Myanmar a 'war zone' as security forces open fire on peaceful protesters, killing 38

"Every tool available is needed now to stop this situation," Burgener stated. "We need a unity of the international community, so it's up to the member states to take the right measures."

CNN reached out to the ruling navy regime by way of e mail however has not but obtained a response.

Protesters have for weeks demanded the discharge of democratically elected officers -- together with the nation's chief, Aung San Suu Kyi -- who're in detention. Suu Kyi's Nationwide League for Democracy Celebration received a landslide victory in November elections; navy leaders allege voter fraud however have supplied no proof for his or her declare.

Burgener stated in discussions with the navy, she had warned that the UN Safety Council and member states had been more likely to take sturdy measures. "The answer was: 'We are used to sanctions, and we survived those sanctions in the past'," she stated.

"When I also warned they will go in an isolation, the answer was: 'We have to learn to walk with only few friends'."

Safety forces -- together with members of the navy's Gentle Infantry Divisions lengthy documented to be engaged in human rights abuses in battle zones all through the nation -- escalated their lethal crackdown on peaceable demonstrators this week.

"Today, the country is like the Tiananmen Square in most of its major cities," the Archbishop of Yangon, Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, stated on Twitter.

In a single occasion, Myanmar safety forces had been caught on digital camera beating emergency service personnel with the butts of their weapons, batons and kicking them within the head, based on activist group Help Affiliation for Political Prisoners (AAPP).

The AAPP launched the video on Wednesday and stated in a press release it was from North Okkalapa, in Yangon. The video gives a glimpse into the brutal strategies deployed the safety forces.

Within the footage, three charity employees are requested to get out of their ambulance van at gunpoint, after which made to kneel on the ground with their fingers behind their heads.

Two uniformed law enforcement officials begin hitting the lads within the head with their weapons and batons and likewise kick them. Just a few moments later a bunch of law enforcement officials with shields and members of the navy take part, violently hitting the charity employees.

"The military is treating peaceful protestors in Yangon as a war zone. The military is creating terror, again," AAPP stated.

CNN doesn't know why the charity employees had been stopped by the safety forces.

The AAPP stated stay ammunition was used in opposition to protesters in at the least seven cities and cities Wednesday.

Amongst these killed was a 19-year-old woman within the second-biggest metropolis Mandalay. Her picture flooded social media websites, displaying her carrying a T-shirt that learn "Everything will be OK." Reuters reported she was shot within the head by safety forces.

In Myanmar's largest metropolis, Yangon, witnesses advised Reuters at the least eight individuals had been killed when safety forces opened fireplace with automated weapons within the early night.

"I heard so much continuous firing. I lay down on the ground, they shoot a lot and I saw two people killed on the spot," protester Kaung Pyae Sone Tun, 23, advised Reuters.

One other heavy toll was within the central city of Monywa, the place six individuals had been killed, the Monywa Gazette reported. Others had been killed in varied locations together with Mandalay, the northern city of Hpakant and the central city of Myingyan, based on Reuters.

Rights group Fortify Rights stated Thursday that "the similar use of excessive and lethal force by security forces in towns and cities throughout the country demonstrates coordination between units and an overarching national strategy."

"This isn't a non lethal tactic to disperse protesters. This is an attack on peaceful protesters throughout the country," stated John Quinley, Senior Human Rights Specialist at Fortify Rights. "And these are not crowd control techniques, this is an attack on civilians and people protesting against the military takeover."

The rights group stated images and movies from Wednesday present troopers holding automated weapons, long-range sniper rifles, and different firearms.

UN Particular Rapporteur for human rights in Myanmar, Tom Andrews, stated "we're seeing orders that police and military soldiers shoot people down in cold blood."

"They're using 12-guage shotguns, they're using 38 mm rifles they're using semi-automatic rifles against peaceful protestors that pose no threat to them," he stated.

Andrews stated the world is witnessing an "incredible carnage" in Myanmar and he's "terrified we are going to see even greater violence and killing of innocent people."

World leaders have referred to as for Myanmar's elected leaders to be restored.

A speech by Myanmar's Ambassador to the UN, Kyaw Moe Tun, prompted uncommon applause final week, after he stated he represents the nation's civilian authorities and referred to as on the worldwide neighborhood to make use of "any means necessary" to assist finish the coup.

On Wednesday, a deputy ambassador from Myanmar, U Tin Maung Naing, resigned after navy rulers named him to switch Kyaw Moe Tun.

The US State Division condemned the violence, saying Washington is reviewing coverage choices to answer the current escalations.

"We are appalled and revulsed to see the horrific violent perpetrated against the people of Burma for their peaceful calls to restore civilian governance. We call on all countries to speak with one voice to condemn brutal violence by the Burmese military against its own people and to promote accountability for the military's actions that have led to the loss of life of so many people in Burma," US State Division spokesperson Ned Value stated at a briefing.

Pope Francis additionally appealed for an finish to the violence on Wednesday.

"I appeal also to the international community to act so that the aspirations of the people of Myanmar is not suppressed by violence. That the young people of that beloved land get the opportunity of hope in a future where hate and injustice be replaced by meeting and reconciliation," he stated throughout his weekly viewers.