Several dead in Myanmar in the most violent day of the repression against protesters

At least 11 people, according to the Reuters agency, and 18, according to the UN Human Rights Office in Geneva, have died this Sunday in Myanmar (the former Burma), in the most violent and bloody day of the protests in what It represents an escalation of the police and army repression against the protesters who express their rejection of the military junta that took power a month ago in a coup.

According to the UN Office, which cites "credible information received by this department," in addition to the fatalities, 30 people have been injured of varying severity.

“The day has been very intense.

They are throwing tear gas everywhere and firing firearms.

I have been able to get home safely, but some of my friends and their acquaintances have been arrested, ”Terry tells by message from Yangon, the largest city in Burmese, where violence has escalated since Thursday night.

This 20-year-old student assures that there are "people locked up in shopping centers, with the police standing guard outside so they don't escape."

At least three people have died this Sunday in Yangon, according to local media, while international agencies raise the number of deaths to at least 11.

The worst incidents, according to Burmese media, appear to have occurred in the southern city of Dawei, where shots by security forces to break up the rally have killed at least three, according to the independent

Myanmar

news agency.

Now

and the AFP agency, and at least a dozen injured.

The French agency quotes a volunteer from the assistance services, Pyae Zaw Hein, who assures that the three deceased were "hit by live fire," and the wounded were hit by rubber bullets.

The video footage shows violent charges by the security forces against the protesters.

The Irrawaddy

newspaper

, for its part, speaks of six possible fatalities due to police firearms: one in Mandalay, the second most populous city in the country, when he was shot in the head;

two in the Bago region, near Yangon, and three others - two young women and a teacher - in Yangon itself, the economic capital of former Burma.

There have also been incidents with injuries in the cities of Lashio and Taunggyi, according to the digital

Frontier Myanmar

.

Images and live broadcasts distributed by social media show how security forces have used tear gas against protesters in Yangon, and a water cannon in Mandalay.

At least three journalists have been detained, according to AFP: a photographer from the US agency Associated Press, and two from local media

Myanmar Now

and

Myanmar Pressphoto

.

By Saturday, the police had already been used harshly to break up the protests.

Demonstrations to protest against the military junta have been happening daily across the country since the February 1 coup that deposed the civilian government of the National League for Democracy, actually headed by the Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi.

The police and the army are increasingly cracking down on the protests, in which three protesters and one policeman have so far lost their lives.

Widespread resistance to the military junta spreads to high places.

This weekend, the Burmese ambassador to the United Nations, Kyaw Moe Tun, unexpectedly urged the UN to use "all necessary means" to neutralize the coup.

In a speech before the General Assembly, which ended with the three-finger salute that has become the symbol of the protests, he assured that he was speaking on behalf of the deposed Government by declaring: “We need the strongest possible action from the international community to put an immediate end to the military coup, to stop oppressing innocent people and to restore democracy ”.

On the same Saturday, Burmese state television announced that Kyaw Moe Sun had been fired by the country's military commanders.

The military junta has also stepped up its campaign of arrests against activists and those taking part in the protests.

According to the state television network, 479 people were arrested this Saturday for "protesting against the state."

Their number is in addition to the more than 850 people arrested, charged or convicted for their involvement in the demonstrations, according to the Association for Aid to Political Prisoners (AAPP) of Burma.

Although Myanmar's current strongman, General Min Aung Hlaing, said last week that authorities were just using force to stop the protests, at least 10 protesters have already died since the coup.

Today's victims are joined by three others, who died during protests in Naypyidó, the capital, and Mandalay more than a week ago.

The escalation has drawn condemnation from the UN Human Rights Office.

In a statement, spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani demanded that the military "immediately end the force against peaceful protesters."

“The Burmese people have the right to assemble peacefully and demand the return of democracy.

These rights must be respected by the army and the police, not be met with violent and bloody repression ”.

“The clear escalation by Myanmar's security forces in the use of lethal force in multiple cities and towns across the country in response to protesters against the mostly peaceful coup is scandalous and unacceptable, and must be stopped immediately.

Live fire should not be used to control or disperse protests, and lethal force can only be used to protect lives or prevent serious injury, ”Phil Robertson, deputy director for Asia of the human rights organization, said in a statement.

Human Rights Watch.