmar’s government in hiding on Saturday vowed to continue supporting a “revolution” to oust the military that seized power in last month’s coup, as security forces again met protesters with lethal forces, killing at least seven people.
Mahn Win Khaing Than, who was named the acting vice president by Myanmar’s ousted lawmakers and is a member of deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party, addressed the public for the first time since the Feb. 1 military takeover.
“This is the darkest moment of the nation and the moment that the dawn is close,” he said in a video posted on the shadow government’s Web site and social media.
Photo: AFP
“In order to form a federal democracy, which all ethnic brothers who have been suffering various kinds of oppressions from the dictatorship for decades really desired, this revolution is the chance for us to put our efforts together,” he said.
“We will never give up to an unjust military, but we will carve our future together with our united power. Our mission must be accomplished, he added.
At the end of the message he flashed a three-finger salute, which has become a symbol of resistance to the military rule.
Earlier on Saturday, security forces opened fire at demonstrators, killing four in Mandalay, the second-biggest city, two in Pyay in southcentral Myanmar, and one in Twante, a suburb of the capital, Naypyidaw.
Details of all seven deaths were posted on multiple social media accounts, some accompanied by photos of the victims.
The actual death toll is likely to be higher, as police apparently seized some bodies, and some of the victims suffered serious gunshot wounds that doctors and nurses working at makeshift clinics would be hard-pressed to treat. Many hospitals are occupied by security forces, and as a result are boycotted by medical personnel and shunned by protesters.
Independent UN human rights expert for Myanmar Tom Andrews last week said that credible reports indicated that at least 70 people had died so far, and cited growing evidence of crimes against humanity by the military.
Other unofficial, but carefully compiled tallies, put the number of deaths since the coup at about 90.
Saturday’s killings did not faze demonstrators in Naypyidaw, where they crowded a downtown commercial area past the official 8pm curfew to hold a mass candlelight vigil and sing about their cause. The mostly young protesters rallied at an intersection where they usually gather for daytime protests.
After-dark rallies were also held in Mandalay and elsewhere.
Reports on social media also said three people were shot dead Friday night in Naypyidaw, where residents for the past week have been defying the curfew to come out onto the streets.
The nighttime protests might reflect a more aggressive approach to self-defense that has been advocated by some protesters.
Police had been aggressively patrolling residential neighborhoods at night, firing into the air and setting off stun grenades as part of intimidation.
They have also been carrying out targeted raids, taking people from their homes with minimal resistance. In at least two known cases, the detainees died in custody within hours of being hauled away.
Another possible indication of heightened resistance emerged on Saturday with photographs posted online of a railway bridge said to have been damaged by an explosive charge.
The bridge was described as connecting the rail line from Mandalay to Myitkyina, the capital of the northern state of Kachin. The images show damage to part of a concrete support.
No one took responsibility for the action, which could be seen as support for the nationwide strike of state railway workers, part of the civil disobedience movement against the coup.
RARE EVENT: While some cultures have a negative view of eclipses, others see them as a chance to show how people can work together, a scientist said Stargazers across a swathe of the world marveled at a dramatic red “Blood Moon” during a rare total lunar eclipse in the early hours of yesterday morning. The celestial spectacle was visible in the Americas and Pacific and Atlantic oceans, as well as in the westernmost parts of Europe and Africa. The phenomenon happens when the sun, Earth and moon line up, causing our planet to cast a giant shadow across its satellite. But as the Earth’s shadow crept across the moon, it did not entirely blot out its white glow — instead the moon glowed a reddish color. This is because the
Romania’s electoral commission on Saturday excluded a second far-right hopeful, Diana Sosoaca, from May’s presidential election, amid rising tension in the run-up to the May rerun of the poll. Earlier this month, Romania’s Central Electoral Bureau barred Calin Georgescu, an independent who was polling at about 40 percent ahead of the rerun election. Georgescu, a fierce EU and NATO critic, shot to prominence in November last year when he unexpectedly topped a first round of presidential voting. However, Romania’s constitutional court annulled the election after claims of Russian interference and a “massive” social media promotion in his favor. On Saturday, an electoral commission statement
Chinese authorities increased pressure on CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd over its plan to sell its Panama ports stake by sharing a second newspaper commentary attacking the deal. The Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office on Saturday reposted a commentary originally published in Ta Kung Pao, saying the planned sale of the ports by the Hong Kong company had triggered deep concerns among Chinese people and questioned whether the deal was harming China and aiding evil. “Why were so many important ports transferred to ill-intentioned US forces so easily? What kind of political calculations are hidden in the so-called commercial behavior on the
MINERAL DEPOSITS: The Pacific nation is looking for new foreign partners after its agreement with Canada’s Metals Co was terminated ‘mutually’ at the end of last year Pacific nation Kiribati says it is exploring a deep-sea mining partnership with China, dangling access to a vast patch of Pacific Ocean harboring coveted metals and minerals. Beijing has been ramping up efforts to court Pacific nations sitting on lucrative seafloor deposits of cobalt, nickel and copper — recently inking a cooperation deal with Cook Islands. Kiribati opened discussions with Chinese Ambassador Zhou Limin (周立民) after a longstanding agreement with leading deep-sea mining outfit The Metals Co fell through. “The talk provides an exciting opportunity to explore potential collaboration for the sustainable exploration of the deep-ocean resources in Kiribati,” the government said
RSS