Civil Society Groups Urge UN Arms Embargo on Myanmar
Voice of America
06 May 2021, 09:05 GMT+10
NEW YORK - More than 200 civil society and human rights groups from around the world have called on the U.N. Security Council to impose an arms embargo against Myanmar, in hopes of preventing the military from carrying out more murders and atrocities. The U.N. Security Council s failure to even discuss an arms embargo against the junta is an appalling abdication of its responsibilities toward the people of Myanmar, Louis Charbonneau, U.N. director at Human Rights Watch, told reporters Wednesday in a call with some of the groups that signed the letter. The council s occasional statements of concern in the face of the military s violent repression of largely peaceful protesters [are] the diplomatic equivalent of shrugging their shoulders and walking away.
May 6, 2021 Share
More than 200 civil society and human rights groups from around the world have called on the U.N. Security Council to impose an arms embargo against Myanmar, in hopes of preventing the military from carrying out more murders and atrocities.
“The U.N. Security Council’s failure to even discuss an arms embargo against the junta is an appalling abdication of its responsibilities toward the people of Myanmar,” Louis Charbonneau, U.N. director at Human Rights Watch, told reporters Wednesday in a call with some of the groups that signed the letter. “The council’s occasional statements of concern in the face of the military’s violent repression of largely peaceful protesters [are] the diplomatic equivalent of shrugging their shoulders and walking away.”
UNITED NATIONS
More than 200 global organizations urged the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday to impose an arms embargo on Myanmar, saying the time for statements has passed and immediate action is needed to help protect peaceful protesters against military rule and other opponents of the junta.
A statement by the non-governmental organizations said the military “has demonstrated a callous disregard for human life” since their Feb. 1 coup, killing at least 769 people including 51 children as young as six years old and detaining several thousand activists, journalists, civil servants and politicians. Hundreds of others have disappeared, it said.
“No government should sell a single bullet to the junta under these circumstances,” the NGOs said. “Imposing a global arms embargo on Myanmar is the minimum necessary step the Security Council should take in response to the military’s escalating violence.”
Edith M. Lederer May 05, 2021 - 5:44 PM
CAMEROON, Cameroon - More than 200 global organizations urged the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday to impose an arms embargo on Myanmar, saying the time for statements has passed and immediate action is needed to help protect peaceful protesters against military rule and other opponents of the junta.
A statement by the non-governmental organizations said the military âhas demonstrated a callous disregard for human life since their Feb. 1 coup, killing at least 769 people including 51 children as young as six years old and detaining several thousand activists, journalists, civil servants and politicians. Hundreds of others have disappeared, it said.