The London-based rights watchdog surveyed videos from nine days of increasingly violent attacks on anti-coup protesters and found troops using military weapons inappropriate for policing, indiscriminately spraying live ammunition in urban areas, and even making a sport of shooting protesters.
“The weaponry deployed by the Tatmadaw reveals a deliberate and dangerous escalation in tactics,” said Joanne Mariner, Director of Crisis Response at Amnesty International. “Not content with indiscriminately using less-lethal weapons, each new day shows an apparent order to deploy semi-automatic rifles, sniper rifles, and light machine guns in increasing numbers,” she added. “Make no mistake, we are in a deadly new phase of the crisis.”
Amnesty’s Crisis Evidence Lab reviewed and verified 55 video clips filmed between Feb. 28 and March 8 by citizens and local media in cities including Dawei, Mandalay, Mawlamyine, Monywa, Myeik, Myitkyina and Yangon.
