SECURITY FORCES IN MYANMAR KILLED MORE THAN 40 CHILDREN SINCE COUP: RIGHTS GROUP

Mon 03 May 2021:

Security forces in Myanmar killed six more people, taking the death toll since protests began against the Feb. 1 military coup to 765, according to a local monitoring group.

Five people were killed on Sunday and one on Saturday but documented on Sunday, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) said in its latest report.

“This is the number verified by AAPP. The actual number of fatalities is likely much higher,” the group said.

At least 43 children have been killed by armed forces in Myanmar since February’s military coup, according to rights organisation Save the Children.

The group said the South East Asian country was in a “nightmare situation”, with the youngest known victim just six years old.

Also among the dead are a 14-year-old boy who is believed to have been shot while inside – or close to – his home in Mandalay, and a 13-year-old who was shot in Yangon while playing in the street.

Save the Children has warned that the number of children injured in clashes is also likely to be significant, citing the case of a one-year-old baby who was reportedly shot in the eye with a rubber bullet.

The rights group warned that the violence was having an effect on children’s mental health as they suffer fear, grief and stress.

As many as 3,555 people are under detention and 82 of them have been convicted, while 1,396 people have been issued arrest warrants.

The UN’s envoy to Myanmar has warned of the risk of an “imminent bloodbath” as the crackdown against pro-democracy protests in the country intensifies.

The warning follows a flare-up in fighting between the army and ethnic minority militia in border areas.

The crackdown in the Southeast Asian nation started just after Feb. 1, when democratically elected state counselor and de facto head of government Aung San Suu Kyi was ousted in a coup and detained by the military junta.

Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party won a second term in November, but the military said rigging of the polls had forced it to seize power.

Pro-democracy protests have taken place in cities and towns across the country since the military takeover.

The UN and rights groups have expressed concern over the use of disproportionate force by the military junta on unarmed protesters.

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