Call for a global embargo on arms deliveries, closed meeting of the UN Security Council, new American sanctions: international pressure is intensifying on the Burmese junta, still deaf to criticism in the face of the escalation of its crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators still in the streets, Friday March 5.

At least 38 people, according to the United Nations - the heaviest death toll since the February 1 putsch - were killed on Wednesday by security forces, who fired live ammunition at rallies of protesters, sparking new international protests.

In a report released Thursday, Thomas Andrews, an independent expert commissioned by the UN, underlines that "even if the future of Burma is determined by its people, the international community must act urgently and decisively to support it" .

>> To see on France 24: Coup d'état in Burma: the junta facing an unprecedented challenge

The United Nations special rapporteur therefore recommends to the Security Council, which is meeting behind closed doors on Friday to discuss the situation in this country, to "impose a global arms embargo" on it, as it is already doing, according to him, the Europeans and Canada, further calling for "targeted economic sanctions [against the Burmese generals]".

Despite the fear of reprisals, demonstrations were organized in several cities of the country on Friday.

In Yangon, the economic capital of the country, the district of San Chaung was, as in previous days, the subject of a face to face for the moment peaceful with the police, the demonstrators protecting themselves behind barricades of fortune built with old tires, sandbags, and barbed wire.

Bloody repression

A group of several hundred engineers demonstrated in the streets of Mandalay, Burma's second largest city, chanting “Free our leader!” And “Don't serve the army, go!”.

In the middle-sized town of Bago, northeast of Yangon, a small group marched with three fingers raised in resistance, brandishing signs that read "we do not accept the military coup".

The junta seems more determined than ever to put an end to this wind of rebellion blowing on Burma since the putsch which overthrew the civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi.

>> To (re) see on France 24: THE GUEST OF THE DAY - Burma: "The generals did not appreciate the importance of the pro-democracy movement"

At least 54 civilians have been killed since the coup, according to the UN.

Among them, four minors, including a 14-year-old teenager, according to the NGO Save the Children.

There are also dozens of injured.

The army for its part reported the death of a police officer.

Asked, she did not respond to multiple requests from AFP.

"The use of lethal force […] shows how little security forces fear being held responsible for their actions," said Richard Weir, of the NGO Human Rights Watch.

Kyal Sin, new symbol

A very large crowd also participated Thursday in Mandalay at the funeral of a 19-year-old woman who died the day before.

"There will be no forgiveness for you until the end of the world," chanted the assembly, gathered in front of their coffin surrounded by flowers.

Kyal Sin has become a symbol: a photo of her, shortly before she was hit by a fatal shot, wearing a T-shirt that read "Everything will be fine" has gone viral on the networks social.

An investigation to determine the exact causes of his death has been opened, the Global New Light of Myanmar, the regime's official body, said on Friday.

>> Read also on France24.com: Aung San Suu Kyi, the fall of an icon who became an outcast outside his country

For their part, the United States announced on Thursday new trade sanctions against Burma: the US Department of Commerce said it had imposed "new restrictions on exports" to the country and had placed on its blacklist the Burmese ministries of Defense and Interior, "responsible for the coup", as well as "two commercial entities owned and managed by the Ministry of Defense".

These measures are in addition to the financial sanctions already imposed on the heads of the military junta which overthrew Aung San Suu Kyi and his government on February 1.

"We will continue to take action against the junta," US diplomacy spokesman Ned Price warned in a tweet.

China and Russia, traditional allies of the Burmese army, have not officially condemned the coup, considering the crisis as "an internal affair".

The repression also continues in the judicial field.

Aung San Suu Kyi, held incommunicado by the army, is now targeted by four charges, including "incitement to public disturbance", while ex-president Win Myint is notably accused of having violated the Constitution .

More than 1,700 people have been arrested since February 1, according to the UN.

With AFP

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