865 Myanmar Civilians Killed, UN General Assembly Prepares Resolution

JAKARTA - The United Nations General Assembly on Friday will call for a halt to the flow of arms to Myanmar, urging the military regime to respect the results of the November 2020 elections and release political prisoners, including leader Aung San Suu Kyi, diplomats said.

Western powers had pushed the 193-member international body to consider a draft resolution, but it was delayed at the last minute in a bid to garner more support, including from nine Southeast Asian nations.

It was not immediately clear whether any country would call for a vote on the draft General Assembly resolution, or whether it would be adopted by consensus. Diplomats say the draft has enough backing to pass if put to a vote.

The initial draft resolution included tougher language calling for an arms embargo on Myanmar. According to a proposal seen by Reuters last month, Southeast Asian countries want the language removed.

The UN compromise draft calls on all member states to prevent the flow of arms to Myanmar.

General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding, but carry political weight. Unlike the 15-member Security Council, no country has veto power in the General Assembly.

Meanwhile, UN Human Rights Watch Director Louis Charbonneau urged the General Assembly to adopt the resolution.

"After months of human rights abuses and atrocities by the junta security forces, no government should send a single bullet into Myanmar," he said.

A draft General Assembly resolution calls for Myanmar to immediately implement the five-point consensus the junta agreed with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in April to end the violence and start a dialogue with its opponents.

Separately, Myanmar's Ambassador to the United Nations Kyaw Moe Tun representing the elected civilian government that was ousted, called on UN member states not to support Myanmar's military regime directly or indirectly, intentionally or unintentionally."

"It is very important to show their strong support for the people of Myanmar in our efforts to restore democracy, return state power to the people and build a democratic federal unity," he said.

For information, as of Thursday, June 17 yesterday, 865 people had died, while a total of 6,134 people were detained with 4,962 of them still in detention, according to data from the Association for Assistance to Political Prisoners (AAPP).

Myanmar Coup. The VOI editorial team continues to monitor the political situation in one of the ASEAN member countries. Casualties from civilians continue to fall. Readers can follow the news covering the Myanmar military coup by clicking this link.