News (1) to (4) / Source : The Irrawaddy
News (1)
Worried about COVID-19 spike, detained Suu Kyi urges people for more caution
Detained State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is worried about the country’s rising cases of coronavirus and urged people to be more careful.
“Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is concerned about the COVID-19 infections. She told the people to be more careful,” said Daw San Mar Lar Nyunt, one of her lawyers, who met her on Monday during her ongoing trial.
Two of her lawyers, Daw San Mar Lar Nyunt and U Kyi Win, tested negative for COVID-19 before traveling to Naypyitaw to represent her on Monday. With rising COVID-19 cases, they have to test every time before traveling and acquire certificates to prove their health.
The regime has filed seven charges against her following the February coup.
Myanmar has been hit by a wave of COVID-19 since May with most cases reported in the border towns with India, China and Bangladesh and Yangon and Bago regions.
On Sunday, there were 804 new COVID-19 positive cases across Myanmar, according to the junta’s health ministry. Myanmar on Sunday had 153,160 COVID-19 cases with 3,297 deaths nationwide, according to the junta.
When the first cases of coronavirus were reported in late March last year, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi asked people to follow preventative measures, including wearing masks, washing hands and practicing social distancing. She used Facebook for the first time to engage with more people. Her government imposed stay-at-home orders and opened quarantine centers.
Following the February coup, COVID-19 testing dropped as health care staff joined the civil disobedience movement, refusing to work for the military regime.
As COVID-19 cases have risen, the regime reopened quarantine centers but the military-controlled authorities lack any popular support. Hospitals and quarantine centers are largely undermanned as many staff remain on strike. Many people with symptoms remain in self-isolation at home rather than heading to hospital, in contrast with last year, as they believe the regime could not provide proper care.
By Monday, the regime had imposed stay-at-home orders on 11 townships in Sagaing and Bago regions, and Chin and Shan states.
News (2)
As new covid wave hits Myanmar, daily cases soar
Myanmar had a record new number of COVID-19 cases on Monday with 1,225 positive tests from 6,586 conducted tests and 12 deaths, the highest spike and death toll since the recent wave in May.
The cases have been increasing from less than 200 on June 12 to over 1,200 on Monday,
On Monday, Myanmar had 154,385 COVID-19 cases with 3,309 deaths, according to the junta-controlled health ministry. The ministry has imposed stay-at-home orders on 11 townships in Sagaing and Bago regions and Chin and Shan states.
Following the February coup, COVID-19 testing dropped as health care staff joined the civil disobedience movement (CDM), refusing to work for the military regime. The regime since Feb. 8 has called on health staff to return to work.
Under the ousted civilian National League for Democracy government, around 16,000 to 18,000 swab tests a day were carried out in January.
But between February and early June, only around 1,500 to 2,000 tests per day were administered.
The number of daily swab tests has increased again between 3,000 and 7,000 since June 12.
Most cases were reported in the border towns with India, China and Bangladesh and Yangon, Ayeyarwady and Bago regions and the junta has yet to come up with effective measures to contain the virus.
The health ministry said on Monday that it had distributed over 12 million surgical masks since June 1 and carried out health awareness activities.
State-run media reported that three mutant strains of coronavirus have been detected in Myanmar, including the Delta strain from India.
The junta is expanding quarantine centers, opening dedicated hospital wards and promoting vaccines from India and China.
Myanmar’s COVID-19 vaccine program has also struggled under the junta with millions of civilians refusing the jab and thousands of health workers choosing to go on strike and join the CDM.
The NLD government started a nationwide COVID-19 vaccination program on January 27 with health-care staff and volunteer medical workers the first to receive shots of the AstraZeneca vaccine donated by India.
But following the military takeover on Feb. 1, almost all health workers have refused to receive the second jab in protest against military rule.
The regime claimed in May that more than 1.7 million citizens have received two jabs.
However, many people have refused to get inoculated due to distrust of the military’s quality control of COVID-19 vaccines.
