Yangon, Sep 28 (DPA) Defying a brutal crackdown that has already claimed more than a dozen lives and led to hundreds of arrests, thousands of people in this former capital of Myanmar returned to the streets Friday on the 11th day of their protests against the military regime.
But the protests were smaller and less confrontational than those on Wednesday and Thursday, eyewitnesses said.
Shortly after noon, hundreds of people, some armed with sticks, began to converge on the road leading to Sule Pagoda, a flashpoint of the protests over the past week, but they eventually dispersed without a major showdown.
The protesters gathered despite an army order that Sule and four other popular pagodas in the city were “no go zones” for the citizenry.
Hundreds of people also marched down Shwebontha Pabetan and Pansoedan streets in downtown Yangon, but they backed off when they ran into police barricades. The police fired warning shots in the air and tear-gas shells, driving the marchers back.
Anti-government protests, which initially started on Sep 18 as peaceful marches led by Buddhist monks, took a more violent turn Wednesday when the government unleashed riot police and soldiers on demonstrators.
After Wednesday’s crackdown on the marching monks, ordinary people took the lead in protests Thursday.
Standoffs between civilians and authorities were reported throughout the city Thursday, leaving at least nine people dead, including one Japanese photojournalist, according to state media.
Other sources said as many as 15 died, including a revered Buddhist abbot who was beaten as soldiers raided his temple before dawn.
The Oslo-based opposition radio station Democratic Voice of Burma said Friday that it has been unable to establish how many monks were arrested in Yangon Thursday morning, when security personnel raided at least two monasteries dragging monks away, leaving bloodstains in their rooms.
A school near the notorious Insein prison has also been converted into a temporary detention centre housing at least 300 monks, according to accounts received in Oslo.
More protests are expected over the weekend. One worrying sign is that all Internet connections were cut in the city Thursday morning.
The Internet has been a major source of news out of Yangon, where foreign journalists are barred entry.
A special session of the UN Human Rights Council was announced Friday to discuss the situation in Myanmar. The council, which is concluding its sixth regular session in Geneva, will meet again Tuesday at the request of 17 member states.
Amnesty International Friday urged the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to take “prompt and effective action” to avoid further violence and human rights violations in Myanmar.
“The current situation demands resolute interventions to prevent the threat of massive human rights violations. By using its influence to ensure the Myanmar authorities respect human rights, ASEAN will send a crucial signal to its member states and the world that it is committed to the protection and promotion of human rights,” said Amnesty.
The 10-member ASEAN Thursday condemned the violence committed by one of its member-country. The statement was distributed at UN headquarters, where foreign ministers of ASEAN were taking part in debate in the UN General Assembly.
More than 100 Cambodians braved monsoon rain Friday to stage a peaceful protest in Phnom Penh against the Myanmar military junta in what they called a show of solidarity with anti-government demonstrators there.
On the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, the government of Myanmar has agreed to receive a UN envoy dispatched to assess the crisis in the country, a UN spokeswoman said.
Myanmar’s Foreign Minister Nyan Win gave an assurance that UN envoy will be received in Yangon, the UN said.
Refusing to toe the US line, Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda Friday ruled out immediate sanctions against Myanmar though a Japanese photographer was shjot dead by a soldier while clicking photos of the demonstrators in downtown Yandon Wednesday.
“Much of Japan’s assistance (to Myanmar) is humanitarian,” Fukuda told reporters. “We won’t immediately impose sanctions and should rather think about how this situation can be resolved,” Fukuda added.
The US Thursday imposed sanctions against 14 top officials in Myanmar’s ruling military regime for the violent crackdown against democratic activists.
The US Treasury Department Thursday placed the sanctions on the chief of the ruling State Peace and Development Council, Senior General Than Shwe, who also serves as defence minister and effectively rules the junta.