Clashes in Bago, Burma, March 8, 2021. – KP/Penta Press/Shutterstock/SIPA
It’s a bloody weekend that has just passed in Burma. The UN envoy for this country in the grip of a military coup “vigorously” denounced the “bloodbath” in progress, where at least 18 people died Sunday in demonstrations against the junta.
“The international community, and in particular regional actors, must unite in solidarity with the Burmese people and their democratic aspirations,” Christine Schraner Burgener added in a statement.
Violence and torture of prisoners
The diplomat said she had received “personally from contacts in Burma heartbreaking reports of murders, violence against protesters, and torture of prisoners over the weekend.” “The soldiers defy international calls for restraint,” she regretted, saying that these “brutalities […] greatly weakened any prospect of peace and stability ”in the country.
Ms. Schraner Burgener assured to stay “in close contact” with regional leaders and members of the Security Council and “count on their continued support for her efforts to calm the situation.”
The UN Security Council “firmly” condemned the violence against the Burmese demonstrators on Wednesday in a declaration adopted unanimously by the 15 members, and therefore also by China and Russia, traditional allies of the Burmese generals.
Continued repression
The civilian government of the National League for Democracy (NLD) of Aung San Suu Kyi was overthrown by the military on February 1 and the Nobel Peace Laureate jailed.
Since then, demonstrations have continued daily to demand the return of democracy and its liberation. They are harshly repressed by the police who, according to a local group which counts the victims, killed more than 80 people in total.
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