“We are not getting the jabs so we have to test for COVID-19 every time we travel to Naypyitaw,” said a lawyer from Yangon who is representing State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi during her Naypyitaw trials and needs a certificate proving a negative COVID-19 test.
News (3)
Myanmar Junta soldiers do not even spare their opponents' babies
No laughing family members gathered around. No blowing out the candles with friends. No cake. This was how one of Myanmar’s youngest political detainees, Su Htet Wyne, spent her fifth birthday on Monday, in the regime’s custody.
She was arrested together with her mother and sister on June 13 because her father was an anti-regime protest leader in Mogoke, Mandalay Region. Junta soldiers took the three as hostages after failing to find Ko Soe Htay at their home on the day.
A warrant was issued for the father on an incitement charge for organizing anti-regime protests. When the junta forces came to arrest him, he and his two sons were not at home, as they had gone into hiding.
“As they couldn’t find me, they arrested my daughters, including a minor, and my wife,” Ko Soe Htay told The Irrawaddy.
“Today is my daughter’s birthday,” he said.
It has been more than two weeks since the arrests. Relatives have had no contact with Ko Soe Htay’s wife and two daughters since the arrests and have not been allowed to see them. The three were not allowed to take anything with them, according to the father.
The case of Su Htet Wyne, her mother and sister is just one example of the Myanmar junta’s increasingly common tactic of detaining family members, relatives and friends and holding them as bait in an effort to lure pro-democracy activists to come out of hiding and turn themselves in.
Su Htet Wyne, her mother and sister are among at least 91 people who have been taken away by junta forces during raids that failed to turn up targeted individuals. These targets have included protesters, student union members, National League for Democracy (NLD) members, journalists and striking civil servants, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) and local media.
On May 5, the 20-day-old baby and the wife of Ko Than Win, a protest leader in Mudon, Mon State, were arrested as hostages. A month earlier, on April 5, junta forces detained five relatives of strike leader Ko Ja Lay, including two girls aged 2 and 4. In both cases, the family members were released later the same day.
However, 62 of the 91 junta hostages remain in detention. Among them are mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, siblings, nephews, nieces and other relatives of wanted opponents of the coup.
The mother of Judge U Kaung Myat Thu from the Chaung-U Township Court in Sagaing Region was beaten and arrested on April 27 and remains in detention.
On April 22, junta forces searching for Pu Do Sian Pau, a member of the opposition Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), arrested his mother and his 70-year-old father, a retired pastor of the Cope Memorial Baptist Church in Tedim, Chin State. Both are still in detention.
Daw Mi Nge, the mother of activist sons Ko Tin Htut Paing and his brother, was beaten and arrested after junta forces unsuccessfully searched for the two in Yangon’s North Okkalapa Township. During the search for the activists, their 90-year-old grandmother was also beaten.
The mother was interrogated for several days before being moved to Insein Prison, and later sentenced to three years for incitement under Article 505(a).
Human Rights Watch (HRW) recently called on the junta to immediately and unconditionally release all those wrongfully held and to end all collective punishment.
The arrest of family members and friends is intended to send a chilling message to activists and members of the CDM that no members of their families are safe, the New York-based international human rights watchdog said in a statement on June 14.
“The detention of people based solely on their relationship to another person is a form of collective punishment, which violates the right to liberty and security of person and the right to a fair trial,” HRW stated.
“Myanmar’s junta has taken unlawful detention to a noxious new level by detaining those close to people who themselves should not be facing arrest,” Phil Robertson, the group’s deputy Asia director, was quoted as saying in the statement.
“Concerned governments should urgently impose targeted sanctions and a global arms embargo or expect the junta to continue to raise the stakes on abusive actions,” he said.
News (4)
Myanmar regime offers no help as Kalaymyo struggles with fresh covid outbreak
Funerals have become a common sight in Kalaymyo, Sagaing Region as the town grapples with a severe COVID-19 outbreak, while also mounting armed resistance against the military regime.
Residents are in a state of panic as every day brings new fatalities.
“People have died every day this month. A few days ago, over 20 people died in a single day. And most of them died of COVID-19. It has been more than a month since the COVID-19 outbreak started here in Kalaymyo,” said local resident Ko Kyaw.
