A group representing Myanmar's ousted civilian government said Wednesday it has gathered 180,000 pieces of evidence showing rights abuses by the junta including torture and extrajudicial killings.
The country has been in turmoil since the army deposed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1, with nearly 600 people killed in a crackdown on anti-coup protests.
The Committee for Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH) — a group of MPs from Suu Kyi's party — said its lawyers would meet UN investigators to discuss alleged atrocities committed by the junta.
"CRPH has received 180,000 items of evidence. This evidence shows widescale abuses of human rights by the military," the group said in a statement.
They include more than 540 extrajudicial executions, 10 deaths of prisoners in custody, torture, illegal detentions and disproportionate use of force against peaceful protests, the statement said.
Demonstrations calling for the return of democracy and the release of Suu Kyi from detention have rocked Myanmar almost daily since the coup.
Civil servants, doctors and other key workers have downed tools as part of a civil disobedience movement aimed at preventing the military from running the country.
In response, the security forces have used rubber bullets and live rounds to break up rallies and detained thousands of activists, some in night raids.
The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), a local monitoring group, says 581 civilians have been killed in the crackdown and more than 2,700 arrested.
Nearly 50 of the dead were children.
With many protest supporters and NLD activists now in hiding to escape arrest, the junta is increasingly taking their family members hostage, according to AAPP.
– UN meeting –
International powers have voiced anger and dismay at the junta's brutal approach, and imposed sanctions on key officials.
But while the UN Security Council has condemned civilian deaths, it has stopped short of considering sanctions.
Both China and Russia have come out against sanctions, arguing they risked making the situation worse.
And so far, the diplomatic pressure appears to be having little effect, as deaths and detentions continue every day.
The CRPH, which claims the right to speak for the country instead of the junta, said its lawyers are to meet the UN's Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar on Wednesday.
"This meeting is intended to discuss the modalities of dialogue and cooperation between Myanmar (acting through CRPH) and the IIMM in relation to the atrocities committed by the military," the statement said, without giving details of when and where the meeting would take place.
Rights group Amnesty International last month reported that the junta was using battlefield weapons on unarmed protestors and carrying out premeditated killings orchestrated by their commanding officers.
The growing bloodshed has prompted warnings that Myanmar could slide into broader civil conflict, particularly after 10 ethnic rebel armies came out in support of the protest movement.
As well as breaking up protests and making arrests, the security forces have also sought to shut off news of the crisis.
Internet access has been throttled, and independent media outlets raided and shut down.
In response, some activists have started a daily two-page newsletter called "Voice of Spring", rounding up independent media reports and publishing on Twitter.
The military insists that it is responding proportionately to what it says are violent, armed protesters.
It has defended seizing power, pointing to allegations of voting fraud in the November election which Suu Kyi's party won comfortably.
Myanmar activists splash red paint to protest junta bloodshed
Yangon (AFP) April 6, 2021 –
Myanmar activists daubed roadways with red paint Tuesday to protest against the junta's bloody crackdown on protests, as an online fundraising drive to support the movement neared the $10 million mark.
The country has been in turmoil since the military ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1, rocked by daily clashes between protestors and authorities that have left at least 570 people dead.
Ten of Myanmar's ethnic rebel armies voiced support for the protest movement at the weekend, stoking fears that the country could slide into broader civil conflict, while the United Nations has warned of a looming "bloodbath".
On Tuesday, in the commercial capital Yangon, people smeared red paint and handprints on bus stops and pavements in protest at the military's violence.
The so-called "bleeding dye strike" is the latest creative method thought up by protestors to voice opposition without risking being shot or arrested by demonstrating in person.
One slogan painted on a bus stop said the military was being misused to protect junta chief Min Aung Hlaing, and urged soldiers not to shoot civilians.
In the city of Hpa-an in eastern Karen state, youths sprayed red paint on the road, giving the three-fingered salute borrowed from the "Hunger Games" books and films that has become symbolic of the movement.
Tuesday also saw rallies in the second biggest city Mandalay, as well as in Karen, and Kachin state in the north.
In the southern city of Dawei, hundreds of people marched peacefully carrying yellow padauk flowers, normally associated with Myanmar's new year water festival which starts next week.
– Fundraising push –
In one part of Yangon, locals organised a food sharing drive to help poor families struggling to make ends meet, encouraging people who could afford it to donate spare ingredients.
Meanwhile an online fundraising push by a group of ousted MPs from Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) is nearing $10 million.
The Committee for Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH) — the Burmese word for parliament — says the money will be used to "uproot the military dictatorship" and restore democracy.
More than 2,700 people have been arrested since the coup, according to local monitoring group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, which says at least 570 people have been confirmed killed, including 47 children.
The authorities have issued arrest warrants for 100 celebrities including singers, models and social media influencers — most of whom are in hiding — accusing them of spreading information that could cause mutiny in the armed forces.
Local media and the BBC's Burmese service reported that famed satirist and activist Zarganar, jailed four times under previous military regimes, had been arrested.
– 'Inappropriate interference' –
The coup and crackdown have drawn outrage and sanctions from world powers, as well as prompting several international companies to suspend business in Myanmar.
But the pressure has yet to tell on the generals, who have shown little sign of stepping back from their efforts to suppress protests.
And on Tuesday Russia, which has sought to build ties with the junta, joined China in publicly rejecting sanctions against Myanmar.
News agency Interfax quoted a Russian foreign ministry spokesperson as warning "threats and pressure" could push Myanmar closer to "full-blown civil conflict".
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian restated Beijing's opposition to "inappropriate interference" in Myanmar.
But he said China backed a summit of regional bloc ASEAN to discuss the crisis — mooted by Malaysia and Brunei's leaders after talks on Monday.
The Myanmar military has defended seizing power, pointing to fraud allegations around last November's general election, won by the NLD.
