27th February, 2021 #Day27

 

The violent crackdown has intensified today in many major cities including Yangon, Mandalay, and Monywa. There have been rumors claiming that the leaders of the coup government has given authority to regional commanders to use any means necessary to crackdown protests across the country. Like yesterday, there is no advance warning or negotiation with the protesters beforehand, protests have been abruptly suppressed. Security forces in Yangon targeted the rally of the General Strike Committee of Nationalities in Sanchaung suburb near Myaenigone junction. Therefore, many ethnic youths and students including at least 10 Chin youths have been arrested or missing. Journalists reporting at the scene from several media houses including the Associated Press and Myanmar Now are among the detainees, according to reports. Moreover, bystanders, bus drivers, and street-vendors have also been threatened or arrested in Yangon. Families of the detainees are worried as they have been taken to the notorious Insein Prison in about 10 convoys, locals said. Insein Prison is the largest and most secure prison in Myanmar, where political prisoners are often held. Earlier, the detainees were released hours or days after being detained at a nearby police station, but are now being held in Insein Prison. Pictures of security forces threatening a pregnant woman and aiming at emergency medical responders have spread around the world.

According to a lawyer representing the protesters in Mandalay, the police demanded about 200,000 Kyat (AUD 200) from the arrested protesters. He said only those who could pay the amount to the police were immediately released. The lawyer urged the protesters should not pay the police because this could provoke more arrests in the future. In Nay Pyi Taw, about six people have been arrested for banging pots and pans at 8 pm Myanmar time. They are seen to be civil servants joining the CDM because arrests were made in their houses located inside the government’s staff quarters.

Crackdowns in Monywa were so intense that security forces beat brutally protesters, including women, with truncheons. In some parts of Monywa, security forces reportedly used live rounds and few were hit. A picture of a woman, a medical doctor, being shot and lying on the ground has spread on social media. She was pronounced dead at the scene, but locals later reported that she has been rushed into private hospital and now in ICU. A 35-year-old man was also reportedly shot twice but his condition is still unknown. According to reports, about 300 people were arrested in Monywa alone.

Pictures show that some people did not wear any uniforms but they were beating protesters and making arrests. Protesters on social media are calling for self-defense if they are arrested by people in plain clothes. Despite the violence, protesters are urging a massive “milk-tea alliance” protest tomorrow. Protesters are also calling for retaliation if arrests are made and to defend in groups if one person is arrested. In addition, the extensive use of tear gas by the security forces has led to social media users sharing helmets, shields, and gas maks with each other.

State media reported this evening that the junta has removed a premanent representative of Myanmar who represented the CRPH at the UN General Assembly yesterday for treason. Protesters claimed that they had the upper hand over diplomacy and international relations with the junta. To date, no country has officially recognized the coup government, and no country has declared its support for the junta-sponsored elections. Australia's energy giant Woodside Energy, which has been widely criticized for commenting that situation in Myanmar is a transitional issue, has announced that it will withdraw its investments in the country and will only reinvest if democracy is achieved.