With China unwilling, UNSC unable to condemn putsch; G7 slams army
UNITED NATIONS/LONDON: The UN Security Council held an emergency meeting on Myanmar on Tuesday but was unable to agree on a statement about the country’s military coup, with diplomats saying negotiations will continue.
“China and Russia have asked for more time,” one diplomat told AFP following the behindclosed-doors videoconference meeting in New York that lasted just over two hours. “A statement is still under discussion,” confirmed another diplomat, also on condition of anonymity.
According to a draft of the text seen by AFP, the UN Security Council would call for a return to civilian power following Monday’s bloodless coup in which democratically elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other top politicians were detained.
The text, drafted by Britain, would also call for Myanmar’s military to “immediately release those unlawfully detained”.
It would also demand that the one-year state of emergency be repealed and “for all sides to adhere to democratic norms”.
The draft does not mention sanctions. To be adopted, it requires the support of China, Myanmar’s main supporter at the UN and a veto power as a permanent member of the Security Council.
Britain’s ambassador to the UN, Barbara Woodward, told reporters after the meeting that she hoped the council will “be able to speak with one voice”.
“Discussions will continue among council colleagues on next steps,” she added.
G7 ‘deeply concerned’
The Group of Seven on Wednesday condemned the military coup in Myanmar and said it was deeply concerned about the fate of detained political leaders such as Suu Kyi.
“We, the G7 foreign ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States of America and the High Representative of the European Union, are united in condemning the coup in Myanmar,” they said. “We are deeply concerned by the detention of political leaders and civil society activists, including State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint, and targeting of the media.”
YANGON: Calls for a civil disobedience campaign in Myanmar gathered pace on Wednesday as the US vowed further penalties for the generals behind the coup.
After Myanmar plunged into direct military rule on Monday, signs of public anger and plans to resist began to flicker. Doctors and medical staff at hospitals across the country said they were donning red ribbons and walking away from all non-emergency work to protest against the coup.
“Our main goal is to accept only the government we elected,” Aung San Min, head of a 100-bed hospital in Gangaw district, told AFP.
Some medical teams posted pictures on social media wearing red ribbons NLD’S colours - and raising a three-finger salute, a protest gesture used by democracy activists in neighbouring Thailand, while some have chosen to bypass work.
“My protest starts today by not going to the hospital... I have no desire to work under the military dictatorship,” said Nor Nor Wint Wah, a doctor in Mandalay.