UN body adopts watered-down text on Myanmar coup

GENEVA—The UN’s top human rights body passed a consensus resolution Friday urging military leaders in Myanmar to release Aung San Suu Kyi and other civilian government leaders detained after a military coup, while watering down an initial draft text amid pressure led by China and Russia.

In a special session at the Human Rights Council, the original resolution presented by Britain and the European Union was revised to remove calls to bolster the ability of a UN rights expert to scrutinize Myanmar and for restraint from the country’s military.

After the updated resolution passed with no opposition, Chinese Ambassador Chen Xu thanked the sponsors for “adopting our recommendations,” but said China still was distancing itself from the measure. The sponsors of council resolutions often agree to soften the language of their texts in order to win consensus and to show the 47-member body based in Geneva is united on thorny human-rights issues.

The council has no power to impose sanctions, but can train a political spotlight on rights abuses and violations.

The session came shortly after the Biden administration, which has already imposed sanctions on top leaders of the Myanmar coup, revived U.S. participation in the Human Rights Council, which the Trump administration pulled the country out of in 2018. China and Russia faulted attempts to politicize the situation in Myanmar and called it a domestic matter. Many western countries, the UN human rights office and others decried the coup and state of emergency.

The resolution called for the “immediate and unconditional release” of Suu Kyi, President Win Myint, and other top government officials, for the lifting of internet restrictions, and for the military to respect peaceful assembly and refrain from “excessive force against the public.”