Myanmar envoy calls on UN to stop coup as police break up protests

Riot police officers get into a police vehicle during a demonstration against the military coup in Yangon, Myanmar, on February 26, 2021. REUTERS / Stringer

The UN envoy to Myanmar urged the United Nations to use “any means necessary” to stop a military coup there, making a surprise appeal on behalf of the overthrown government as police cracked down on protesters against the junta.

The Southeast Asian country has been in crisis since the military seized power on February 1 and detained elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and much of her party’s leaders, claiming fraud in the November elections that her party had won.

The coup has brought hundreds of thousands of protesters to the streets of Myanmar and has drawn condemnation from Western countries, with some imposing limited sanctions.

Myanmar’s ambassador, Kyaw Moe Tun, told the UN General Assembly that he was speaking on behalf of the Suu Kyi government and appealed to the body “to use all necessary means to take action against the Myanmar military and to provide security and protection of people “.

“… We need the strongest possible action by the international community to immediately end the military coup, stop oppressing innocent people … and restore democracy,” the 193-member UN General Assembly said, receiving applause when it finished.

Speaking his last words in Burmese, Kyaw Moe Tun, a career diplomat, raised a three-finger salute from pro-democracy protesters and announced that “our cause will prevail.”

Reuters could not immediately reach the military for comment.

Opponents of the coup hailed Kyaw Moe Tun as a hero.

“The people will win and the power-obsessed junta will fall,” a protest leader, Ei Thinzar Maung, wrote on Facebook.

UN special envoy in Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener, pressured the world body to issue a “clear signal in support of democracy” and told the General Assembly that no country should recognize or legitimize the junta.

The Chinese envoy did not criticize the coup, saying the situation was Myanmar’s “internal affairs”, saying he supported diplomacy by Southeast Asian countries that protesters fear could give the ruling generals credibility.

THE UNCERTAIN OF SUU KYI

Uncertainty grew over Suu Kyi’s whereabouts on Friday, as the independent website Myanmar Now quoted senior officials from her National League for Democracy (NLD) party as saying she had been transferred this week from house arrest to an undisclosed location. .

A lawyer acting on his behalf, Khin Maung Zaw, told Reuters that he had heard the same from NLD officials but could not confirm it. Authorities did not respond to a request for comment.

The lawyer said that Suu Kyi had not been given access before her next hearing on Monday, adding: “I am concerned that there is a loss of rights of access to justice and access to a lawyer.”

Protesters who have taken to the streets every day for more than three weeks are demanding the release of 75-year-old Suu Kyi and recognition of the outcome of last year’s elections.

In the largest city, Yangon, riot police fired rubber bullets, stun grenades and shots into the air to disperse protesters. At least one person was injured there, a witness said.

Several people were detained, witnesses said, including a Japanese journalist who was briefly detained.

Several people were also injured by police in Mandalay’s second city, national media and an emergency worker said. Police also broke up protests in Naypyitaw, the central town of Magwe and the western mountain town of Hakha, witnesses said.

The military chief, General Min Aung Hlaing, says the authorities were using minimal force. However, at least three protesters have died. The army says a policeman was also killed.

At least 689 people are in detention or have pending charges that have been brought against them since the coup, according to the Myanmar Political Prisoners Assistance Association.

Suu Kyi, the daughter of the Myanmar independence hero, spent nearly 15 years under house arrest under previous boards. She faces charges of illegally importing six walkie-talkie radios and violating a natural disaster law by violating coronavirus protocols.

The army has promised elections, but has not given a date. It has imposed a state of emergency for one year.

The election issue is at the center of a diplomatic effort by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), of which Myanmar is a member. Indonesia has taken the lead, but opponents of the coup fear the efforts could legitimize the junta.

ASEAN foreign ministers plan to hold a meeting on Myanmar next week, regional diplomats said.

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