Kalaymyo, also known as Kale or Kalay, has experienced the highest death toll and the largest number of new infections since Myanmar was hit by the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. As of June 26, over 100 Kale residents had died of COVID-19 since the first cases were reported in May.
The town in northwest Myanmar was also one of the first to take up arms against the military regime following the junta’s Feb. 1 coup. Some 40 residents have died in clashes between local resistance fighters and junta forces, according to locals, and sporadic clashes between people’s defense forces and regime soldiers continue to take place near the town.
Coronavirus cases have spun out of control because the township hospital is overstretched and ill-equipped to deal with the outbreak, as well as suffering from a shortage of oxygen, volunteers and donors. The dusk-to-dawn curfew imposed by the junta has also had an impact, as patients are unable to go to hospital during the curfew.
Tar Han ward, where most residents are ethnic Chin, in the west of Kalaymyo, has been hit hardest by the COVID-19 outbreak. Some 50 percent of the households in Tar Han are infected with the virus, said Kalaymyo resident U Ko Ko Maung.
“There were many bodies at the Chin cemeteries yesterday. Tar Han is experiencing the worst situation in Kale,” he said.
Over half of Kalaymyo’s 300,000-plus residents are ethnic Chin or from other minorities, with Bamar people making up the rest of the population.
News (5) to (8) / Source : Myanmar Now
News (5)
Ta'ang National Liberation Army bans sale of goods from military companies in its territory
The Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) has ordered businesses operating within its territory to stop selling products made by military-owned companies by the end of the month.
A letter to merchants from the tax department of the armed group’s political wing, dated June 15, said shops that fail to adhere to the order will first receive a warning and then be subject to penalties, though it did not specify what they would be.
Merchants were given the order at meetings held in TNLA-controlled townships and villages, the letter said. The group operates in several townships in northern Shan State, including Namsan, Namtu, Namkham, Kyaukme, Hsipaw, Muse, and Kutkai.
Products banned under the new rules include Myanmar Beer, Red Ruby and Premium Gold cigarettes, and tickets for buses run by Shwe Mann Thu, Parami, and other military companies.
The order will bolster a nationwide campaign to boycott military products that began in the wake of the February 1 coup and has been endorsed by the underground National Unity Government.
TNLA spokesperson Major Tar Aike Kyaw could not be reached for comment.
One man in his forties from Namkham township, where the majority of the population is Ta’ang, said he welcomed the new rules as part of efforts to bring down the regime.
“It’s like they’re teaming up with Covid to kill the people. Whatever is necessary to put an end to MAL,” he said, referring to junta leader Min Aung Hlaing.
A vendor from Kutkai said he also welcomed the ban and was happy to abide by it even though it may cause some hardship.
“The struggles that shops will face because of this ban will differ from shop to shop. I’ll be selling the products I still have in stock until the end of the month, and after that we won’t stock them again,” he said.
The TNLA is one of four groups that make up the Northern Alliance, which has condemned the military’s coup. The TNLA is among several groups that have clashed with the military in and around Kutkai since early May.
U Maung had hoped to be vaccinated before Thingyan, the traditional Myanmar New Year’s festival in mid-April.
A month later, however, the 69-year-old resident of Myingyan in Mandalay Region still hasn’t received the Covid-19 vaccine that the government started making available in late January.
The reason is that Myanmar no longer has a government. Instead, it is ruled by a dictatorship that has dedicated most of its energy since seizing power on February 1 to crushing anti-coup protests.
The vaccine rollout hasn’t ground to a complete halt, but it has been thrown into disarray, leaving millions exposed to the impact of a power struggle that pits the military against the majority of the country’s population.
For his part, U Maung has decided to take his chances with a virus that has killed millions of people globally over the past year, rather than submit to the ministrations of a regime that has murdered hundreds of civilians in the past three months.
“I have no desire whatsoever to get vaccinated if they’re the ones administering it. I don’t trust them at all,” he said, echoing a sentiment expressed by many around the country.
