Myanmar freed more than 600 coup detainees on Wednesday, including an Associated Press photographer arrested while covering rallies, following fresh outrage over brutal crackdowns on protesters.

The regime has unleashed a deadly wave of violence as it struggles to quell nationwide protests against the February 1 ouster and arrest of civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The 75-year-old was due to have a court hearing on Wednesday in Myanmar's capital Naypyidaw, on criminal charges that could see her permanently barred from political office.

But her lawyer Khin Maung Zaw said the hearing was adjourned until April 1 because of problems with video conferencing caused by a junta-imposed internet shutdown.

In commercial hub Yangon, AP photographer Thein Zaw, 32 -- who was arrested last month while covering a protest -- was freed from Insein prison.

"I'm now on my way back home to meet with my mum. I'm in good health," Thein Zaw told AFP.

"The police officer who sued me withdrew his charge -- that's why they released me unconditionally."

The AP's vice president for international news Ian Phillips said the agency was "deeply relieved" at Thein Zaw's release.

He had been charged with "spreading false news", along with five other journalists who were arrested the same day and are still in custody.

Separately, Polish photojournalist Robert Bociaga -- who was also arrested while covering protests -- was released after nearly a fortnight in detention, he told AFP Wednesday, adding that he was set to be deported.

- 'Silent strike' -

Thein Zaw's release came hours after more than 600 people held for protesting against the coup were freed from the same jail.

"We released 360 men and 268 women from Insein prison today," a senior prison official told AFP on condition of anonymity, before the AP photographer's release.

Lawyer Khin Maung Myint, who was at Insein prison for the hearing of two other clients, said 16 busloads of people left the jail at 10 am local time (0400 GMT).

Local media showed images of the prisoners on the buses flashing the three-fingered salute -- a sign of resistance for the anti-coup movement -- as people waiting outside the prison waved at them and returned the gesture.

Activists called for a nationwide "Silent Strike" on Wednesday, and streets were bare in the cities of Yangon and Naypyidaw.

In the southern city of Myeik, rows of dolls were set up along roads, holding up tiny signs reading "We need democracy" and "We wish for Mother Suu to be healthy".

- At least 20 children killed -

There was chaos overnight in Mandalay with barricades burning, arrests, homes raided by security forces, beatings and machine guns ringing out over multiple neighbourhoods, local media reported.

Three people were killed on Tuesday including seven-year-old girl Khin Myo Chit, shot dead at her home in Mandalay, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), a local monitoring group.

The child's brother was also beaten over the head with a gun, tortured and dragged away, the AAPP added.

Aid group Save the Children and AAPP both say that at least 20 people aged under 18 have been killed in the crackdown.

The United Nations said after the release of the detainees that it is calling for the liberation of all those arbitrarily detained, including President U Win Myint and Suu Kyi.

"We remain concerned at ongoing arbitrary arrests, including of journalists and civil society leaders," deputy UN spokesman Farhan Haq said.

Up to 7,000 refugees are expected to flee the unrest in the country's urban centres by the end of April, according to the Karen National Union (KNU), an ethnic rebel group which controls territory in southeastern Karen state near the Thai border.

Hundreds of people have already fled to its areas of control, the KNU's general secretary Saw Tah Doh Moo told AFP.

Myanmar's junta on Tuesday defended its seven-week crackdown, insisting it would not tolerate "anarchy".

AAPP has verified 275 deaths since the coup, but warns the toll could be higher, and says more than 2,800 people have been detained.

Junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun put the death toll lower at 164, and branded the victims "violent terrorist people" at a Tuesday news conference in Naypyidaw.

- Suu Kyi graft claims -

Suu Kyi faces several criminal charges, including for owning unlicensed walkie-talkies and violating coronavirus restrictions by staging a campaign event last year.

She is also being investigated for corruption allegations.

Her lawyer says he has still not been able to speak to her privately.

The junta alleges the detained chief minister of Yangon confessed to giving Suu Kyi $600,000 in cash, along with more than 11 kilograms ($680,000 worth) of gold.

UN body urges action over Myanmar military crackdown
Geneva (AFP) March 24, 2021 - The UN Human Rights Council voiced alarm Wednesday at the "disproportionate use of force" in Myanmar since last month's coup and pushed for a UN rights office in the country.

The Council's 47 members adopted a resolution reiterating the call for Myanmar's military to restore civilian rule following its February 1 coup and immediately release deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

More than 260 people are confirmed dead in protests that have rocked the country since the coup, according to tolls compiled by NGOs, and thousands have been arrested.

International condemnation from Washington, Brussels and the UN has so far failed to halt the bloodshed.

Myanmar's junta this week insisted it had no choice but to "crack down on the anarchy."

The resolution, adopted without a vote, criticised "the disproportionate use of force, including the indiscriminate use of lethal force, by the Myanmar armed forces and police."

Myanmar hit back at the text, proposed by the European Union, calling it "politicised, one-sided, (with a) lack of impartiality, independence and credibility".

Myanmar's deputy foreign minister Kyaw Myo Htut told the council by video link that elements of the resolution were "intrusive and factually incorrect".

He took particular issue with a reference to possible action by the International Criminal Court, which he said could be seen as a "threat and a direct challenge to our sovereignty".

- 'Unmonitored access' -

The text largely echoed a resolution passed last month following a special council session on the crisis, once again condemning the coup and calling for the release of detainees.

Journalists, rights defenders, religious leaders, medical staff, and activists held "on political grounds" should be released, it said, and allowed to return to work "without fear of reprisals, intimidation or attack".

The resolution also stressed the need for the international community to get a better overview of the situation on the ground.

It called for "immediate, full, unrestricted and unmonitored access" for independent observers, experts, diplomats, journalists and UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet, urging her to establish an office in the country.

One of the experts that should be granted access to the country, it said, was the UN's top expert on the rights situation in Myanmar, Thomas Andrews.

Earlier this month, Andrews told the council that Myanmar was currently being "controlled by a murderous, illegal regime".

He warned that the military junta was likely committing "crimes against humanity, including acts of murder, enforced disappearance, persecution, torture."

Wednesday's text called for the establishment of a UN rights office in the country, and encouraged Bachelet to strengthen her team's work to monitor and document the rights situation in Myanmar "with a focus on ensuring accountability for human rights violations and abuses".

Wednesday's text went further than last month's resolution, also addressing long-running concern over the treatment of some ethnic and religious minorities.

It highlighted Rohingya Muslims, more than 740,000 of whom fled to Bangladesh in the face of a military crackdown in 2017 that UN investigators concluded was executed with "genocidal intent".

The resolution pointed out that a decades-old law had in effect made the Rohingya stateless, demanding that their full citizenship be restored.

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Myanmar military brass hit with new US, EU sanctions over coup
Yangon (AFP) March 22, 2021
The European Union and the United States slapped sanctions Monday on top police and military commanders linked to last month's coup in Myanmar, as pro-democracy demonstrators went back to the streets in defiance of a violent crackdown on protest. The junta is increasingly using deadly force to crush activists who have risen up against the military's ousting of civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1. In a bid to pile international pressure on the regime, the European Union on Monday place ... read more