12th February 2021
Today (12th February) is Union Day in Myanmar and residents woke to the news that the military regime is planning to release 23,000 prisoners. Why?
The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) suggested that it was to make room for future political detainees. If this is true, then it would do away with the need for specially built detention camps which would certainly be a negative as far as Myanmar’s international relationships go. Many previous political prisoners became taxi drivers when they were released, and in the absence of internet connections are a useful source of information and communication.
Another suggestion is that the released prisoners will probably be supporters of the military and will be free to roam the cities serving as agent provacateurs with no obvious links to the authorities. It would certainly be an opportunity for the Military to provoke reaction or even initiate violence against the police themselves, leaving the innocent protestors to carry the blame. If they provoke a violent response by the police, it would give justification for intervention by the military in support of the police and further violent reaction from them. For those of you who are sceptical about conspiracy theories, remember – this is Myanmar.
Yesterday saw demonstrations outside the Chinese Embassy and at this and other demonstrations the ethnic Chinese came out to support the protest movement. The protestors are aware of the role that China is playing in supporting the Generals and they do not like it. At the Human Rights Council China said that “What happens in Myanmar is essentially Myanmar’s internal affairs”. Hmm.
Following on from my previous report that 5 planes from China had arrived with cargo and IT experts, (which was uncorroborated) China vehemently denied this. Protestors assert that the cargo was arms and IT equipment. Yesterday, the Chinese embassy in Yangon issued a statement saying that the planes (which did not exist, remember) were cargo planes containing seafood. From Kunming, which is 1,900 metres above sea level and is 600 km from the nearest port which is Haiphong on Vietnam’s coast.
It looks as though the technicians are going to help build a firewall similar to the one operating in China which will make communications to and from Myanmar difficult. The regime has put pressure on phone providers, with sporadic closure of the services ensuing. To counter this, large quantities of SIM cards are being imported from Thailand, both openly and covertly. It looks as though news and pictures will still filter through from Myanmar.
What the intermittent closure of phones and online services has done is to inflict severe damage on the economy. Since the interference with the services, ATMs have stopped working, and many businesses have suffered as they use Facebook for much of their business-to-business communications and most of their B2C interface.
Down in Mawlamyine, south-east of Yangon, there are reports of the police opening fire on the crowds with two people suffering gunshot wounds.
In latest news, the police have started “night-dragging” in major cities. At 5 am NZ time 13th February (late night in Yangon) police have started raiding houses and apartments and dragging people off into detention. The residents are banging pots and pans to alert others, but a reign of fear is now closing in on night-time Myanmar.
Lorries of detainees arriving at Insein GTI, Yangon.
The Insein GTI is where thousands of monks and citizens were detained during the saffron revolution of 2007 and subsequently tortured. The military are still using the same tactics today.
The detainees include teachers and doctors, and I can see the rest of them reacting very badly to this and closing schools and hospitals to the police and the military.
Just to top off the day, the UN special Rapporteur Tom Andrews has been refused a visa. And no one is putting pressure on China.
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