Amnesty International Assesses The UN Security Council International Community ‘Washed Their Hands Off’ Regarding The Myanmar Military Coup

Aung San Suu Kyi (left) and General Min Aung Hlaing (right). (Wikipedia Commons / Chainwit)

JAKARTA - Amnesty International's Deputy Director for Advocacy, Sherine Tadros, said that the military's arbitrary actions in Myanmar occurred because of the neglect of the international community and world bodies, including the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

"What we witnessed in Myanmar did not happen suddenly. We cannot pretend to be surprised that a human rights violator repeats his actions because we are also the ones who are not firm against them", said Tadros in an electronic message reported by Antara, Wednesday, February 5.

Amnesty International urged the UN Security Council to impose economic penalties on Myanmar's military commander, General Min Aung Hlaing and other high-ranking armed forces.

In addition, the UN Security Council was also asked to impose an arms embargo on Myanmar given the various violations of international law committed by the military.

Tedros also asked the UN Security Council to immediately hold a special meeting to discuss the situation in Myanmar. He also hopes that the UN Security Council will condemn the military coup in Myanmar and the arrests of the country's leaders, activists, and politicians.

"The UN Security Council must also ask all parties arrested on Monday (1/2) to be released immediately, if they do not comply with the request, then they should be considered violating international law", said Tedros.

Delegations from UNSC member countries held an emergency meeting on Tuesday, February 3 to discuss the situation in Myanmar. So far, the UN Security Council has not issued a statement regarding the situation in Myanmar.

The Reuters report citing diplomats in Washington, United States, said that the UN Security Council was still drafting its stance on the military coup in Myanmar.

The UNSC stance statement is still being drafted by Britain and it is possible that the world security body will condemn the coup and ask the military in Myanmar to comply with international law and abide by human rights principles.

The Myanmar military launched a coup against the government on Monday, February 1, and arrested state adviser Aung San Suu Kyi, President Win Myint, politicians from the election-winning party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), as well as a number of pro-democracy and human rights activists in Myanmar.

So far there has been no official announcement on how many people have been arrested and detained by the army, but there may be more than 30.

Shortly after the coup, the military declared a state of emergency that lasted one year. As long as the state of emergency is in effect, the executive, legislative and judicial powers in Myanmar are under the control of the supreme leader, Military Commander General Min Aung Hlaing.