Myanmar: Two young people killed in compound of Catholic Cathedral

Sr Ann Nu Tawng pleads with army Image: Fides

Source: Fides

Two young people were shot dead and seven were injured in the grounds of a Catholic Cathedral in Myanmar on Monday.

The victims had been taking part in a peaceful demonstration against the military coup in the city of Myitkyina, capital of Kachin State in the north of the country. When government soldiers began beating protesters, the group fled to the compound of the Cathedral of Saint Columban. Xavieran Sister Ann Nu Tawng, who became an 'icon' of peace last Sunday, when she blocked the advance of soldiers, tried to intervene again but this time they were hunted down by the army and shot.

Myitkyina has 550,000 Christians out of a total population of 1.5 million people.

According to observers, the army occupied hospitals and university campuses last weekend and intensified night raids in preparation for another nationwide strike. Violence and arrests took place in larger cities such as Yangon, Naypyitaw and Mandalay.

"We have received credible reports from hospitals occupied today in Myanmar, including at least four hospitals in Yangon and at least one in Mandalay", said James Rodehaver, head of the UN human rights team in Myanmar. "This is completely unacceptable. Hospitals are places under the protection of international humanitarian law", he said.

After the coup, security forces repeatedly targeted health workers, who were the first to guide the Civil Disobedience Movement.

Unions in Myanmar have called for a national strike, as part of a civil disobedience campaign against the coup. Eighteen trade unions from major industries, agriculture, energy, mining, construction, agribusiness and tran sport sectors have called for a "complete and extensive closure of the economy of Myanmar."

On Monday 8 March, International Women's Day, groups of women marched waving their 'Htamain' (traditional Burmese female sarongs) as a sign of protest and solidarity with the Movement which peacefully challenges the junta.