Tens of Thousands Protest Myanmar Coup Amid Internet Crash | Myanmar News

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Tens of thousands of people gathered again in Myanmar’s largest city, Yangon, denouncing this week’s military coup and demanding the release of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Protesters who marched in Yangon for a second day in a row on Sunday carried red balloons – the color of Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) – and chanted: “We don’t want a military dictatorship. ! We want democracy! “

They marched under the blazing sun in the middle of the road, waving NLD flags and giving the three-digit salute that has become a symbol of protest against the February 1 coup. Drivers honked their horns and passengers held up pictures of Aung San Suu Kyi.

“We will move forward and continue to demand until we have democracy. Down with the military dictatorship, ”protester Myo Win, 37, told AFP news agency.

Monk raises three-finger salute during protest against military coup in Yangon on February 7, 2021 [Ye Aung Thu/ AFP]

The scenes, posted on Facebook, were among the few to leave the country since Burmese military authorities shut down the internet and restricted phone lines on Saturday.

Netblocks, a UK-based service that tracks internet disruptions, said a “near-total internet shutdown” was in effect in Myanmar on Saturday afternoon, with connectivity dropping to just 16% of normal levels.

The blackout followed a military order to block Friday and Instagram after authorities said some people were trying to use the platforms to spread “fake news.” Facebook had already been blocked earlier in the week – but not completely.

The communication breakdown made the efforts to resist the coup more urgent. Saturday saw the biggest protests to date, with tens of thousands of people in cities across the country to condemn the coup that ended a 10-year experiment with democracy.

In Yangon, thousands of people – factory workers and students among them – marched on a main street on Saturday chanting: “Military dictator, fail, fail; Democracy, win, win ”.

Protests of similar size took place in at least two other parts of the city. At Yangon City Hall, protesters presented flowers to police, some of whom carried assault rifles.

Protester gives flowers to a riot police line during a protest against the military coup in Yangon on February 6, 2021 [Stringer/ AFP]
Demonstrators protest military coup and demand release of Aung San Suu Kyi in Yangon on February 6, 2021 [Stringer/Reuters]

Thousands more also took to the streets of Mandalay, Myanmar’s second city, and its army-built capital, Naypyidaw, home to the country’s government bureaucrats, where protesters chanted anti-coup slogans. State and called for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.

“# Myanmar army and police must ensure that the right to peaceful assembly is fully respected and that protesters are not subjected to reprisals,” the UN human rights office tweeted after the protests on Saturday.

Despite the large-scale deployment of riot police – backed up by water cannons – no major clashes were reported.

“We must all support the people of Myanmar”

With the Internet shutdown and the scarcity of official information, rumors have circulated about the fate of Aung San Suu Kyi and his cabinet. A story that she had been released, which drew huge crowds to the streets to celebrate Saturday night, was quickly quashed by her lawyer.

More than 160 people have been arrested since the military seized power in the early hours of Monday, said Thomas Andrews, the UN special rapporteur on Myanmar.

“The generals are now trying to cripple the citizen resistance movement – and keep the outside world in the dark – by cutting off virtually all Internet access,” Andrews said in a statement Sunday.

“We must all stand with the people of Myanmar in a time of danger and need. They deserve nothing less.

The civil disobedience movement has been building up in Myanmar all week, with doctors and teachers among those refusing to work. Every night people bang pots and pans in a show of anger.

Debbie Stothard, founder of the campaign group, ASEAN’s Alternative Network on Burma, told Al Jazeera that the protesters were “taking a huge risk” because the military had suppressed protests in the past with lethal force, killing thousands of people.

But people in Myanmar are “very angry,” Stothard said. “They know it’s more than the NLD and Aung San Suu Kyi. It is about their future. This army spoiled the wrong generation.

She added: “The military dictatorship is betting that there will be a lot of declarations, but no real action. It is time to target the military companies, because economic power is one of the forces that motivate the military to seize this power. “

As the civil disobedience movement gathered momentum over the weekend, the military ordered telecommunications networks to freeze access to social media platforms, which have been critical sources of independent news as well. as tools for organizing events.

In a statement, Twitter said it was “deeply concerned” by the blocking order and pledged to “advocate for an end to the destructive government-led closures.” Its spokesperson said the blockades “undermine public conversation and the right of people to have their voices heard.”

Facebook also urged the military to reverse its decision.

“At this critical time, the people of Myanmar need access to important information and to be able to communicate with their loved ones,” said Facebook’s public policy manager for emerging Asia-Pacific countries, Rafael Frankel, in a press release.

Amnesty International called the closure a “heinous and reckless decision” at a time when Myanmar faced the coup, years of civil conflict and the COVID-19 crisis.

Army chief Min Aung Hlaing seized power on February 1, accusing Aung San Suu Kyi and his party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), of failing to act on military complaints that the elections last November were marred by fraud. The election commission said it had found no evidence to support these claims.

The army announced a one-year state of emergency and promised to hand over power after new elections, without giving a deadline.

Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi has been accused of illegally importing six walkie-talkies, while retired President Win Myint is accused of flouting COVID-19 restrictions. Neither has been seen since the coup. Their lawyer said they were being held in their home.

Australian inmate

The coup sparked international outrage, with the United States considering sanctions against the generals and the UN Security Council calling for the release of all detainees.

It has also escalated tensions between the United States and China, which have close ties to the Myanmar military. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged top Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi in a phone call Friday to condemn the coup, the State Department said.

The generals have few foreign interests vulnerable to sanctions, but the military’s considerable business investment could suffer if foreign partners leave – as Japanese beverage company Kirin Holdings announced on Friday.

Separately, the Australian Foreign Minister’s office said in a statement on Saturday that the government was “deeply concerned at reports of the arbitrary detention of Australian and foreign nationals in Myanmar.”

The statement said the government was particularly concerned about an Australian who had been detained at a police station.

Reuters news agency identified him as Sean Turnell, an Australian economic adviser to Aung San Suu Kyi.

Aung San Suu Kyi spent 15 years under house arrest after leading pro-democracy protests against the long-ruling military government in 1988.

After sharing power with a civilian government, the military began democratic reforms in 2011. This led to the election of the NLD in a landslide victory four years later.

The November elections were aimed at consolidating a troubled democratic transition.



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