
YANGON (UCAN): Human Rights Watch [HRW] said in a new report that Myanmar’s security forces deliberately used lethal force against protesters that led to the deaths of at least 65 protesters and bystanders.
The rights group collected several videos and photographs of the March 14 protest in Hlaing Tharyar, a large industrial town on the outskirts of Yangon, and interviewed six witnesses who revealed that police and soldiers used kettling tactics—encircling and trapping people before they opened fire.
It said the deadly shootings stand out because of the large number of people killed and the security forces’ apparent premeditated use of lethal force.
Around 10.00am on March 14, about 200 soldiers and police began moving into Hlaing Tharyar, bypassing the barriers and causing protesters to retreat or disperse, according to HRW.
Witnesses told the rights group that by 11.00am security forces had trapped many protesters from the east and west.
Security forces claim they issued a verbal warning before they began firing at protesters, but most witnesses said they heard no warnings.
“The Myanmar security forces’ massacre of several dozen people outside Yangon in mid-March was not a case of riot control gone astray,” said Manny Maung, one of the researchers at HRW, which called the slaughter a violation of international law.
We weren’t able to help those who were injured because they would shoot at us if we tried
One video clip shows police and military gathered at 1.00pm on the Aung Zeya bridge, which links Hlaing Tharyar and Yangon. They look at the protesters on the streets below and can be heard discussing when and whom to shoot.
“Just shoot them in the head,” an unidentified person off camera says, while two police officers point assault rifles at the protesters. Gunshots are heard and the same unidentified person yells “Shoot! Shoot! Shoot!”
All six witnesses told the HRW that the security forces also fired on people who were trying to reach the wounded.
“We weren’t able to help those who were injured because they would shoot at us if we tried,” one witness said. “We couldn’t get to them, and they died. Some people who tried to help went forward anyway and they were shot in the head and died.”
Following the February 1 military coup that ousted Myanmar’s democratically elected government, numerous demonstrations broke out in Yangon and other cities [Sunday Examiner, February 7].
Since then, Myanmar’s security forces have killed more than 1,200 protesters and bystanders, as well as committing torture and other crimes that amount to crimes against humanity, according to HRW.
The rights agency urged the United Nations, regional bodies and governments to respond to ongoing human rights violations and crimes against humanity in Myanmar by supplementing, strengthening and coordinating international sanctions against the junta leadership and military under General Min Aung Hlaing.
“Hlaing Tharyar was a bloodbath for which all those responsible should be brought to justice,” Manny Maung said. “Such atrocities will continue unless the UN Security Council and concerned governments take concerted action to hold Myanmar’s junta leaders to account.”
Meanwhile in related news, media reported that a court in Myanmar’s capital, Naypyidaw, sentenced deposed state coounsellor, Aung Sang Suu Kyi, to four years in prison on charges of incitement and breaking Covid-19 rules on December 6 , this was later cut in half by the military junta. She was detained on February 1.