Small peaceful protests are an almost-daily occurrence throughout the country, but on the anniversary of the Feb. Photos posted on social media showed empty streets in the normally bustling downtown area of Yangon, the country’s largest city, with just a few vehicles on the roads, and there were reports of similar scenes elsewhere. UN special envoy Noeleen Heyzer called for a “humanitarian pause” in violence to allow for the delivery of aid, warning that hundreds of thousands had been displaced by conflict.The opposition’s General Strike Coordination Body, formed soon after the 2021 takeover, urged people to stay inside their homes or workplaces from 10 a.m. Human rights spokesman Aung Myo Min urged the international community to implement an arms embargo and tighten economic sanctions to cut off all trade with the regime. On Monday, ousted Myanmar lawmakers from a shadow “National Unity Government” addressed the media in Paris. Former president and NLD stalwart Win Myint will face the same charge. The case is expected to be wrapped up within six months. The Nobel laureate will face a further trial on charges of influencing the country’s election commission during the 2020 polls that saw her National League for Democracy (NLD) party defeat a military-aligned rival, a source with knowledge of the case said. Suu Kyi has already been sentenced to six years in jail for illegally importing and owning walkie talkies, incitement against the military and breaking Covid-19 rules. “The international community must take strong, meaningful steps to cut the junta’s access to weapons, funds and legitimacy.” “The military junta is functioning as a criminal enterprise, committing murder, torture, abductions, forced displacement, all the while stealing the revenue and seizing the assets that rightfully belong to the people of Myanmar,” Andrews said. Tom Andrews, a former US congressman serving in the independent post, said in a statement that he had received more reports of "mass killings, attacks on hospitals and humanitarian targets and the bombing and burning of villages" in recent months. The UN’s human rights expert on Myanmar on Tuesday called for tightening sanctions against the ruling junta for waging a “campaign of terror” over the past year. to further promote accountability for the coup and the violence perpetrated by the regime,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.Ĭiting “unspeakable violence against civilians”, the undermining of regional stability and “rampant” corruption, President Joe Biden said in a statement that he was working with allies to “hold accountable” those responsible. “We are coordinating these actions with the United Kingdom and Canada. Washington sanctioned Attorney General Thida Oo, Supreme Court Chief Justice Tun Tun Oo and Anti-Corruption Commission chairman Tin Oo, who it said were closely involved in the “politically motivated” prosecution of Suu Kyi. The United States, Britain and Canada unveiled coordinated sanctions on Myanmar officials Monday, including on officials involved in the trial of Suu Kyi. On Tuesday morning images on local media showed around a dozen young protesters gather in a flashmob in Yangon, unfurl a pro-democracy banner and set off a flare.Īhead of the anniversary, the junta has threatened to seize businesses that shutter their doors and warned that noisy rallies or sharing anti-military “propaganda” could lead to treason or terrorism charges. The streets of commercial hub Yangon were busy Tuesday morning, AFP correspondents said, as residents ran errands and met friends ahead of a “silent strike” protest expected to begin around 10am local time.Ī similar strike in December emptied the streets of cities and towns across the country. It would hold “free and fair” polls by August 2023 if stability in the country is restored, he told the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper. In comments published Tuesday, junta chief Min Aung Hlaing repeated the military’s claim it had been forced to take power following fraud in 2020 elections won by Aung San Suu Kyi’s party that international observers said were largely free and fair. The junta is struggling to contain the backlash unleashed by the coup, with daily clashes and swathes of the country remaining outside of its control. The military takeover ending the Southeast Asian country’s brief democratic interlude has triggered mass protests and a crackdown on dissent with more than 1,500 civilians killed, according to a local monitoring group.
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