Sept. 9 (UPI) — Pro-democracy advocates in Myanmar and observers are urging peace and calm after the main opposition movement in the Asian nation called for the public to rise up in a “resistance war” against the military government that took power in a coup seven months ago.
The Special Advisory Council for Myanmar, an independent group of pro-democracy experts urged all sides to reject violence.
The National Unity Government, the main opposition movement, called for the uprising earlier this week.
The military junta in Myanmar has so far killed hundreds this year during violent suppression of protests since the military coup in February.
“Violence is the cause of the suffering of the people of Myanmar, it is not the solution,” Special Advisory Council member and human rights attorney Chris Sidoti said in a statement.
“We empathize with the NUG, but we fear for what will happen as a result of this decision.”
The U.S. State Department said peace is needed for humanitarian aid and medicine to reach the people in Myanmar who need it.
“The United States does not condone violence as a solution to the current crisis and calls on all sides to remain peaceful,” spokesman Ned Price said, according to The Diplomat.
Duwa Lashi La, acting president of the National Unity Government, urged the public to fight back against the military.
“This revolution is a just and fair revolution and is necessary to build a federal union with sustainable peace,” La said, according to Myanmar Now.
Myanmar civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who was arrested during the coup and charged with several offenses, remains jailed along with several other members of her administration.
Junta leaders have accused Suu Kyi and her party of election fraud, stemming from the vote last fall that kept her in power, and other crimes.