Myanmar’s generals under renewed pressure from G7

Myanmar’s military leaders came under renewed pressure Tuesday as the world’s wealthiest nations condemned the junta for responding to anti-coup demonstrators “with violence,” a rebuke coming on the heels of tightened sanctions from Washington and Brussels.

Authorities have gradually ratcheted up their use of force against a massive and largely peaceful civil disobedience campaign demanding the return of ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Three anti-coup protesters have been killed in demonstrations so far, while a man patrolling his Yangon neighborhood against night arrests was also shot dead on the weekend.

“Use of live ammunition against unarmed people is unacceptable,” the foreign ministers of the G7 group of rich democracies – comprising Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Britain, the United States together with the EU – said in a statement Tuesday.

“Anyone responding to peaceful protests with violence must be held to account,” they said, calling for Myanmar security forces to “exercise utmost restraint and respect human rights and international law.”