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New York [US]Dec 22 (ANI): India, China and Russia abstained in UN Security Council draft resolution calling for immediate cessation of violence and release of all arbitrarily detained prisoners including Aung San Suu Kyi and former President Win Myint
The 15-member council has been divided over Myanmar for decades, having previously been able to agree only on a formal statement from the country, which has been under military rule since February 2021.
Notably, this is the first ever resolution against the volatile Southeast Asian nation.
Ambassador Rukira Kamboy, Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations, who chaired the meeting, explained that the complex situation in Myanmar calls for a quiet and patient diplomatic approach.
Zhang Jun, China’s ambassador to the United Nations, said there was no quick fix to the problem.
On February 1, 2021, Aung San Suu Kyi’s National Democratic Party was ousted in a military coup after winning the previous year’s national elections.
For five years, Myanmar has been under strict military rule, leading to international isolation and sanctions. As the generals eased the grip, culminating in Aung San Suu Kyi’s ascension to leadership in the 2015 elections, the international community responded by lifting most sanctions and flooding the country with investment.
The coup sparked widespread civil unrest as people condemned her ouster and imposed military rule. The junta has detained Aung San Suu Kyi and other officials and violently crushed protests, with the United Nations warning the country has plunged into civil war.
More than 16,000 people have been detained in Myanmar on political charges since the army took over, the rights watchdog Political Prisoners Aid Association said last month. Of those arrested, more than 13,000 are still in custody. The association said at least 2,465 civilians have been killed since it took over in 2021, although that number is thought to be much higher.
Much of the international community, including Myanmar’s other members in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, has expressed dismay at the hard line the generals have taken in resisting reforms. Myanmar’s rulers agreed in April 2021 to a five-point ASEAN plan to restore peace and stability, but the military has made little effort to implement it.
The plan calls for an immediate cessation of violence, dialogue between the parties concerned, an ASEAN envoy to mediate the dialogue process, humanitarian assistance through ASEAN channels, and an ASEAN envoy to visit Myanmar to meet with the parties concerned.
At present, UN special envoy Noreen Heyzer and ASEAN special envoy and Cambodian minister Prak Sokhonn have both visited Myanmar, but neither has been allowed to meet with Aung San Suu Kyi.
The resolution also expresses “deep concern” over the ongoing state of emergency imposed by the military.
It said they should be released immediately and that there was a “growing number of internally displaced persons and a sharp increase in humanitarian needs”. It reiterated the Council’s condemnation of the execution of activists in July. (Arnie)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
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