Myanmar military occupies hospitals and universities ahead of mass strike

CNN can not independently confirm this reporting and the small print surrounding Khin Maung Latt's loss of life usually are not instantly clear.

Khin Maung Latt had labored as a marketing campaign supervisor for one in all two Muslim lawmakers elected in 2020. Mourners gathered for his funeral on Sunday in Yangon.

Hospital occupation fears

Over the weekend, Myanmar troops had been seen occupying hospitals and universities in Yangon and Mandalay, based on native media Myanmar Now. Activists worry their presence might hinder therapy for wounded protesters or allow arrests.

An official on the UN Workplace of the Excessive Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) mentioned that no less than 5 hospitals had been being occupied Monday.

"We have received credible reports of hospitals being occupied in Myanmar today, including at least four hospitals in parts of Yangon and at least one other in Mandalay," mentioned James Rodehaver, chief of OHCHR's Myanmar workforce.

"Such activity is completely unacceptable. Hospitals are locations under the protection of international humanitarian law."

On Monday, worldwide group Physicians for Human Rights condemned the "invasion and occupation of public hospitals and wanton excessive force against civilians."

"If it was not obvious before, it is absolutely clear now: the Myanmar military will not stop violating the rights of the people of Myanmar until the international community acts decisively to prevent and account for these outrageous acts," the group mentioned in an announcement.

Physicians for Human Rights mentioned the navy's occupation of hospitals was "a violation of international law -- which only serves to further undermine a health care system already embattled by the Covid-19 pandemic and by the military's recent coup d'état."

"This widespread siege of hospitals follows several days of prominent civilian injuries and casualties, and can be interpreted as a direct attempt to impede access to care for civilians," mentioned an announcement from Sandra Mon, of the Heart for Public Well being and Human Rights at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg Faculty of Public Well being.

"It is also a threat to attending medics to warn them against further treating injured protestors. The Myanmar military has impunity despite their intentional acts of nighttime terror. We may be seeing a nationwide upsurge in military retaliation against peaceful protestors and medics in the days to come."

Myanmar's police power mentioned safety forces are "maintaining" varied universities and hospitals all through the nation "for the benefit of the people," state-run newspaper International New Mild of Myanmar reported.

Myanmar labor unions known as for a nationwide strike Monday, as a part of a civil disobedience marketing campaign towards the coup. Eighteen unions of main industries together with agriculture, vitality, mining, development, meals, and transportation have known as for a "full-extended shutdown of Myanmar economy."

"The labor organizations of Myanmar stand united in support of an extended nationwide work stoppage against the military coup and for the future of Myanmar democracy," a joint assertion learn. "No one can force any Myanmar citizen to work; we are not slaves to the military junta now and we never shall be."

In the meantime, girls's teams have known as for folks to end up Monday to mark Worldwide Girls's Day, and "fly" their Htamains (sarongs) as a part of the anti-junta motion. Pictures confirmed girls marching with their Htamains flying like flags behind them, or hung throughout streets in entrance of barricades.

As protests continued Monday, no less than two folks died within the northern metropolis of Myitkyina after police opened hearth on protesters, based on Reuters who cited witnesses. A number of others had been injured within the violence.

Weekend of violence

The decision to strike follows huge protests Sunday that had been violently suppressed by the navy, based on Myanmar Now. The stories mentioned safety forces fired stay and rubber bullets in cities across the nation, together with Mandalay and Nyaung-U -- near the traditional metropolis and UNESCO World Heritage web site of Bagan.

Myanmar navy personnel had been filmed beating a person on the streets of Mandalay, and in Nyaung-U, footage obtained by Reuters confirmed safety forces in riot gear with shields marching down the streets firing stay and rubber bullets as protesters took cowl.

Pictures sourced from native media present the bullets within the fingers of protesters that had been used towards them. Eyewitnesses informed CNN that police had been additionally holding small daggers, forcing protesters to disperse.

No less than 1,790 folks have been detained, arrested, charged or sentenced by the navy junta because it seized energy, based on watchdog group AAPP.

AAPP mentioned the junta had been "intentionally terrorizing residents with live ammunition in Yangon."

"After brutal crackdowns on peaceful protests yesterday (Saturday) by the police and military, brutal acts continued into the night, raids into residential areas and homes, gunfire, and unlawful search and detentions," AAPP mentioned.

The lethal violence towards protesters has drawn lots of of hundreds of individuals to affix demonstrations and civil disobedience campaigns in cities and cities throughout the nation. A handful of these have been police personnel, who've damaged ranks to affix the protesters.

Final week, an official in western Chin state -- which borders India and Bangladesh -- requested the detention and return of eight police personnel who sought refuge within the Indian state of Mizoram.

Within the letter to his Indian state counterpart, the deputy commissioner in Myanmar's Falam District mentioned they need to be handed again "in order to uphold friendly relations." In keeping with a letter obtained by CNN, of the eight officers, 4 are aged of their twenties.

Talking at a information convention, Indian Ministry of Exterior Affairs spokesman Anurag Srivastava mentioned: "As of now, we are ascertaining the facts. We will revert once we have more details."

Srivastava mentioned India is maintaining an in depth eye on the state of affairs in Myanmar. "We are in talks with our partner countries on this. We have said earlier that the issue must be resolved peacefully" he mentioned.

In the meantime, Australia on Monday mentioned it had suspended a bilateral protection cooperation program with the Myanmar navy following the coup and the "escalating violence and rising death toll," International Affairs Minister Marise Payne mentioned.

This system was restricted to non-combat areas corresponding to English language coaching however was criticized by rights teams for participating with the navy regardless of documented abuses and battle in ethnic states. Critics additionally cited the 2017 navy offensive towards Rohingya civilians in Rakhine state, which compelled 740,000 folks to flee to neighboring Bangladesh and prompted a genocide case on the Worldwide Courtroom of Justice.

Payne mentioned in an announcement that Australia's help program will likely be re-directed to "the immediate humanitarian needs of the most vulnerable and poor including the Rohingyas and other ethnic minorities."