Citizens Clamor Against Myanmar Coup as Detained Leaders Demand Freedom

Shocked and angry citizens in cities across Myanmar banged pots and pans on Tuesday to register opposition to the military coup that deposed and arrested leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her civilian government, whose members appealed for a reversal of the takeover while the army announced its new ruling council.

Moving to set up a military regime a day after the bloodless putsch, the army unveiled a 10-member “State Administration Council” headed by coup leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, while some detained ruling party figures were released and others remained in custody or unaccounted for.

Min Aung Hlaing took charge of legislative, administrative, and judiciary powers early Monday, hours before a newly elected parliament was to open. After a yearlong “state of emergency” and re-examination of voter lists the army claims produced fraud in last November’s vote, new elections would be held, he said.

On Tuesday, the National League for Democracy (NLD) called on military leaders to release all the detainees, including Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint, and to respect the 2020 election results, declaring that military chief Min Aung Hlaing’s takeover violated the constitution and denied the rights of citizens.

“We urged [the military to take action] for the sake of democratic reform and democratic practice in Myanmar — not just for the benefit of the NLD,” said Aung Kyi Nyunt, an upper house lawmaker and member of the NLD’s central executive committee.

In Naypyidaw, military troops and police officers on Tuesday were still guarding the residences where newly elected lawmakers are housed, but there were fewer security forces on city streets and in residential quarters of the city. Lawmakers elected in Nov. 8 elections were told to go home because parliament was dissolved.

Documents seized from an NLD office in Naypyidaw were returned, however, and a top military official told RFA on condition of anonymity that the military would release state and regional chief ministers. He also said that Union ministers would be let go soon, but he did not indicate whether they would be placed under house arrest or enjoy full freedom.

In cities across Myanmar, a country of 54 million that has experienced long years of brutal military rule that only eased up in 2011, citizens found different ways to protest against the army takeover — even as they dealt with tight restrictions imposed to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

Raucous banging of pots and pans was witnessed in Yangon, Mandalay, and other cities that remain under strict quarantine measures to combat COVID-19.

Frontline health care workers in medial coveralls, masks, and gloves stopped work at a pediatric hospital in the central city of Mandalay to stage a peaceful protest against the coup, while doctors issued a statement urging other medical professionals to join their protest.

Sushi Shin Thant, a youth activist from Mandalay, called the coup a “shameless act” that goes against promises made to the people of Myanmar.

“Now, everything has been cut short by this military coup,” she said. “It is a shocking surprise for all of us.”

Concerns over instability

Residents of the commercial center Yangon, the largest city, stood in long lines to withdraw their savings from banks and ATM machines.

One resident who took all his money out of a bank account said he was worried that he wouldn’t be able to access his funds later if the situation got worse and led to economic instability.

“But I’m staying positive that the situation won’t get to that point,” said the resident, who declined to give his name for safety reasons. “I hope they won’t be that cruel to the people.”

In Naypyidaw, where military troops continued to block the residences of elected lawmakers and are staffing security checkpoints, poet Teyzer Maung raised questions about the well-being of senior civilian-government leaders.

“We haven’t seen the civilian leaders in public view,” he said. “Because they are seniors, I am worried for their health.”

“It is unacceptable to take down a democratically elected civilian government,” he added.

A vendor from the capital’s Thabyae Gone market expressed concern for 75-year-old Aung San Suu Kyi, who retains high popularity in Myanmar despite an international reputation damaged by the military’s expulsion of 740,000 Muslim Rohingya on her watch.

“I feel so sorry for Mother Suu, he said. “I feel bad that she got detained. It was totally unanticipated.”

Government employee Zaw Min Oo said he cannot accept the new members of the government administration appointed by the military regime.

“We only want to report to the government leaders assigned by the elected party,” he told RFA.

“We all know that military dictatorships have ruined the country,” he added. “No one will accept the new regime. We all strongly oppose the coup.”

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A military armored vehicle travels along a street in Myitkyina, capital of northern Myanmar’s Kachin state, Feb. 2, 2021, a day after the armed forces declared a coup. Credit: AFP

Military ‘lawlessness’

In Ayeyarwady region, Myo Min Paing from the Irrawaddy Region Youth Committee said the people do not accept the coup, which amounts to military lawlessness.

“It is lawlessness, and it is very selfish,” he said. “They violated the most fundamental principle of democracy. We have witnessed the impact of these military coups in the past.”

“An organization that owes allegiance to the state and is sworn to protect the constitution is now acting selfishly,” he added.

Some NLD officials, including chief ministers detained during the coup, were released on Tuesday, party sources said.

Thein Tun Oo, executive director of the Thayninga Institute for Strategic Studies, said despite the NLD’s entreaties, the military stands by its claim that the coup was executed in accordance with the constitution.

The charter, written by the military junta that ruled the country until 2011, allows the military chief to assume and exercise state sovereignty, with the permission of the president, during states of emergency that could cause the disintegration of the union.

“As far as I know, chief ministers were sent for and investigated,” Thein Tun Oo said. “Some were released after discussions, [but] some remain in custody.”

“[The military] is likely to regard the NLD’s statement as a political move, so there is no solution in sight,” he added. “The army is very likely to move forward with its plan.”

The new military regime announced Tuesday that the Naypyidaw city council assigned by the NLD government had been terminated, but the chairman of the council and six municipal committee members submitted resignation letters rather than serve under the military regime.

“They are not a democratically elected government,” said committee member Min Thu. “We can no longer continue our service when the head of our committee has been removed from his position.”