Fighting on two fronts
A nationwide vaccination program was just getting underway when the junta upended it by overthrowing the elected National League for Democracy (NLD) government.
The NLD program, which aimed to cut the infection rate in a country that ranked fourth in Southeast Asia for the number of confirmed cases per capita, relied on the India-produced Covishield vaccine to protect the most vulnerable.
Starting with 1.5 million doses gifted by India, the NLD government had also ordered another 30 million doses as part of an ambitious program to control the spread of the virus.
Among the first to receive the vaccine were healthcare workers, public servants, and members of parliament. Vaccinations for the general public were due to begin by the first week of February.
But before that could happen, the NLD government was ousted, and the nation faced a new crisis in the form of a return to military rule.
After nearly a year on the frontlines of the battle against Covid-19, healthcare workers soon found themselves at the forefront of a very different struggle. Within days of the coup, medical professionals launched the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) against the newly formed junta.
To counter the regime’s efforts to consolidate its control over the state, they abandoned their jobs at public hospitals and began offering their services through charity and private clinics.
They were later joined by tens of thousands of other civil servants. According to the website CDM2021.org, there are over 200,000 public employees taking part in the CDM, of whom more than 17,000 are healthcare workers.
But the loss of much of its medical workforce didn’t prevent the regime from resuming the vaccination program, which has become a key part of its bid to bolster its claims to legitimacy.
However, its efforts to date have done little to inspire confidence. Observers have noted that propaganda images of people being vaccinated betray a slipshod approach that suggests a lack of proper training.
“From the way they hold two or three needles at a time, instead of taking them out one by one, to the way they have the same person both filling the syringes and giving the shot, there are just so many things wrong with how they’re handling this,” said Khine Khine, a nurse from Mandalay.
Specially trained to take part in the mass vaccination program, Khine Khine was forced to choose between fighting the virus and resisting the regime. In February she left her job because she decided the junta represented the greater threat.
A politicized pandemic response
More than three months after the coup, Myanmar has fallen dangerously far behind in its efforts to combat Covid-19.
Instead of receiving 30 million doses of the Covishield vaccine, it has acquired just 3.5 million. Meanwhile, according to the junta’s own figures, as of April 21, just 1.54 million people had received their first shot, while only 340,000 had returned for their second dose after the prescribed four-week interval.
Most of those who are at least partly inoculated belong to the first cohort vaccinated in January. Ironically, that means that CDM workers and MPs in detention or on the run are among the tiny handful of people in the country with some degree of protection from Covid-19.
But it is this same group that is now among the least likely to become fully vaccinated. The vaccination program has become so highly politicized since the coup that rejecting it is seen by many as a way of defying the regime—which has, in turn, weaponized it against its opponents.
Dr Thiha Kyaw, a doctor from Yangon who has joined the CDM, made no secret of his contempt for the generals who are now running the program.
“It’s just a way to defy and oppose those rebels,” he said of his decision to refuse a second shot. “I don’t want to support what they’re doing. I’m being faithful to my country and my people.”
But while this attitude may seem incompatible with his better judgment as a doctor, it also reflects the fact that the junta has made a point of making access to the vaccine contingent on acceptance of its rule.
In Hpa-an, the capital of Karen State, only public servants who have not joined the CDM are eligible to receive the vaccine, according to a local source who spoke to Myanmar Now.
The source, who is close to healthcare workers and teachers participating in the CDM, cited the example of two junior doctors from the city’s general hospital who were vaccinated in January and were later urged to quit the CDM so they could get a second shot. They refused and went into hiding when it became clear that they had come under scrutiny from senior officials.
“The head of the hospital made an announcement that any staff who came back to work would be vaccinated as planned,” the source said, adding that the same offer was made to teachers who abandoned the CDM.
Plagued by distrust
Apart from those deliberately excluded from the vaccination program, there are many others who choose not to participate, either for political reasons or simply out of a lack of trust in the junta’s capacity to implement public-health measures.
Political opposition to the regime reaches far beyond the ranks of CDM workers. Millions have come out around the country to demand the restoration of civilian rule, braving crackdowns that have so far killed more than 800 civilians.
