827 KILLED BY MYANMAR JUNTA FORCES SINCE COUP

Thu 27 May 2021:

At least 827 were killed by regime forces across Myanmar from Feb. 15 to May. 15, according to a local monitoring group.

The latest victims were in Bago Township in the southern-central Bago Region, Myo Thit Township in the central Magway Region, and the town of Kale in the northwestern Sagaing Region, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) said in an update late on Tuesday.

One of the people killed was Mae Gyi, also known as Soe Moe Hlaing, a former political prisoner and member of the All Burma Students’ Democratic Front.

He was arrested on May 22 and “killed yesterday evening from brutal torture in interrogation,” the AAPP said.

A total of 4,313 people are currently under detention in Myanmar, with 102 of them having been sentenced, the report said.

Children killed

At least 73 children were killed by regime forces across Myanmar from Feb. 15 to May. 15, according to the Ministry of Human Rights of the National Unity Government (NUG).

Several children were shot while playing near or inside their homes as soldiers and police raided residential areas while shooting at random. Others died during protests.

Mandalay Region saw the highest number of children killed with 26 deaths, while Yangon recorded 13 killed, according to the NUG’s current list of fatalities.

The Ministry of Human Rights said that the children killed during the current fighting in Chin State’s Mindat, Sagaing Region’s Kani and Demoso, Kayah State had not been included on the list. Nor were the children killed by junta artillery strikes documented on the list. The ministry said that an updated list will be released soon.

Children continue to be among those killed and injured by regime airstrikes in ethnic areas where civilian resistance fighters are defending themselves against junta attacks and crackdowns.

In the most recent incident, 13-year-old Aung De was killed after his home was hit by an artillery shell on Monday afternoon in Kachin State’s Momauk Township. Locals said the shell was fired by junta forces and that some houses were also destroyed.

A 10-year-old child also died in a bomb blast in Tedim, northern Chin State, which also injured a six-year-old and a ten-year-old.

According to the AAPP, the junta has issued arrest warrants for 1,861 people, 20 of whom will face the death penalty and 14 will be jailed for three years with hard labor if they are caught.

Pro-democracy protests erupted in Myanmar when the military seized power on Feb. 1 by overthrowing civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government.

Protesters continue to defy the junta despite its lethal crackdown and use of brutal methods against civilians throughout the Southeast Asian country.

Many countries, including the US, have imposed sanctions on the military regime.

Suu Kyi attended a court hearing Monday, her first public appearance since being detained by the military.

FOLLOW INDEPENDENT PRESS:

TWITTER (CLICK HERE)
https://twitter.com/IpIndependent