UN urges Myanmar army to show restraint but stops short of condemning coup as death toll mounts

Monks take part in a demonstration against the military coup in Yangon 

Credit: AFP

At least seven civilians were killed during anti-coup rallies in Myanmar on Thursday, a day after the United Nations Security Council condemned violence against protesters and called on the military to show “utmost restraint.” 

At a meeting on Wednesday, the 15-member body failed to denounce the coup that has plunged the Southeast Asian nation into crisis, or to threaten further action against the junta due to opposition from China, Russia, India and Vietnam. 

Myanmar’s security forces paid little heed to the UNSC’s watered-down statement on violence. The streets of Mandalay, Yangon and Myaing, central Myanmar, were once again stained with the blood of slain protesters, most killed by a gunshot to the head. 

Anti-coup school teachers in Mandalay

Credit: AP

An investigation by Amnesty International this week revealed soldiers are using weapons of war in the cities. It said the military’s “lethal force is being used in a planned, premeditated and coordinated manner,” with many killings documented on social media amounting to “extrajudicial executions.”

The regime is also stepping up pressure on workers striking as part of a nationwide civil disobedience movement, in an attempt to force them back to work. 

The security forces raided a neighbourhood for railway staff in Yangon, evicting a thousand striking  workers and their families from their homes, and arresting three drivers. 

A woman carries her belongings after being evicted from a railway staff compound 

Credit: LYNN BO BO/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock 

More than 70 civilians have now been killed and over 2,000 arrested since the February 1 coup, some of them being badly beaten while being detained or when in custody.  

In response to the escalating crisis, the United States has increased targeted penalties against the regime, announcing new sanctions on two adult children of coup leader General Min Aung Hlaing and six of their companies. Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, warned more punitive actions could follow.

Military leaders, who accused the ruling National League for Democracy of fraud during the November elections, have shown few signs of backing down, and appear to be building their case to try to discredit ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi. She remains under house arrest. 

A junta spokesman alleged at a Thursday press conference that she had accepted illegal payment worth $600,000 plus gold while in government.

Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun also said President Win Myint, plus several cabinet ministers, had also engaged in corruption and he had pressured the country’s election commission not to act on the military’s reports of irregularities. The commission has so far found no evidence of election fraud.