April 3 (Reuters) - Attempts by Myanmar's military to end
dissent are turning to the virtual world with internet blocks
and arrest warrants for online critics as big rallies become
rare in the face of relentless repression by the security
forces.
The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP)
activist group said on Saturday the security forces have killed
550 people, 46 of them children, since the military overthrew an
elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi on Feb. 1. There were
two deaths on Friday.
Despite the repression, opponents of the coup march every
day in cities and towns across the country, often holding what
they call "guerrilla rallies", small, quick shows of defiance
before security forces can respond.
People also gather at night for candle-lit vigils but the
huge rallies that drew tens of thousands in the early days of
defiance have largely stopped in big cities.
The authorities, who had already shut down mobile data in a
bid to stifle opposition, ordered internet providers from Friday
to cut wireless broadband, depriving most customers of access.
Authorities also issued warrants for 18 show business
celebrities including social media influencers and two
journalists under a law against material intended to cause a
member of the armed forces to mutiny or disregard their duty,
state media reported late on Friday.
All of them are known to oppose military rule and one,
actress Paing Phyoe Thu, said she would not be cowed.
"Whether a warrant has been issued or not, as long as I'm
alive I'll oppose the military dictatorship who are bullying and
killing people. The revolution must prevail," she said on
Facebook (NASDAQ:FB).
Paing Phyoe Thu regularly attended rallies in the main city
of Yangon in the weeks after the coup. Her husband, film
director, Na Gyi, has been wanted by the authorities under the
same law since February.
Her whereabouts were not immediately known and it was not
clear how she was able to post her message. Social media users
in Myanmar did not appear to be connected early on Saturday.
The charge can carry a prison term of three years.
State broadcaster MRTV announced the warrants with
screenshots and links to each of their Facebook profiles.
While the military has banned social media platforms like
Facebook, the junta has continued to use social media to track
critics and promote its message.
MRTV maintains a YouTube channel and shares links to its
broadcasts on Twitter, both of which are officially banned.
'INHUMAN ACTIONS'
The United States condemned the internet shutdown.
"We hope this won't silence the voices of the people," a
State Department spokeswoman, Jalina Porter, told a briefing
Porter said the shutdown would also have consequences for
people who use the internet to benefit from online health
programmes.
The security forces have arrested numerous suspected
opponents of the coup.
Myanmar Now new portal reported on Friday that five women
who spoke to a visiting CNN news crew on the streets of Yangon
this week had been taken away by security men.
Separately, one person was shot and wounded in a raid in the
second city of Mandalay on Friday night, the Mizzima news
service said.
The coup has also rekindled old wars with autonomy-seeking
ethnic minority forces in the north and the east.
Myanmar's oldest insurgent group, the Karen National Union
(KNU), has seen the first military air strikes on its forces in
more than 20 years since announcing its support for the
pro-democracy movement.
The KNU said more than 12,000 villagers had fled from their
homes because of the air strikes and it called for an
international embargo on arms sales to the military.
"Their inhuman actions against unarmed civilians have caused
the death of many people including children and students," the
group said in a statement.
Media has reported that about 20 people were killed in air
strikes in KNU territory in recent days, including nearly a
dozen at a gold mine run by the group.
The KNU signed a ceasefire with the government in 2012 to
end their 60-year insurgency.
Fighting has also flared in the north between the army and
ethnic Kachin insurgents.
The turmoil has sent several thousand refugees fleeing into
Thailand and India.