Geneva, Switzerland:
The United Nations warned Friday that any sanctions imposed more than the coup in Myanmar should be “carefully targeted” against these accountable, to prevent harming vulnerable men and women.
Speaking prior to the Human Rights Council in Geneva, the UN’s deputy rights chief Nada al-Nashif expressed concern just after Washington announced sanctions on the generals behind final week’s coup in Myanmar.
Other nations are thinking about related moves.
“Any sanctions under consideration should be carefully targeted against specific individuals who are credibly alleged to have violated the people’s rights,” al-Nashif stated.
“Leaders of this coup are an appropriate focus of such actions,” she stated, adding that “it is of critical importance that no harm should be inflicted on the most vulnerable people in the country.”
She was addressing a specific session of the council urgently referred to as for by Britain and the European Union to address the predicament in Myanmar just after the military there seized manage on February 1.
The new US sanctions target Min Aung Hlaing and other top rated generals, just after President Joe Biden announced his administration was cutting off the military’s access to $1 billion in funds.
“World is watching”
Huge crowds have for days thronged cities about Myanmar to demand the return of ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and there has been concern more than harsh police techniques in dispersing the largely peaceful crowds.
“The world is watching,” al-Nashif warned.
“Draconian orders have been issued this week to prevent peaceful assembly and free expression, and police and military presence on the streets has grown progressively over the last several days.
“Let us be clear: the indiscriminate use of lethal or significantly less-than-lethal weapons against peaceful protestors is unacceptable,” she said.
During Friday’s one-day session, diplomats will consider a draft resolution demanding the immediate release of Suu Kyi, who until the coup on February 1 was the country’s de facto civilian leader.
She was detained with dozens of other members of her National League for Democracy party, including President Win Myint, ending a decade of civilian rule and triggering international condemnation.
The resolution text also demanded “the restoration of the democratically-elected government,” and the “instant and permanent lifting of restrictions on the web, telecommunication and social media”.
And it urged “complete and unrestricted access” to the nation by UN rights observers.
The draft meanwhile stopped brief of calling for sanctions against the generals behind the coup.
Observers recommended stronger positions may perhaps have been avoided in the text to get broader assistance in the council, exactly where consensus backing is preferred.
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