Mizzima

The Bishops’ Conference of Myanmar has issued a message to all its dioceses and to political, religious and civil society leaders calling for an end to the violence in the wake of the February 1 military coup.

“Strengthened by the mandate and encouragement of the Holy See, we Catholic Churches commit ourselves, together with all people of goodwill, to the task of seeing this nation rise again in mutual understanding and peace,” said the bishops in the statement, signed by Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, Archbishop of Yangon and president of the conference.

Melissa Crouch/Mizzima

The military regime in Myanmar has begun to use martial law orders, representing a serious escalation in the response by the military.

One aspect of martial law or military administration is that the Tatmadaw presumes this allows it to establish military tribunals to try civilians.

Christine Schraner Burgener is seeking to visit Myanmar as part of her efforts to calm the situation and set the stage for dialogue and a return to democracy, said UN Spokesman Stéphane Dujarric, briefing journalists in New York, according to a UN website.