U.N. backs democracy in Myanmar, urges release of detainees
UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. Security Council strongly backed a return to democracy in Myanmar on Thursday and called for the immediate release of Aung San Suu Kyi and all those arbitrarily detained by the military.
In its first statement on the military’s ouster of the government, the U.N.’s most powerful body “stressed the need to uphold democratic institutions and processes, refrain from violence, and fully respect human rights, fundamental freedoms and the rule of law.”
“The members of the Security Council emphasized the need for the continued support of the democratic transition in Myanmar,” the council said in the statement, which referred to the military’s imposition of a state of emergency without calling it a coup.
In addition to calling for the immediate release of State Counselor Suu Kyi and President Win Myint, the council expressed concern “at the restrictions on civil society, journalists and media workers.”
The statement was issued two days after the council held an emergency meeting to discuss the military’s seizure of power on the eve of the first meeting of the country’s new Parliament. The military said it was necessary because the government had not acted on its unsubstantiated claims of fraud in November’s election in which Suu Kyi’s party swept the vote and the military did poorly. Suu Kyi has since been charged with possessing illegally imported walkie-talkies, which carries a maximum three-year sentence, according to her party.
Britain’s U.N. ambassador, Barbara Woodward, the current council president who spearheaded the statement, welcomed its unanimous approval saying “it is important that we speak with one voice on the need for Myanmar to restore its democratic processes and release those detained.”
In his strongest reaction to the military’s takeover, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called Wednesday for international pressure to restore democracy to Myanmar.
“We will do everything we can to mobilize all the key actors of the international community to put enough pressure on Myanmar to make sure that this coup fails,” the U.N. chief said in an interview on Washington Post Live.
Meanwhile, Myanmar’s new military government blocked access to Facebook as resistance to Monday’s coup surged amid calls for civil disobedience to protest the ousting of the elected government. Facebook is especially popular in Myanmar and is how most people access the internet.