First UN resolution on Myanmar since 1948: Asks junta to end violence

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The only decision the Security Council has taken on Myanmar dates back to 1948, when it approved the country’s membership in the organization’s General Assembly

The UN Security Council on Wednesday adopted a resolution on the situation in Myanmar for the first time in decades, calling for an end to violence and the release of all political prisoners, including the country’s former leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The Security Council has so far been unable to overcome its differences on this country and adopt a resolution, mainly due to Russian and Chinese vetoes.

The decision was submitted by Britain and was adopted yesterday with 12 votes in favor out of a total of 15 and none against. China and Russia abstained, avoiding using their veto. India also stayed away.

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Suu Kyi, 77, was arrested after the February 2021 coup that ended a decade of democratic transition in the Southeast Asian country.

Since then Myanmar has been plunged into chaos and violence. More than 2,500 civilians have been killed by security forces, according to a local non-governmental organisation.

Suu Kyi has already been sentenced to 26 years in prison by the junta on 14 charges, from corruption to illegal possession of a walkie-talkie.

With its decision, the Security Council “calls” on the military “to immediately release all those arbitrarily detained” and mentions, among others, Suu Kyi and former president Win Meek.

It also calls for “an immediate cessation of all forms of violence” and “on all sides to respect human rights, fundamental freedoms and the rule of law”.

This decision sends “a strong message” to the junta “to put an end to the violence across the country,” commented US Secretary of State Anthony Albanese.

In early December the junta sentenced at least seven students to death, bringing to 139 the number of prisoners awaiting execution in Myanmar. The new convictions follow the execution in July of four people, including former lawmaker Pio Zeya Thaw and pro-democracy activist Kyaw Min Yew. They were the first executions in Myanmar in 30 years.

According to diplomats, the only decision the UN Security Council has taken on Myanmar dates back to 1948, when it approved the country’s membership in the organization’s General Assembly.

Shortly before the vote, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had declared, through his representative, that he was “extremely concerned about the situation in the country”, mainly due to “the deterioration of the humanitarian situation and that of human rights”.

“Any opportunity for the Security Council to speak with a united and strong voice” on Myanmar “would be welcome”, he had added.

RES-EMP

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