UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. Security Council unanimously called for a reversal of the military coup in Myanmar on Wednesday, strongly condemning the violence against peaceful protesters and calling for “utmost restraint” by the military.
A presidential statement approved by all 15 council members including Myanmar’s neighbor and friend China was formally adopted at a very brief virtual meeting where U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the current council president, announced that the statement had been agreed.
A presidential statement is a step below a resolution but becomes part of the official record of the U.N.’s most powerful body.
The British-drafted statement calls for the immediate release of government leaders including State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint, who have been detained since their ouster in the Feb. 1 military coup.
It supports the country’s democratic transition and “stresses the need to uphold democratic institutions and processes, refrain from violence, fully respect human rights and fundamental freedoms and uphold the rule of law.”
China’s U.N. Ambassador Zhang Jun said in a statement that “it is important the council members speak in one voice,” and declared that it’s now time for de-escalation, diplomacy and dialogue.
Thomas-Greenfield also stressed that all council members “spoke with one voice to condemn the ongoing violence against peaceful protesters.”
“We commend their courage and determination in the face of continued, brutal attacks by military and security forces,” she said in a statement. “The United States will continue to work with a broad coalition of international partners to promote accountability for the coup and those responsible for violence, and will work to restore the democratically elected government.”
The coup reversed years of slow progress toward democracy in Myanmar, which for five decades 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 power after 2015 elections, the international community responded by lifting most sanctions and pouring investment into the country.
Lawmakers from Suu Kyi’s party, which won 82 percent of the vote in November elections, were about to take their seats in parliament when the coup took place on Feb. 1. Its leaders claimed electoral fraud, allegations the electoral commission had rejected.
Britain’s U.N. Ambassador Barbara Woodward said the United Kingdom proposed the statement in light of “the deteriorating situation” in Myanmar “to send a unified message from the Security Council” to build on its Feb. 4 press statement. It strongly backed a return to democracy and called for the immediate release of Suu Kyi and all those arbitrarily detained by the military.
Opposition to the coup is being spearheaded by young people who lived in freedom for 10 years, and it has wide support throughout the country from civil servants, railway workers who were targeted Wednesday, Buddhist monks, and people of all classes and ages.
Security forces have responded with mass arrests and at times lethal force. At least 60 protesters have been killed since the military takeover, according to the independent Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. Authorities have also moved to shut down independent reporting, both through arrests of journalists and the closure of media outlets — but the protests have continued despite the crackdowns and increasingly violent tactics of security forces.
