Burmese protesters gather in downtown Yangon on Feb. 22, 2021, to perform the three-finger salute against the dictatorship and call for democracy in protest of the military coup by the military government. (Hkun Lat/Getty Images)
The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control says the new round of sanctions targets Burma’s Air Force Commander-in-Chief General Maung Maung Kyaw and former Army Chief of Staff and Special Forces Commander Lt. Gen. Both are members of the Burmese military government’s State Administration Council, with Lt. Gen. Moe Myint Tun overseeing the capital Naypyidaw.
The office said the move was “a response to the killing of peaceful protesters by security forces. The move comes after two people were killed over the weekend and a 23-year-old woman was shot in the head on Feb. 9 and died of her injuries.
“The (Burmese) military must reverse its actions and urgently restore Burma’s democratically elected government, or the U.S. Treasury Department will not hesitate to take further action.” The department said in a statement.
The U.S. Treasury Department on Feb. 11, has sanctioned 10 current or former military generals, and three Burmese entities, including Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken endorsed the action, saying, “We will not hesitate to take further action against those who commit violence and suppress the will of the people.”
A general strike against military rule in Myanmar shut down businesses on Monday, and despite stern warnings from authorities, millions of people took to the streets and gathered peacefully to protest the actions of the Burmese military.
Three weeks after seizing power, the junta has failed to stop popular protests and civil disobedience campaigns, with doctors, teachers, engineers and other civil servants striking to demand an end to the coup and the release of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
According to The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, which has continued to track detainees since the coup, 684 people have been arrested since the junta took control of Burma, and some 637 people remain in custody.
“We call on the Burmese military and police to stop all attacks on peaceful protesters, immediately release all those unjustly detained, stop attacks and intimidation against journalists and protesters, and restore the democratically elected government.” Blinken said.
The two generals who were blacklisted by the U.S. Treasury Department on Monday will have frozen any U.S. assets they may have and barred all Americans from doing business with them.
Britain and Canada also imposed sanctions on Myanmar’s ruling military generals last Thursday (Feb. 18). The U.K. said it would impose asset freeze and travel ban sanctions on three generals, while Canada said it would take action against nine military officials.
The European Union agreed to impose sanctions on Myanmar’s military leaders at a meeting of foreign ministers on Monday, but no details have been released and European leaders are expected to make a final decision on the sanctions at a summit next month.
Meanwhile, Britain summoned Myanmar’s ambassador to London for the second Time in a month to condemn the coup and the response to the protests.
A British Foreign Office spokesman said Nigel Adams, the British Foreign Office Minister of State (Deputy Minister) for Asia, stressed that “the use of violence and force against protesters, which has led to casualties, is wholly reprehensible and must stop.”
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