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YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – Protesters gathered across Myanmar again on Sunday, a day after security forces shot dead two people during a protest in the country’s second-largest city. A funeral was also held for a young woman killed earlier by police.
Mya Thwet Thwet Khine was the first confirmed death among thousands of people who took to the streets to protest the February 1 coup that overthrew the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. The woman was shot dead on February 9, two days before her 20th birthday, during a protest in the capital Nayptitaw, and died on Friday.
About 1,000 people in cars and bicycles gathered at the hospital on Sunday morning where his body was held in tight security, with even the victim’s grandparents who had traveled from Yangon at five a.m. drive, were refused entry. When his body was released, a long motorized procession began to proceed to the cemetery.
In Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city, around 1,000 protesters honored the woman under an elevated causeway.
“I mean through the media to the dictator and his associates that we are peaceful protesters,” protester Min Htet Naing said. “Stop the genocide! Stop using deadly weapons! “
Another large protest took place in Mandalay, where police on Saturday shot dead two people near a shipyard as security forces tried to force workers to load a boat. Workers, such as railway and truck drivers and many government officials, participated in a campaign of civil disobedience against the junta.
Gunfire erupted after residents of the neighborhood rushed to the Yadanabon wharf to try to help the workers in their resistance. One of the victims, described as a teenager, was shot in the head and died immediately, while another was shot in the chest and died en route to a hospital.
Several other serious injuries were also reported. Testimonies and photos of bullet casings indicated that security forces used live ammunition, in addition to rubber bullets, water cannons and slingshots.
The new deaths prompted a swift and strong reaction from the international community.
“Shooting at peaceful protesters is irrelevant,” British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said on Twitter. “We will consider new actions, with our international partners, against those who crush democracy and stifle dissent.”
Last week Britain froze assets and imposed travel bans on three top Burmese generals, on top of already existing targeted sanctions.
Singapore, which along with Myanmar is one of 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, issued a statement condemning the use of lethal force as “inexcusable”.
Urging “the utmost restraint” on the part of the security forces, he warned that “if the situation continues to worsen, there will be serious negative consequences for Myanmar and the region”.
Another gunshot death occurred on Saturday night in Yangon under unclear circumstances. According to several accounts on social media, including a live broadcast showing the body, the victim was a man who was acting as a volunteer guard for a neighborhood watch group. These groups were created out of fear that the authorities would use criminals released from prison to spread panic and fear by setting fire to and committing acts of violence.
Another live Facebook show showed actor Lu Min’s wife describing to neighbors how her husband was arrested and taken from their home shortly after midnight. He was one of six entertainment industry figures accused last week of instigating officials to stop working and join the protest movement, which he and the others have publicly defended.
On Sunday, Facebook said it had removed the page operated by Myanmar’s military information unit “for repeated violations of our community’s standards prohibiting incitement to violence and coordination of harm.” He had already deleted other military-related accounts.
The junta seized power after arresting Suu Kyi and blocking parliament from meeting, claiming last November’s elections were marred by voting irregularities. The election result, in which Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party won by a landslide, was confirmed by an election commission that has since been replaced by the military. The junta says it will hold new elections in a year.
The coup was a major setback in Myanmar’s transition to democracy after 50 years of military rule that began with a 1962 coup. Suu Kyi came to power after her party won the elections of 2015, but the generals retained substantial power under the constitution, which was enacted under military rule.
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