Irrawaddy-Feb 6
Nine member states of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) including three permanent members have called on the Myanmar junta to cease its attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure and release all political prisoners including President U Win Myint and State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. UNSC members the US, the UK, France, Japan, South Korea, Slovenia, Switzerland, Ecuador and Malta issued the joint statement on Monday ahead of the council’s closed-door meeting on Myanmar. The nine countries are among 15 permanent and rotating members of the UNSC. Noting that Feb. 1 marked three years since the Myanmar military overthrew the democratically elected government, they said the situation in the country remains dire. “We strongly condemn the ongoing violence harming civilians in Myanmar including the military’s continued use of indiscriminate air strikes,” the member states said in the joint statement. Two permanent members of the council, China and Russia, were not involved in the statement. “As set out in UN Security Council Resolution 2669, we demand an immediate end to all forms of violence and urge restraint and de-escalation of tensions. We continue to urge the Myanmar military to immediately release all arbitrarily detained prisoners, including President Win Myint and State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi,” the countries said in the statement. Read more at: https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/myanmars-crisis-the-world/nine-un-security-council-members-call-on-junta-to-end-attacks-on-civilians.html