For many, then, the idea of giving the military an opportunity to portray itself as a saver of lives is difficult to stomach. This is why much of the country has shunned its vaccination efforts.
There are also others, however, who take a more pragmatic view.
Maung Shwe, a 58-year-old native of the Kayah State capital Loikaw who has received two shots, said that those who refuse to accept the vaccine from the military are “being extreme”.
Noting that both the general hospital and the military hospital in Loikaw were offering the vaccine at the end of April, he insisted that he really didn’t care where it came from, as long as it worked.
“Whether it’s from the military or the general hospital, you just have to get the vaccine. The military has it and the public hospital has it. They’re both very convenient. We should be grateful,” he said.
This is, of course, exactly what the junta wants to hear. In an article published by state-run media on May 10, the military said it had sent medical teams in response to “the requests of workers and locals in regions facing difficulty.”
It added: “The locals were extremely grateful and satisfied with the healthcare they received.”
The reality, however, is that many remain wary of the regime’s professed commitment to protecting the health of the country’s citizens.
“It is a controversial issue among the public, regarding how much they trust the vaccines” provided by the junta, remarked one observer who has closely followed the vaccine rollout.
One cause of concern is that the regime has started using vaccines sourced from China. In early May, it received a shipment of half a million doses of Vero Cell, a vaccine backed by the Chinese military.
In a country where anti-Chinese sentiment runs strong, this was seen by some as further evidence of Beijing’s self-interested role in perpetuating the Myanmar military’s grip on power.
More generally, however, there is a feeling that the regime can’t be trusted to store and distribute any vaccine properly without the cooperation of trained medical professionals.
“I know the vaccines need to be kept in specific conditions. But most doctors are now involved in the CDM, so I’m concerned the vaccines won’t be handled appropriately,” said Phoe Htoo, a 70-year-old resident of Yinmabin in Sagaing who said he was unsure about getting the vaccine.
A clear and present danger
Perhaps the most compelling reason that most are lukewarm about receiving the vaccine is the inescapable fact that Myanmar is a nation under siege, where the invisible menace of the coronavirus is eclipsed by the threat of a military run amok.
This fact was underlined on May 6, when regime soldiers shot and killed a woman who had just been vaccinated while she was sitting in a car parked in front of a Mandalay hospital.
By comparison with such atrocities, which have become a regular feature of life under the current regime, Covid-19 seems like a relatively minor concern to many.
“You can protect yourself from infection, and not every case results in death. But with this dictatorship, you’re not even safe in your own home. You’re not safe anywhere. It’s a constant mental torture,” said a 20-year-old man in Tamu, a town in Sagaing Region that has seen major clashes between locals and junta forces.
U Maung, the Myingyan native who refused to get the vaccine despite being in a high-risk age group, expressed the difference even more starkly.
“If the dictatorship falls, the lives of all 50 million people in Myanmar will be better. Covid-19 won’t kill us all,” he said.
Meanwhile, neighbouring India and Thailand, which have both seen surges in the number of new cases, serve as reminders that the pandemic is far from over.
It is difficult to gauge the extent of the spread of the disease in Myanmar because testing has been reduced to just a tenth of what it was before the coup.
More than 60% of the cases diagnosed before February were asymptomatic, so it is likely that the number of new cases reported by the regime—just a dozen or so per day since mid-April, based on an average of about a thousand tests a day—greatly understates the magnitude of the problem.
So far, more than 140,000 have tested positive for Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic, of whom 3,212 have died, according to official figures.
While a more accurate measure of the scale of the disaster may prove elusive, one thing is clear—that most would rather rely on their own vigilance than on the mismanaged efforts of a despised regime to protect them from harm.
“It’s not a problem to not be vaccinated right now, for the country or its people. Just wear your masks and wash your hands often,” said Dr Thiha Kyaw.
News (7)
Military council raids resistance force base in Kalay
After the junta’s armed forces raided a post belonging to the People’s Defence Force-Kalay (PDF-Kalay) outside the Sagaing Region town on Monday, a spokesperson for the local resistance group said they were forced to withdraw.
