The Myanmar military has been filmed using lethal tactics and military weapons seen only on the battlefield against peaceful protesters and bystanders across the country, video analysis reveals.
An analysis of more than 50 verified videos filmed on the ground in Myanmar has confirmed security forces have used lethal force, according to Amnesty International’s Crisis Evidence Lab video analysis.
Footage reviewed shows the Myanmar military troops — also known as the Tatmadaw — armed with weapons only appropriate for the battlefield, not for policing actions.
Security forces have also been armed with a variety of military firearms, including Chinese RPD light machine guns, as well as local MA-S sniper rifles, MA-1 semi-automatic rifles, Uzi-replica BA-93 and BA-94 submachine guns, the analysis found.
AP
)It comes amid violent unrest in the country, where more than 60 protesters have been killed and more than 2,000 people have been detained by security forces since the February 1 military coup against elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Military officers have been recorded engaging in reckless behaviour and spraying live ammunition in urban areas.
"These Myanmar military tactics are far from new, but their killing sprees have never before been livestreamed for the world to see," Director of Crisis Response at Amnesty International, Joanne Mariner said.
For years, ethnic minorities in Myanmar have been subjected to horrific violence meted out by the Tatmadaw, Mr Mariner said.
Planned, premeditated use of lethal force
Videos screened by Amnesty International include clips filmed on the ground between February 28 and March 8 by members of the public and local media.
In one video analysed from March 3 in North Okkalapa township, Yangon, officers are seen leading a man towards a larger group of security forces.
The man appears to be in the group's custody and offers no visible resistance, when an officer beside him suddenly shoots him.
He immediately drops to the ground and is left on the road for several seconds before officers then walk back and drag him away.
Reuters/Stringer
)In another verified clip, a group of people can be seen running from a thick cloud of smoke as gunshots sound in the distance.
Panicked voices can be heard saying, "It burns so much" and "One person has died," amid screams of shock as a person with a serious head injury is being carried away.
Several apparently injured people are then seen being dragged away, leaving significant amounts of blood on the ground.
"Not only does this incident show a reckless disregard for human life, making sport of shooting live rounds at protesters, it also reveals deliberate coordination among security forces," said Joanne Mariner.
Military authorities have long denied any role in fatalities and justified the coup, saying the election, won by Ms Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy, was marred by fraud — an assertion rejected by the electoral commission.
The junta has promised a new election, but has not said when.
The military has brushed off condemnation of its actions, as it has in past periods of army rule when outbreaks of protest were forcibly repressed.
United Nations condemns violence against protesters
The United Nations Security Council agreed on Wednesday (local time) to condemn violence against Myanmar protesters and have called on the army to show restraint.
On Wednesday, security forces firing teargas and rubber bullets trapped hundreds of anti-junta protesters late into the night in two districts of Yangon.
Some protesters who managed to evade blockades set up by police in surrounding streets told of scores of arrests and said that some of those who got caught were beaten.
In a bid to increase pressure on the military as it continues its crackdown, the US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on two children of military leader Min Aung Hlaing and six companies they control.
"The indiscriminate violence by Burma's security forces against peaceful protesters is unacceptable," Director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control, Andrea Gacki, said in the statement.
Campaign group Justice for Myanmar said in January that Min Aung Hlaing, who has been commander in chief since 2011, had "abused his power to benefit his family, who have profited from their access to state resources and the military's total impunity."
In a statement agreed by diplomats at UN headquarters in New York, the Security Council said it "strongly condemns the violence against peaceful protesters, including against women, youth and children.
"The council calls for the military to exercise utmost restraint and emphasises that it is following the situation closely."
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he hoped the Security Council statement would push the military to realise it "is absolutely essential" that all prisoners are released and that the results of a November election are respected.
ABC/Reuters
