Burmese army suspended fundamental rights to step up crackdown on protesters

The Burmese military junta has eliminated basic rights to facilitate and increase the number of arrests and searches amid growing protests against the February 1 coup.

Authorities suspended Articles 5, 7 and 8 of the Law for the Protection of the Security and Privacy of Citizens, which requires an order to be able to detain and detain a person for more than 24 hours, among other legal guarantees, as reported by the military True News Unit.

From now on, The police and the army will also not need orders to carry out research, in addition to having carte blanche to interrupt citizens’ communications and request their data from Internet operators..

On the other hand, the military authorities require citizens to report overnight guests to their homes in order to more easily locate dissidents and supporters of protests.

Most Wanted

The council headed by General Min Aung Hlaing issued a list of seven of the country’s most prominent activists, that he actively seeks to promote the protests.

“If you find any of the fugitives mentioned or have any information about them, report to the nearest police station.A statement to state media said Sunday. “Those who harbor them will face measures according to the law.”

Since the movement’s inception, the military has arrested some 400 politicians, activists and members of civil society, including journalists, doctors and students.

The list of the seven “fugitives” includes Min Ko Naing, a figure in the 1988 student movement who spent more than ten years in prison for his role in the anti-dictatorship protests of the time. “They are detaining people at night and we have to be careful,” he said hours before the issuance of his arrest warrant, in a video posted on Facebook on Saturday, violating the Board’s ban to use the social network. “They could repress strongly and we will have to be prepared,” he added.

On Friday, authorities released 23,000 prisoners on Union Day with an amnesty, which is normally granted on certain days.

Since the military coup, at least 384 people have been arrested, of which 24 have been released, according to the latest report from the Association for the Assistance of Political Prisoners (AAPP).

Among those detained is the Nobel Peace Prize winner and the country’s de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, who has not been heard from since she was under house arrest on the day of the coup in the capital of the country, Naipyidó..

In addition to the streets, the mobilisations against the coup are also taking place on social networks, despite the military junta’s order to block Facebook and Twitter, which many travel thanks to VPN programs, which allow access to the Internet via servers located outside. the country.

Social networks are the element that most clearly distinguishes these mobilizations from the demonstrations against the military in 1988 and 2007, violently repressed by the army.

The military junta, led by General Min Aung Hlaing, justifies the seizure of power due to alleged electoral fraud in the elections last November in which the National League for Democracy, the party led by Suu Kyi, devastated , as it has already done. 2015.

Myanmar was ruled by various military councils between 1962 and 2011, when they gave way to a transition to a “disciplined democracy” in which military commanders assigned broad quotas of power and almost total autonomy.

(With information from EFE and AFP)

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