At around 5am that day, the military deployed a large number of troops to carry out a raid on the base, the PDF-Kalay spokesperson said.
“Fighting did not break out. We have only handmade guns, so because of an imbalance of weapon power, we withdrew from the area. They fired heavy artillery to the areas where we ran. They fired guns,” he explained.
“We will continue fighting. WeI will not give up,” he added.
There were no casualties reported by members of the PDF, but a civilian was shot in the leg near the post where the raid occurred.
On the afternoon of June 26, a convoy of more than 20 military vehicles travelling from Gangaw Township to Kalay was attacked by the PDF-Kalay, who planted explosives near Pan Mon creek. According to the PDF, there were casualties on the junta’s side.
Similarly, on the following afternoon near Than Pho village, at least nine military personnel were killed in a PDF ambush carried out on four military trucks travelling along the same route, according to the local resistance group.
The military council denied that they had suffered casualties and downplayed the attack.
Junta-run newspapers reported that the military convoy was attacked by men using traditional handmade guns and small weapons for around 10 minutes before the attackers fled. The news outlets added that allegations that nine soldiers were killed were false.
They did, however, report that “terrorists” had ambushed security forces patrolling the area.
Residents of Kalay told Myanmar Now that the junta had recently deployed dozens of military trucks in the town, which is also suffering from an increase in Covid-19 infections.
Despite repression by the military council and the risks of the pandemic, locals have continued to take to the streets in daily protest of the coup regime.
Kalay was among the first townships nationwide to begin civilian-led armed resistance against the junta, following the February 1 coup.
News (8)
Court admits "NLD statements" as evidence against Suu Kyi
The statements, released by the party’s central executive committee on February 7 and 13, were submitted by the prosecution last week as part of its incitement case against Suu Kyi, President Win Myint, and Naypyitaw mayor Myo Aung.
The February 7 statement urged the international community, including the United Nations, foreign governments, and foreign missions in Myanmar, not to recognise the coup regime.
A week later, as the newly installed military council was preparing to enact the controversial Cyber Security Law, the NLD released another statement that said all regulations, rules and laws enacted by the junta were illegal.
Suu Kyi and the other two senior members of her party were charged with incitement under section 505b of the Penal Code. They have been in military custody since the country’s elected civilian government was overthrown on February 1.
Judge Maung Maung Lwin, who presides over a court in Naypyitaw’s Zabuthiri Township specially designated to handle the cases against the three high-profile defendants, ruled out the defence team’s objection to the submitted evidence.
The defence lawyers said they were not “not satisfied” with the township judge’s ruling.
“We objected to the submitted evidence because no one from the party signed those statements. It just said they were from the central executive committee of the NLD,” said lawyer Min Min Soe, a member of the defence team.
The defence team will appeal the decision at a higher, district-level court, she added. The Dekkhina District Court will hear the appeal on July 6, but the defendants are not required to attend the hearing, she said.
Thein Oo, who serves as justice minister in the shadow National Unity Government (NUG), said that basing charges against the three leaders on statements issued after their detention was evidence that the regime was “turning a blind eye to the law.”
“The military council is committing a crime by arresting those who did not commit any crimes, because they are knowingly prosecuting innocent people,” he said.
On Tuesday, lawyers on the defence team met with the defendants for about half an hour, Min Min Soe said. The hearing lasted about three hours.
Suu Kyi, who turned 76 this month, faces a total of seven charges. She could be sentenced to up to 40 years in prison if found guilty on all charges.
In addition to incitement, she has been charged with violating the Official Secrets Act and the Telecommunications Law, illegally importing walkie-talkies, and breaching Covid-19 protocols during last year’s election campaign.
Earlier this month, the regime added corruption to the list of charges against Suu Kyi, accusing her of abusing her position as leader of the ruling party to benefit a private foundation named after her mother, as well as an affiliated project.
News (9) to (10) / Reporter : Li Yun / Editor: Li Quan / Direct translation
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