Burma: two protesters killed, shops and factories closed after call for strike
Demonstrators dispersed with tear gas in Rangoon on March 8.
REUTERS - STRINGER
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Two pro-democracy demonstrators were killed Monday in Burma where banks, businesses and factories remain closed after the unions call to intensify the strike to stifle the economy and put pressure on the junta.
Government officials, farmers and private sector workers participated alongside youth and activists in rallies across the country.
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In Myitkyina, in the center of the country, multiple detonations were heard and demonstrators, covered in blood, were transported far from the shooting zone by protesters, according to images posted on social networks.
"
Two men were killed
" and several people injured including a woman seriously, shot in the arm, according to a rescuer on condition of anonymity.
The mobilization continues.
Nine of the largest unions have called for "a
complete and prolonged shutdown of the economy
" from Monday.
“
Now is the time to act
”.
Allowing economic activities to continue would only help the army which "suppresses the energy of the Burmese people," they wrote in a joint statement.
►Also read
: Burma: thousands of demonstrators, a call for massive mobilization
Suddenly, textile factories, a booming sector before
the coup d'état
of February 1, shopping centers, banks and post offices keep the door closed.
The junta, for its part, warned officials: those who did not return to work from Monday will be sacked.
Calls to strike, launched in the first hours after the putsch, have already had a significant impact on many sectors, with banks unable to function, hospitals closed and ministerial offices empty.
Ethnic minorities in protest
Ethnic minorities have joined the protest.
Near the town of Dawei, in the south of the country, hundreds of Karens demonstrated, waving their blue, white and red flags and calling for "
an end to the dictatorship
".
The procession was escorted by rebels from the Karen National Union (KNU) armed faction, which came to protect the protesters against possible violence by the security forces.
Many Burmese women joined the parades to celebrate International Women's Day.
Monks, students, civil servants… Thousands of Burmese demonstrated on Sunday, notably in Mandalay, in the center of the country, where a large
sit-in
was organized.
The police and the army used tear gas, rubber ammunition but also live ammunition to disperse gatherings.
Dozens of protesters have been arrested and several injured, according to the Association for Assistance to Political Prisoners (AAPP).
Demonstrations held "
in residential areas, within religious buildings, hospitals and a campus were violently repressed
", according to the Burmese NGO.
Night raids
Security forces were deployed Sunday evening in several neighborhoods in Yangon and carried out operations in several public hospitals in the city.
The NGO Physicians for Human Rights condemned the occupation of hospitals, saying it was "
appalled by this latest wave of violence
".
Saturday night raids targeted officials of the National League for Democracy (LND), Aung San Suu Kyi's party, several were arrested and a local representative of the movement, Khin Maung Latt, killed.
MPs who do not recognize the legitimacy of the coup and have created a committee to represent the civilian government are guilty of "
high treason
", a crime punishable by death or 22 years in prison, the police warned. junta.
More than 50 protesters have been killed since the coup that overthrew the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, the UN reported last week.
(
with AFP
)
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Burma
Aung San Suu Kyi
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