Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Impunity Watch, Managing Editor

YANGON, Burma – Myanmar’s Military police reportedly beat several protesters supporting the Burmese student movement with batons and detained at least eight demonstrators on Thursday. The police were attempting to black student protesters from marching into Burma’s largest city, Yangon (formally Rangoon) the commercial hub of the country and former capital. About 200 student demonstrators have been in a standstill with police outside of a Buddhist monastery in Letpadan, about 140 km (90 miles) north of Yangon. The demonstrators are protesting an education bill that they argue would stifle academic freedom.

Myanmar’s government has barred the student protesters from entering the city of Yangon which has long been a site of anti-government protest. The city is the birthplace of the 1988 protests that sparked the pro-democracy movement that eventually led to the victor of Aung Sun Su Ki in democratic elections which was not recognized by the military regime. The 1988 protests quickly spread across the country, sparking a call for democratization that nearly toppled the military dictatorship.

Thursday’s arrests symbolized a rise in tension between the government and students who have been demonstrating across the country, which is officially undergoing a period of democratic reforms, for two months. Dozens of demonstrators, including members of ’88 Generation who led the 1988 protests, assembled near the golden Sule Pagoda in downtown Yangon to show solidarity with students in Letpadan. Of the eight people arrested on Thursday three are members of the ’88 Generation reported Na Lynn, a student leader who spoke on the phone to one of the detainees. Among those detained was prominent ’88 Generation member Nilar Thein. “Some of them, including Nilar Thein, were beaten in the commotion,” said her husband Ko Jimmy, who is also a member of the organization.

Evidence is also mounting that Myanmar police continue to crack down on attempts to organize labor and pro-labor demonstrations in the country. On Thursday police reported they detained more than a dozen factory workers, who were demanding higher wages and better working conditions, in a protest that outside of Yangon. The arrests occurred after about 100 workers tried to march from their factor into the city of Yangon on Wednesday but were blacked by the military police. Many of the workers staged a sit-in in response to the police action but were dragged away by police.

While the Myanmar Ministry of Information reported Thursday that 13 workers, many of them women, had been arrested. Protesters reported that the number was actually much higher. Two journalists were also briefly detained by the police.

The workers have been protesting since last month demanding improved working conditions and higher wages, but a settlement has not been reached between labor and the factor owners.

The recent wave of protests and government crackdowns demonstrates the fragility of democratic reforms which began four years ago in Myanmar. While the reforms have introduced new freedoms in the country the government struggles to recognize and respect the newly protected freedom of expression and political activism in a country that struggles to hold on to military rule.

For more information please see:

ABC News – Myanmar Police Drag Away Protesting Factory Workers – 5 March 2015

BBC News – Myanmar Police Arrest Demonstrators Against New Education Bill – 5 March 2015

Reuters – Baton-Wielding Myanmar Police Force Pro-Student Protesters To Flee – 5 March 2015

Salt Lake Tribune – Myanmar Police Drag Away Factory Workers – 5 March 2015