Myanmar generals under pressure after G7 condemnation, sanctions
Yangon, Myanmar - Myanmar’s military leaders came under renewed pressure Tuesday as the world’s wealthiest nations condemned the junta for responding to anti-coup demonstrators ‘with violence’, a rebuke coming on the heels of tightened sanctions from Washington and Brussels.
Authorities have gradually ratcheted up their use of force against a massive and largely peaceful civil disobedience campaign demanding the return of ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Three anti-coup protesters have been killed in demonstrations so far, while a man patrolling his Yangon neighbourhood against night arrests was also shot dead on the weekend.
“Use of live ammunition against unarmed people is unacceptable,” the foreign ministers of the G7 group of rich democracies - comprising Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Britain, the United States together with the EU - said in a statement on Tuesday.
“Anyone responding to peaceful protests with violence must be held to account,” they said, calling for Myanmar security forces to ‘exercise utmost restraint and respect human rights and international law’.
The sharp condemnation comes after the overnight blacklisting of another two members of the regime by the United States - air force chief Maung Maung Kyaw and fellow junta member Moe Myint Tun - after Washington announced targeted sanctions against other top generals earlier this month.
“We will not hesitate to take further action against those who perpetrate violence and suppress the will of the people,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.
Hours earlier, the European Union also approved sanctions targeting Myanmar's military and their economic interests.