‘A clear message’: UN council demands end to violence in historic Myanmar vote
New York: The UN Security Council has approved its first-ever resolution on Myanmar, demanding an immediate end to violence in the South-east Asian nation and urging its military rulers to release all “arbitrarily detained” prisoners including former leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
The resolution reiterated the call by the 15-member council for the country to uphold democratic institutions and respect human rights.
A Buddhist monk raises his clenched fist while marching during an anti-military government protest rally.Credit:AP
The resolution is the first adopted by the UN’s most powerful body since the country formerly known as Burma joined the United Nations in 1948, according to the United Kingdom which drafted it.
“Today we’ve sent a firm message to the military that they should be a no doubt – we expect this resolution to be implemented in full,” Britain’s UN ambassador Barbara Woodward said after the vote on the British-drafted resolution.
“We’ve also sent a clear message to the people of Myanmar that we seek progress in line with their rights, their wishes and their interests,” she told the council.
The 15-member council has long been split on how to deal with the Myanmar crisis, with China and Russia arguing against strong action. They both abstained from the vote on Wednesday (Thursday AEDT), along with India. The remaining 12 members voted in favour.
“China still has concerns,” China’s UN ambassador Zhang Jun told the council after the vote. “There is no quick fix to the issue … Whether or not it can be properly resolved in the end, depends fundamentally, and only, on Myanmar itself.”
He said China had wanted the Security Council to adopt a formal statement on Myanmar, not a resolution.
Russia’s UN ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said Moscow did not view the situation in Myanmar as a threat to international peace and security and therefore believed it should not be dealt with by the UN Security Council.
Myanmar’s ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi, pictured in December 2019.Credit:AP
For five decades Myanmar had languished under strict military rule that led to international isolation and sanctions. As the generals loosened their grip, culminating in Suu Kyi’s rise to leadership in 2015 elections, the international community responded by lifting most sanctions and pouring investment into the country.
That ended with the military’s February 1, 2021, coup following the November 2020 elections in which Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party won overwhelmingly and the military contested the outcome as fraudulent.
The takeover was met with massive public opposition, which has since turned into armed resistance that some UN experts have characterised as civil war.
Last month, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a rights monitoring organisation, said over 16,000 people had been detained on political charges in Myanmar since the army takeover. Of those arrested, more than 13,000 were still in detention. The association said at least 2,465 civilians had been killed since the 2021 takeover, although the number is thought to be far higher.
Much of the international community, including Myanmar’s fellow members in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, have expressed frustration at the hard line the generals have taken in resisting reform. Myanmar’s rulers agreed to a five-point ASEAN plan in April 2021 to restore peace and stability to the country, but the military has made little effort to implement the plan.
The plan calls for the immediate cessation of violence, a dialogue among all concerned parties, mediation of the dialogue process by an ASEAN special envoy, provision of humanitarian aid through ASEAN channels and a visit to Myanmar by the association’s special envoy to meet all concerned parties. Current UN special envoy Noeleen Heyzer and ASEAN special envoy Prak Sokhonn, a Cambodian minister, have both visited Myanmar but neither was allowed to meet Suu Kyi.
The draft resolution “acknowledges ASEAN’s central role in helping to find a peaceful solution to the crisis in Myanmar” and encourages the international community to support ASEAN’s efforts including in implementing the five-point consensus.
Noting the Myanmar military’s commitment to ASEAN leaders in April 2021 to support the five-point consensus, the draft calls for “concrete and immediate actions” to “effectively and fully” implement the plan.
It urges all parties in Myanmar to work with the UN and ASEAN envoys to start a dialogue aimed at peacefully resolving the crisis in the country.
The resolution also expresses “deep concern” at the ongoing state of emergency imposed by the military, the arrest of Suu Kyi and former president Win Myint who should be released immediately and at “the increasingly large numbers of internally displaced persons and dramatic increase in humanitarian need.” It reiterates the council’s condemnation of the execution of activists in July.
The resolution underlines the need “for a peaceful, genuine and inclusive process to de-escalate violence and reach a sustainable political resolution.”
It also underscores the need to address the crisis in Rakhine state and to create conditions for the return of ethnic minority Rohingya Muslims, most chased out by the Buddhist-majority country’s military crackdown in August 2018 . Some 700,000 people still live as refugees in neighbouring Bangladesh while others remain displaced in Myanmar.
AP, Reuters
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