Myanmar protesters boycott new year festivities to rally against junta

YANGON • Opponents of military rule in Myanmar yesterday cancelled traditional new year festivities and instead showed their anger with the generals who seized power through low-key displays of defiance and small protests across the country.

Many in the anti-coup protest movement have vowed to boycott water fight celebrations for the Thingyan festival, with some saying it would be disrespectful to have fun when 710 civilians have lost their lives and around 3,000 people are in detention.

The UN human rights office said yesterday it fears that the military clampdown on protests risks escalating into a civil conflict like that seen in Syria and appealed for a halt to the "slaughter".

"I fear the situation in Myanmar is heading towards a full-blown conflict. States must not allow the deadly mistakes of the past in Syria and elsewhere to be repeated," UN High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet said.

Protesters in parts of Yangon, Monywa and Bago painted traditional Thingyan pots with pro-democracy messages before placing them on the streets with flowers inside. "Fight for democracy," a sign sticking out of a line of pots said in one Yangon township. Other pots said "Never give up".

"We are not having normal celebrations. Even though it is festival time right now, we cannot have fun. We will not be happy until this dictator is overthrown and we will revolt until then," a university student in Mandalay told Agence France-Presse, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the danger of arrest.

A Yangon protester said the pots were a way to welcome the new year and "honour fallen heroes". In Mandalay - Myanmar's cultural hub - people placed the pots of flowers on a golden stupa, with signs showing the three-fingered salute that has become a symbol of the resistance movement.

Young people in Mawlamyine, the fourth largest city, also took to the streets while people marched with pots of flowers in the city of Dawei and small towns in Shan and Kachin states.

Meanwhile, security forces found and defused a bomb beneath the Myaynigone bridge in Yangon yesterday morning, a police source said.

Armed ethnic rebel groups have stepped up attacks on the military and police in recent weeks, raising fears of Myanmar spiralling into broader civil conflict. The military has retaliated with air strikes which the Free Burma Rangers, a Christian aid group working in the area, said had displaced more than 24,000 civilians in Karen state by last Saturday.

The Rangers, who run a health clinic in the state, said air strikes have killed at least 20 people and wounded more than 40.

In Yangon, the authorities are hunting those responsible for an underground newsletter titled "Molotov" that is circulating both online and in printed form across the country. The publication was started by a group of young activists to fight ongoing Internet outages and information suppression by the junta.

Overnight, the authorities announced that a further 20 people have been added to an arrest warrant list of 200 celebrities - including actors and singers - who are accused of spreading dissent against the military. If convicted they could face three years in jail.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS