More than 40 children have died and hundreds of people have disappeared since the Feb.1 coup divided Myanmar, and the international community has once again raised questions over the violent crackdown by the military junta on pro-democracy protesters.

The military's ruthless suppression of demonstrations against its Feb. 1 power grab has left 543 civilians dead, including 44 children, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), a local monitoring organization.

As well as breaking up protests with tear gas, rubber bullets and live rounds, security forces have detained some 2,700 people. Violence has ramped up in recent weeks, with Save the Children saying the death toll of youngsters had more than doubled in the past 12 days.

"We are shocked that children continue to be among the targets of these fatal attacks, despite repeated calls to protect children from harm," the charity said in a statement.

"It is especially horrifying that several of these children were reportedly killed at home, where they should have been safe from harm."

The authorities have made numerous arrests during night raids on the homes of people suspected of supporting the rallies or the civil disobedience movement that has sprung up aimed at stopping the military from running the country.

The New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued a report Friday saying the junta had "forcibly disappeared" hundreds of people, including politicians, election officials, journalists, activists and protesters, and refused to confirm their location or allow access to lawyers or family members, in violation of international law.

"The military junta's widespread use of arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearances appear designed to strike fear in the hearts of anti-coup protesters," said HRW's Asia director Brad Adams, according to a release carried by Agence France-Presse (AFP). "Concerned governments should demand the release of everyone disappeared and impose targeted economic sanctions against junta leaders to finally hold this abusive military to account."

Outrage from world powers has been growing at the increasing violence, and Thursday the U.N. Security Council unanimously "expressed deep concern at the rapidly deteriorating situation," condemning violence against peaceful protesters. The statement came after the U.N. special envoy for Myanmar warned that the country faces the possibility of civil war and urged significant action be taken or risk it spiraling into a failed state.

Britain announced a new round of sanctions, this time targeting the junta's extensive business interests, as well as a $700,000 contribution toward U.N. efforts to document serious human rights violations in Myanmar. China and Russia, both permanent council members and both arms suppliers to Myanmar's military have generally opposed sanctions.

But so far neither sanctions nor calls for restraint have shown any sign of holding back the junta as it struggles to quell the widespread unrest. There were more protests around the country on Friday, according to local media reports. In Yangon, people left flowers at bus stops and other public spots in memory of those killed in the crackdown.

The junta has throttled communications in an effort to stop news getting out and on Thursday, it ordered a complete shutdown of wireless internet services. A directive from the Ministry of Transport and Communications instructed that "all wireless broadband data services be temporarily suspended until further notice," according to a statement posted online by local provider Ooredoo.

After weeks of overnight cutoffs of internet access, the military on Friday shut all links apart from those using fiber optic cable, whose speeds are drastically slower.

According to The Associated Press (AP), access to mobile networks and all wireless – the less costly options used by most people in the developing country – was blocked. The Norwegian telecom company Telenor, one of the biggest carriers in Myanmar, confirmed it could no longer offer wireless services. It was offering fiber-optic service of up to 40 megabytes per second in its packages as of Friday, well below high-speed access that's at a minimum 100 Mbps.

The government has shut down all but a handful of fully military-controlled media outlets. Some of those banned or whose operations have been suspended have continued to publish via social media or whatever methods they can find.

Facebook announced it was providing a safety feature to enable users in Myanmar to beef up security settings locking their profiles to prevent access by non-friends.

That includes preventing non-friends from enlarging, sharing or downloading full-size profile and cover photos and seeing any posts on a person’s timeline. Facebook and other major social media platforms have banned members of the Myanmar military, also known as the Tatmadaw, and are blocking ads from most military-linked commercial entities.

Suu Kyi secrets charge

Ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi has meanwhile been hit with a new criminal charge, accused of breaking an official secrets law. The 75-year-old, a democracy icon in Myanmar for decades, faces a raft of charges and conviction would see her barred from political office for the rest of her life.

She appeared in court by video link on Thursday and appeared in good health, according to her legal team, despite two months in detention. Meanwhile, another leading figure in Myanmar's struggle for democracy, Mya Aye, was charged on Thursday under a law against inciting people to commit criminal offenses, his lawyer told AFP.

Mya Aye is one of the leaders of the 88 Generation, a veteran pro-democracy group that came of age during an uprising against junta rule in 1988. That movement was brutally suppressed by the military, with thousands gunned down by soldiers. The military has defended its coup with claims of fraud in the November election which Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won by a landslide.

Earlier this week, an opposition group consisting of elected lawmakers who were not allowed to be sworn into office Feb. 1 put forth an interim charter to replace Myanmar's 2008 Constitution.

By proposing greater autonomy for ethnic minorities, it aims to ally the armed ethnic militias active in border areas with the mass protest movement based in cities and towns. More than a dozen ethnic minority groups have sought greater autonomy from the central government for decades, sometimes through armed struggle.

Even in times of peace, relations have been strained and cease-fires fragile. Several of the major groups – including the Kachin, the Karen and the Rakhine Arakan Army – have denounced the coup and said they will defend protesters in their territories. The coup reversed years of slow progress toward democracy in Myanmar, which for five decades languished under strict military rule that led to international isolation and sanctions.