UNSC calls for Suu Kyi’s release
The United Nations Security Council yesterday called for the release of Myanmar's leader Aung San Suu Kyi and others detained by the military and voiced concern over the state of emergency there but stopped short of condemning the coup.
Council members include China and Russia, who have traditionally shielded Myanmar from significant council action. China also has a big economic interest in Myanmar.
Meanwhile, Myanmar's junta blocked Facebook yesterday, trying to shut off an important channel for opposition to this week's military coup as sporadic protests flared.
Military ruler General Min Aung Hlaing has moved quickly to consolidate his hold after overthrowing elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and detaining her and allied politicians on Monday.
He told a business group on Wednesday he could keep power for six months after a one-year state of emergency ends in order to hold what he said he would be fair elections.
But in a show of defiance to the generals, a group of the lawmakers elected in a November 8 ballot convened a symbolic parliamentary session in the quarters where they have been staying since the takeover.
Small protests took place in the main city Yangon and elsewhere, with activists saying three protesters had been arrested - among around 150 people who have been detained since the coup, according to one rights group.
Doctors were also spearheading a campaign of civil disobedience.
But in a country with a bloody history of crackdowns on demonstrations, there was no mass outpouring of opposition on the streets.
The army seized power on Monday alleging irregularities in the election, derailing Myanmar's long and troubled transition to democracy. The move was condemned by Western governments, who have urged the junta to respect Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy's landslide victory.
Opposition to the junta has emerged strongly on Facebook, Myanmar's main social media platform, including for business and government.
The Ministry of Communications and Information said Facebook would be blocked until this Sunday, February 7, because users were "spreading fake news and misinformation and causing misunderstanding". Facebook's WhatsApp messaging was also blocked.
Facebook was still available sporadically and demonstrators in the second city of Mandalay used it to livestream the first street protest since the coup.
"People's protest against military coup," read one banner.
The group of around 20 people chanted: "Our arrested leaders, release now, release now."
The US said yesterday it was considering "targeted sanctions" against those funneling financial support to the military in Myanmar.
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said the White House is "looking at specific targeted sanctions both on individuals and on entities controlled by the military that enrich the military." He did not give further details.
DISOBEDIENCE
Staff at some government hospitals stopped work on Wednesday or wore ribbons in the NLD's red colour. In response, the army said people could get treatment in military hospitals.
Pictures shared on Wednesday showed workers at the agriculture ministry joining the campaign of disobedience.
Other signs of anger have emerged. For a third night, people in Yangon and other cities banged on pots and pans and honked car horns. In Yangon, streets resounded to the sound of clapping at 5:00 pm by coup opponents.
Suu Kyi, 75, has not been seen since her arrest along with other party leaders. Police have filed charges against her of illegally importing and using six walkie-talkie radios found at her home and she has been detained until February 15.
The daughter of the former British colony's independence hero Aung San and the longtime leader of its democracy movement, Suu Kyi spent about 15 years under house arrest between 1989 and 2010. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991.
She remains hugely popular at home despite damage to her international reputation over the plight of Muslim Rohingya refugees.
The United Nations said it would step up international pressure to ensure the will of the people is respected.
PROTECT ROHINGYAS
The Gambia, which lodged a lawsuit against Myanmar in 2019 seeking to prevent a genocide of the Rohingya minority, on Wednesday demanded that coup leaders there protect the group, reports AFP.
"We are gravely concerned that the same military leadership that marginalised the Rohingya has now seized full control of the Myanmar government," the information ministry said in a statement.
"We fear they may launch another so-called 'clearance operation' to rid the country of the approximately 600,000 Rohingya who survived the last round of human rights violence," said the statement, adding that Banjul was "monitoring events very closely".
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