Action needed on Myanmar after UN Security Council resolution: Expert

GENEVA

Action and sanctions are needed from UN member states to pressure Myanmar authorities to stop the “carnage” in their country, a UN expert said on Thursday.

Tom Andrews, the special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, said it is the first time the UN Security Council has adopted a resolution on Myanmar since a military coup nearly two years ago.

Twelve members of the UN Security Council voted in favor of the resolution demanding an immediate end to violence in Myanmar, while China, Russia, and India abstained.

Due to China and Russia's positions, the 15-member council has long been divided over the Myanmar crisis.

"The crisis in Myanmar will worsen unless and until Member States of the UN respond with action," Andrews said.

"With all due respect to the Security Council, however, 'expressing deep concern' and demanding that certain actions be taken without any use of the Security Council's Chapter VII authority will not stop the illegal Myanmar junta from attacking and destroying the lives of the 54 million people being held hostage in Myanmar," he added.

‘Gross violations’

Andrews said that the "systematic gross human rights violations -- amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity" perpetrated daily on the people of Myanmar by an illegal military junta requires robust and coordinated action by UN member states.

The demands put forward in the resolution include "an immediate end to all forms of violence," the release of political prisoners, the need for unimpeded humanitarian access, and the need to respect women's and children's rights.
Andrews agreed with UN Security Council members Norway, the UAE, the US, Iceland, and Mexico that the resolution's language “should have been stronger.”

"What the content of this resolution makes clear is that the action that is required to end this crisis will not come from the Security Council," said Andrews.

"It is therefore imperative that those nations with the political will to support the people of Myanmar take coordinated action immediately to end the carnage," he added.

On Feb. 1, 2021, Aung San Suu Kyi's government was deposed in a military coup after her National League for Democracy party's victory in national elections the previous November.

The coup was met with widespread civic unrest as people denounced her removal and the introduction of military rule. The junta detained Suu Kyi and other officials and repressed the protests violently, with the UN warning that the country had descended into civil war.