More than 600 anti-coup protesters held in Insein Prison were released today. The picture shows the released protesters leaving the prison by bus, making the 3-finger gesture.
In the face of international condemnation from Washington, the European Union and the United Nations, international pressure and public discontent, the Burmese military government released more than 600 protesters from detention yesterday (24). The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) also passed a resolution yesterday that will promote the establishment of a UN human rights office in Myanmar.
According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a human rights group, at least 275 people have died since the Feb. 1 coup, with more likely to have been killed, and more than 2,800 people have been arrested. More than 2,800 people have been arrested.
The Burmese military government’s efforts to quell the nationwide protests against the Feb. 1 coup and the arrest of democratically elected leader Ung San Suu Kyi have resulted in a series of deadly scenes of violence.
According to Burmese news website The Irrawaddy, a 7-year-old girl, Ma Khin Myo Chit, was shot and killed by soldiers during a military house search on 23 February. Local residents also noted that police and soldiers fired at onlookers in the street during the incident.
At least 20 children under the age of 18 died in the bloody crackdown, according to aid groups Save the Children and Burma Aid for Political Prisoners.
“We are shocked that children have been repeatedly targeted in bloody attacks on peaceful demonstrators,” said a statement from Save the Children.
But in Yangon, Burma’s major commercial city, there were reports yesterday of the release of more than 600 people held in Insein Prison for anti-coup protests. A high-ranking prison official revealed, “360 men and 268 women were released from Insein Prison on Wednesday (24).”
Meanwhile, 47 members of the UN Human Rights Council unanimously passed a resolution yesterday without a vote calling again on the Burmese military to restore civilian rule and immediately release deposed democratically elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi Aung San Suu Kyi. The resolution criticizes the “disproportionate use of force, including indiscriminate use of lethal force, by the Myanmar armed forces and police” over the past two months.
The U.N. Human Rights Council adopted a resolution on April 24, sounding the alarm over the “disproportionate use of force” in Myanmar since last month’s coup and promoting the establishment of a U.N. human rights office in the country.
In response to the UNHRC resolution, Myanmar Deputy Foreign Minister Kyaw Myo Htut told the Council by video yesterday that elements of the resolution were “intrusive and actually incorrect.
The resolution states that there is a need for the international community to see more clearly the reality of what is happening in Burma.
The resolution also calls on the Burmese military government to provide “immediate, full, unrestricted and unsupervised” access to independent observers, experts, diplomats, journalists and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, and calls for Bachelet to be allowed to establish a human rights office in Burma. Bachelet should be allowed to set up a human rights office in Burma, and the UN human rights investigator for Burma, Thomas Andrews, should be included among the experts visiting Burma.
Andrews had earlier reported to the Human Rights Council that Burma is currently under the “control of a murderous, illegitimate regime. He also warned that the Burmese military government may be committing Crimes Against Humanity, including murder, enforced disappearance, persecution and torture.
The resolution also makes specific reference to the situation of Muslims in Rohingya. More than 740,000 Rohingya have fled to neighboring Bangladesh since the Myanmar military’s violent crackdown on them in 2017.
UN investigators have concluded that such acts carry genocidal intent.
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