Aung San Suu Kyi reportedly is under house arrest at her residence in Naypyidaw, while President Win Myint has been transferred to a new location that is yet unknown.

Zaw Myint Maung, chief minister of Mandalay who is an NLD member, said the chief ministers of other regions and states have been sent back to their state-owned homes but are cut off from communication with people on the outside, and the miltary regime has ordered them to vacate the houses in three days.

The chief ministers of Kayin, Mon, Chin, and Shan states have been transferred to their state-owned homes but ordered to move out in three days, while the whereabouts of the chief ministers of Yangon, Ayeyarwady, and Tanintharyi regions remain unknown, party sources said.

Coup determination by US

An effort by the U.N. envoy to Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener, to get the U.N. Security Council to issue a statement to condemn the military’s actions and call for the immediate release of all those detained was held up after China and Russia said in a closed-door session because they needed to send it to their capitals for review, the Associated Press quoted diplomats as saying.

In Washington, the Biden administration formally determined that Monday’s military takeover constituted a coup d’état, a designation that requires the U.S. to cut its foreign aid to the country. Officials said the bulk of U.S. assistance goes to nongovernmental groups and civic society, while the Myanmar military has not been eligible for U.S. military aid.

As Naypyidaw returned to calm Tuesday, market vendor Mi Mi Khin said she worries that the coup will cause hardship for low-income people like her in Myanmar, Southeast Asia’s poorest country.

“I live from hand to mouth,” she told RFA. “The crisis among the politicians could cause havoc for ordinary citizens.”

Reported by RFA’s Myanmar Service. Translated by Ye Kaung Myint Maung and Nandar Chann. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin and Paul Eckert.

Coronavirus tracker: Hospitalizations in California drop below 15,000, with 21,451 new cases reported

According to Monday’s end-of-day totals from California public health websites, there were 213 fewer hospitalizations from the previous day, lowering the total of hospitalizations to 14,999.

California communities reported 21,451 new cases of the coronavirus on Monday, bringing the total number of cases to 3,322,782. There were 413 new deaths reported Monday, for a total of 41,336 people who have died from the virus.

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Sources: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Johns Hopkins University, the World Health Organization, the California Department of Public Health, The Associated Press, reporting counties and news sources

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The toppling of Aung San Suu Kyi puts China in a tricky spot. But there’s also plenty to gain

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For China, Myanmar’s coup against Aung San Suu Kyi will likely present as much a risk as an opportunity. Beijing’s caution in even calling it a coup reflects a desire to foster good relations with a military that has had a difficult past with China, writes Bill Birtles.

Biden signs order to ‘undo moral and national shame’ of family separations as Homeland Security chief sworn in | The Independent

According to the executive order, the task force will review “any other related policy, program, practice, or initiative resulting in the separation of children from their families” at the border. It covers a range of 20 January 2017 through 20 January 2021, the duration of Trump’s term.

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Myanmar Military Blocks Internet During Coup

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Myanmar Times newspaper with the headline ‘State of Emergency’ among other newspapers for sale are seen on display a day after the Myanmar’s military detained the country’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the country’s president in a coup. 
© (Photo by Aung Kyaw Htet / SOPA Images/Sipa USA)(Sipa via AP Images)

This is not the first time Myanmar’s military leaders have rounded up civilian leaders and taken power. But this time, bad old habits have come with new rights abuses.

Myanmar’s military began detaining senior government officials and activists across the country on February 1, seizing control of the government. Communication networks were shut down through the use of disruption techniques targeting cellular services and so-called “kill switches” to cut off internet traffic – tactics the government has already used in conflict-wracked Rakhine and Chin States. The shutdown across large swaths of the country for several hours —including throughout Naypyidaw, Yangon, Mandalay and Sagaing Regions, and Shan and Kachin States—raises serious concerns of more prolonged and dangerous military shutdowns in the future.

Under international human rights standards, internet-based restrictions must be necessary and proportionate. Blanket internet shutdowns are a form of collective punishment. They hinder access to information and communications needed for daily life, which is particularly vital during times of crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic. Shutdowns can also endanger lives in humanitarian crises, an acute concern in Myanmar where over 1 million people require some form of humanitarian assistance. Restrictions also provide cover for human rights abuses, and complicate efforts to document government violations.

Besides rescinding the state of emergency, recognizing the duly elected government, releasing all those arbitrarily detained and ending all unlawful deprivation of fundamental rights, the military authorities need to ensure access to information through the internet and mobile networks. Internet service providers should uphold their responsibilities under the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, which calls on companies to “[s]eek to prevent or mitigate adverse human rights impacts that are directly linked to their operations, products or services by their business relationships, even if they have not contributed to those impacts.” This means pushing back against unjustified internet shutdowns. Service providers should insist upon a legal basis for any shutdown order, interpret requests to cause the least intrusive restrictions, and restore access as soon as possible.

Governments around the world should take joint action in response to the coup to ensure the rights of Myanmar’s people are respected. Among the front burner issues should be their access to information through the internet and cellular services.

H.Res. 73: Providing the Sergeant-at-Arms with the authority to fine Members, Delegates, or the Resident Commissioner for failure to complete security screening for entrance to the House Chamber, and for other purposes.

Keep weapons off House Floor!

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Legislation Coming Up: This resolution has been added to the House’s schedule for the coming week, according to the House Majority Leader. More information can be found at https://ift.tt/2g091ss.

Last Action: This resolution is in the first stage of the legislative process. It was introduced into Congress on February 1, 2021. It will typically be considered by committee next before it is possibly sent on to the House or Senate as a whole.

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