The international community is stepping up pressure in response to the Burmese junta’s bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters. The Security Council held a closed-door meeting on Myanmar on Friday, the U.N. special rapporteur called for a global arms embargo on the country and the United States announced a new wave of sanctions against Myanmar on Thursday.
The U.N. counted at least 38 people dead in the bloodiest crackdown on protesters Wednesday, with the use of live ammunition by the Burmese military on demonstrators sparking international outcry and condemnation.
In a report released Thursday, independent expert Thomas Andrews, commissioned by the United Nations, stressed that “the future of Myanmar is determined by its people, and the international community must act urgently and decisively on their behalf. The Special Rapporteur therefore recommended to a closed-door meeting of the Security Council on the situation in Burma today that a “global arms embargo” be imposed on the military government, and Europe and Canada called for “targeted economic sanctions” against Burma’s military generals.
The U.S. on Thursday again announced a new wave of sanctions to tighten export controls on Burma. The new rules blacklist Burma’s Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Defense and two commercial entities under the jurisdiction and management of the Ministry of Defense as U.S. subjects. The measure adds to the economic sanctions imposed by the United States on the head of the military government since the coup in Burma.
The new regulations reclassify Burma to the same list of adversary countries as Russia and China to target any sensitive technology or materials for review and restrict any exports that could be used for military purposes.
In a tweet, U.S. diplomatic spokesman Ned Price warned, “We will continue to take action against the junta.”
China and Russia, traditional allies of the Burmese military, have reportedly not identified a coup in the country, considering the current crisis an “internal matter” in Myanmar.
Despite fears of retaliation, demonstrations continued in several Burmese cities on Friday. In one neighborhood of Yangon, protesters used old tires and sandbags as barriers against police, as they had the day before, in a still peaceful atmosphere, while in Mandalay, the second largest city, hundreds of engineers took to the streets. A small number of people also continued to gather and march in the northeastern town of Bago, where demonstrators carried banners reading “We do not accept the military coup.
At least 54 civilians, including four minors, have died, dozens more have been injured and more than 1,700 people have been arrested since the Feb. 1 coup, according to U.N. statistics.
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