Myanmar activists find new ways to protest as EU prepares sanctions on junta

[March 22, 2021]  (Reuters) - Protesters honked car horns in Myanmar on Monday and planted posters in an empty square to avoid arrest, injury or death as the European Union prepared to impose sanctions on 11 people linked to last month's coup and subsequent crackdown.

At least 250 people have been killed so far in anti-junta protests which the security forces are trying to stamp out, according to figures from the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners activist group.

"The number of murders has reached an unbearable extent, which is why we will not be able to avoid imposing sanctions," German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas told reporters as he arrived in Brussels for a meeting with his EU counterparts.

The names of 11 people involved in the coup and repression of demonstrators will be made public after the meeting, the EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said.

They would be the bloc's most significant response to the coup so far.

According to diplomats and two internal documents seen by Reuters last week, the EU is also planning to target companies "generating revenue for, or providing financial support to, the Myanmar Armed Forces".

"We don't intend to punish the people of Myanmar but those who blatantly violate human rights," Maas said.

A spokesman for the junta did not respond to calls seeking comment. He has previously said security forces have used force only when necessary.

The Southeast Asian nation has been locked in crisis since the elected government led by Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi was overthrown by the military on Feb 1.

The violence has forced many citizens to think up novel ways to express their rejection of a return to army rule.

CAR HORNS, SHOTS

In downtown areas of the commercial capital Yangon, motorists honked car horns in response to a call on social media to mark the one-month anniversary of the launch of one of the biggest demonstrations since the coup.

In the western town of Mindat in Chin state, protesters planted scores of posters in a square in front of the main market saying "Military dictatorship must fail".

In the latest violence, one person was killed in the country's second city of Mandalay, aid workers and news reports said.

Four people were killed and several wounded in the city on Sunday when security forces opened fire after residents tried to resist efforts by the military to set up a base in a school, the Myanmar Now news portal reported.

One man was shot dead and several were wounded when police opened fire on a group setting up a barricade in the central town of Monywa, a doctor there said on Sunday as a community group issued a call on Facebook for blood donors.

A demonstrator gestures near a barricade during a protest against the military coup in Mandalay, Myanmar March 22, 2021. REUTERS/Stringer

"Sniper, sniper," people can be heard shouting in a video clip shortly after the man was shot in the head in Monywa and more shots rang out.

State media said on Sunday that men on motorcycles attacked a member of the security forces who later died. The military said two policemen were killed in earlier protests.

SOUTHEAST ASIAN DIPLOMATIC PUSH

The junta says a Nov. 8 election won by Suu Kyi's party was fraudulent, an accusation rejected by the electoral commission. Military leaders have promised a new election but have not set a date.

Asian neighbours, who have for years avoided criticising each other, have begun speaking out.

Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan will visit Brunei Darussalam on Monday before going to Malaysia and Indonesia, which are seeking an urgent meeting of Southeast Asia's ASEAN regional grouping, of which Myanmar is a member.

Heng Swee Keat, deputy prime minister of Singapore, said his country was "appalled by the violent crackdowns against civilians" and called for a return to the democratic transition.

The island-state, which has deep economic ties with Myanmar, has previously called the military action a "national shame".

The BBC said on Monday that one of its reporters in Myanmar who was detained by plainclothes men three days ago had been freed. Aung Thura, from the BBC's Burmese service, was detained on Friday along with a journalist who works for the domestic Mizzima news service.

There was no immediate word on the whereabouts of the Mizzima reporter.

Australian media reported that two Australian business consultants were detained as they tried to leave Myanmar, but it was not clear why. An Australian foreign ministry spokesperson said it was providing consular assistance but declined to comment further for privacy reasons.

Sean Turnell, an Australian economic adviser to deposed leader Suu Kyi, was detained last month. The army has not announced any charges against Turnell, who is among nearly 2,000 people the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners says have been detained since the coup.

"Every day I imagine the moment my phone rings and you are at the other end of the line, telling me you are your way home," Turnell's wife Ha Vu wrote on her Facebook page on Monday. "I pray for that day to be soon. In the meantime, I irrevocably believe that you are still treated well, with dignity and respect."

(Reporting by Reuters Staff; Writing by Ed Davies and Raju Gopalakrishnan; Editing by Michael Perry and Philippa Fletcher)

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