Rangoon. The repression of the military against the protesters who protest against its coup d’état claimed a first fatality this Friday with the death of a woman by a gunshot.

Mya Thwate Thwate Khaing was shot in the head on February 9, at a demonstration against the coup in Naipyidó, the administrative capital of Myanmar.

Clashes broke out that day when security forces began firing rubber bullets at protesters. Doctors at the city hospital then told Afp that at least two people were seriously injured by live bullets, one of them was the young woman who died on Friday.

Much of the country rebelled when the military junta overthrew the head of the civilian government Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1. Since then he has kept her under house arrest.

The organization Amnesty International concluded, after analyzing the images at its disposal, that “the police had recklessly targeted the protesters”.

The young woman’s sister, Poh Poh, launched an emotional appeal to journalists: “Please join the protest movement so that it triumphs.”

“They may take down a young woman, but they cannot steal the hope and resolve of a certain people,” UN Special Envoy for Human Rights in Myanmar Tom Andrews wrote on Twitter.

Funerals for the dead girl will take place on Sunday.

International sanctions

Pressures have multiplied on the military, who until now have turned a deaf ear to multiple international sanctions and sanctions.

The United Kingdom, a former colonial power, announced Thursday that it was sanctioning three generals for “serious human rights violations.”

Canada, for its part, will punish nine military officials, and accused the junta of having carried out “a systematic act of repression through coercive legislative measures and the use of force.”

The head of the junta, General Min Aung Hlaing, has become an international pariah after the outrages committed against Rohingya Muslims in 2017.

Last week US President Joe Biden announced that Washington would block generals’ access to a $ 1 billion fund in the United States.

Internet outages

Despite harsh repression, calls for civil disobedience continue with numerous demonstrations and strikes.

The country has suffered internet cuts for the fifth consecutive night, according to a specialized organization installed in the United Kingdom, indicating that there was a resumption of service this Friday at 9:00 local time.

By that time, hundreds of people had already gathered in the great avenues of Rangoon, the country’s largest city, with portraits of Aung San Suu Kyi, and calling for “freedom for our leader.”

In the remote Sagaing region, protesters marched through the town of Monywa, with three fingers raised, a sign of rebellion.

The junta continues to detain allies of the former head of government, as well as officials involved in the protest movement.

The Yangon-based Association for Aid to Political Prisoners (AAPP) reported more than 520 arrests since the February 1 military coup.

The military justifies its coup by alleging fraud in the November legislative elections won by the National League for Democracy (NLD), Aung San Suu Kyi’s party.

The 75-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner, who has not been seen since her house arrest, is charged on non-political grounds, such as illegally importing walkies-talkies and having violated “the law on the management of natural disasters.” He must appear in court on March 1.

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