RFA, 05/02/2021
UN Special Rapporteur Tom Andrews calls on international community to take action against Myanmar coup.
Tom Andrews, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar has called on the international community to express outrage at Myanmar’s military for this week’s coup d’état.
The military, called the Tatmadaw in Burmese, in one swift action overturned more than a decade of hard-won progress toward democratic development in Myanmar on unsubstantiated claims of election fraud. Many people in Myanmar have taken to beating on pots and pans in protest of the coup.
While the response from the international community in the days since the coup has been overwhelmingly supportive of democracy in Myanmar, the UN Security Council was unable to issue a clear statement condemning the Tatmadaw’s seizure of power as China and Russia pose obstacles to such a declaration.
Further complications could arise because State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, who was deposed by the coup, had been the target of international criticism for defending the military against allegations of crimes against humanity against Rohingya Muslims. Additionally, recent moves toward peace with armed ethnic insurgent groups may now be in jeopardy.
In an interview with Ye Kaung Myint Maung of RFA’s Myanmar Service, Andrews talks about how the international community can stand with the people of Myanmar. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
RFA: The people of Myanmar are desperately looking for an international response against the Myanmar military. You said previously that it would require a strong and unified international response so the generals will understand there is a price to pay for their actions. What kind of measures do you have in mind?
Andrews: My first call was for the international community to express its outrage at what happened in Myanmar, and its opposition to what happened, in very clear unmistakable unequivocal terms, and that has happened to a very large extent. I was very gratified to hear very strong voices being echoed around the planet. That’s number one. But number two, what is now required is a strong action.
A price needs to be paid for this this violation. The generals have stolen developing democracy from the people of Myanmar. They have assaulted the fundamental rights of the people of Myanmar to control their own destiny, to have their own country accountable to themselves. And so, it is a real violation that we all have to recognize.
Of course, there are challenges, for those living inside of Myanmar, and I've been hearing the pots banging you know, and meetings I've been having, discussions with friends there in Myanmar, it is It is terrific.
People are talking, organizing, I know that there's various groups that are working on ways of engaging in civil disobedience, which is tremendous. But what is really important I believe is that they know that we in the international community are watching closely, that we are with the people of Myanmar. We stand with the people of Myanmar, and we too are willing to take action.
Now, I have specifically called for targeted sanctions to be imposed on the generals, those who are responsible for this for this coup, and an international arms embargo. Now, that means that we need to be clear… that we are directing this action to those who need to be held accountable, that we are not impacting the people of Myanmar that have already been victimized by the regime. So, crafting this these sets of sanctions, crafting the action necessary, takes deliberation and discussion.
I've been engaged with a series of discussions with various individuals and groups about the form that this will take and the time frame and so forth. So, it takes a bit of time. But I am confident that in not too much time we are going to see announcements of sanctions, of actions, and a very firm commitment by the international community to stand with and stand for the people of Myanmar who have been victimized in this way.
RFA: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said the UN
will do everything it can to mobilize all key actors to make sure that
coups fail. Do you think U.N. has enough ground to intervene in the
military coup in Myanmar?
Andrews: Well clearly, there are significant human rights violations going on here in Myanmar, violations of international law, and so every mechanism that is available should be looked at very very seriously and applied very very seriously. I'm very happy that the secretary general is speaking very clearly and very forcefully about this because that's exactly what is required.
Now each government needs to look and decide what it is able to do, what it is capable of doing and how quickly it can move forward. And we are providing them with whatever thoughts, ideas, recommendations, that we can and certainly urging them to take action. So, there is a range of things that can occur. But what's important right now is that the will to action is there and having a strong voice by the secretary-general and strong voices from the president of the United States for example, the European Union and others, speaking forcefully about the need for action is critical because it's that political will that's the first critical step forward.
Then we begin to put down the mechanics of how these things can work, and then we put forward as forceful, as direct, and hopefully as successful a series of sanctions and pressure that will make sure that the generals understand that we will not let this stand.
Read full: https://www.rfa.org/english/news/myanmar/andrews-02052021170622.html
.
No comments:
Post a Comment