UNITED NATIONS, Dec 22 (APP): The UN Security Council adopted a landmark resolution Wednesday denouncing the human rights violations in Myanmar since the February 1, 2021 coup, and calling on the military junta to release all political prisoners, including ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
The 15-member body passed the resolution, with 12 votes in favour to none against. Three countries — China, Russia, and India — abstained.
It is the first Security Council resolution on Myanmar since the country, formerly known as Burma, acquired independence from Britain in 1948.
“Today we’ve sent a firm message to the military that they should be in 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.
“It is the result of the military overturning the results of a democratic election and seizing power on Feb. 1, 2021, plunging the country into a series of cascading crises with “negative consequences for the region and its stability,” she said.
The Security Council has long been split on how to deal with the Myanmar crisis, with China and Russia arguing against strong action.
“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.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken welcomed the resolution’s adoption. “This is an important step by the Security Council to address the crisis and end the Burma military regime’s escalating repression and violence against civilians,” he said in a statement.
Until now the council had only agreed to formal statements on Myanmar, where the army also led a 2017 crackdown on Rohingya Muslims that was described by the United States as genocide. Myanmar denies genocide and said it was waging a legitimate campaign against insurgents who attacked police posts.
The resolution expresses “deep concern” at the continuing state of emergency imposed by the military when it seized power and its “grave impact” on Myanmar’s people.
It urges “concrete and immediate actions” to implement a peace plan agreed upon by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and issues a call to “uphold democratic institutions and processes and to pursue constructive dialogue and reconciliation in accordance with the will and interests of the people”.
The only other resolution adopted by the Security Council was in 1948 when the body recommended the UN General Assembly admit Myanmar – then Burma – as a member of the world body.
