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Myanmar: US President Joe Biden threatens sanctions after military coup

2021-02-02T00:46:52.246Z


The coup in Myanmar has sparked international criticism: US President Joe Biden wants to examine possible sanctions. He also called on other states to increase pressure on the military in the country.


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Joe Biden

Photo: SHAWN THEW / imago images / UPI Photo

After the military coup in Myanmar, the new US President Joe Biden threatens sanctions.

In a statement he spoke of "appropriate measures" that should now be taken.

The United States has lifted sanctions against Myanmar in the past ten years because the country has moved towards democracy.

However, this process has now been reversed.

Therefore, the US would now immediately examine sanction options, announced Biden.

It went on to say: "The United States will work for democracy wherever it is attacked."

Biden called for a firm international response.

The international community must urge the military to immediately give up power, release activists and officials, lift restrictions on telecommunications and stop violence against civilians.

"We will work with our partners in the region and around the world to help restore democracy and the rule of law." Biden announced that those responsible for the upheaval in Myanmar would be held accountable.

Biden condemned the military coup and the arrest of the de facto head of government Aung San Suu Kyi as a "direct attack on the country's transition to democracy and the rule of law."

The US President's announcement, circulated by the White House, said that in a democracy no attempt should ever be made to "annul the result of a credible election" by force.

At least 45 arrests according to the UN

The civil leadership around the de facto head of government Aung San Suu Kyi was ousted on Monday night.

There were numerous arrests of high-ranking politicians, including Suu Kyi himself and President Win Myint.

The UN human rights office spoke of at least 45 arrests.

The newly elected parliament in Myanmar should have met for the first time on Monday.

The events sparked international protests and criticism from governments.

The UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Tom Andrews, called for "strong sanctions" like an arms embargo for the country.

UN Secretary General António Guterres spoke of a "heavy blow to the democratic reforms in Myanmar".

The European Union, the USA and other countries made similar statements.

Myanmar's neighboring country China called for stability and expressed the hope that "all sides in Myanmar could resolve their differences under the constitution."

The military in Myanmar declared a state of emergency for a year after the coup.

The power now rests with Army Chief Min Aung Hlaing, who has the supreme authority during the emergency, it said on the army-controlled television station Myawaddy.

According to the information, there will be a new election in a year.

As one of the first measures, the new rulers imposed a curfew from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m.

Suu Kyi called on the population via Facebook not to accept the takeover.

"The public is called upon to fully oppose the military coup and to resist it decisively," she was quoted as saying.

Rumors of an impending coup in former Burma had been around for days.

The background to this are allegations by the military that the parliamentary elections in November were fraudulent.

The 75-year-old Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD) party won the vote with an absolute majority.

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate thus secured a second term as head of government.

After a coup in 1962, the country was under a military dictatorship for almost half a century.

Suu Kyi campaigned for a non-violent democratization process in the 1980s and was therefore placed under house arrest for 15 years.

In 1991 she received the Nobel Peace Prize for her work against oppression and social injustice.

Reforms only slowly got underway since 2011, when a civilian government was reinstated for the first time.

Suu Kyi was dependent on cooperation with the military.

A quarter of the seats in the parliamentary chambers were reserved for the armed forces.

This is what it says in the constitution of 2008, which the junta drafted in order not to be disempowered even after the introduction of democratic reforms.

Due to another clause, Suu Kyi could not become president, but ruled the country with its almost 54 million inhabitants as a state councilor and thus de facto head of government.

Constitutional changes are not possible without the military, and it has already controlled the most important ministries.

The politician is very popular in her own country.

But it has become controversial internationally.

The promised democratic reforms in the Buddhist country have largely failed to materialize, and Suu Kyi has shown an increasingly authoritarian style of government.

Suu Kyi has been criticized around the world mainly because of the state discrimination against the Rohingya and their silence on violence against the Muslim minority.

More than a million Rohingya have fled the brutal military attacks in Bangladesh.

"It is to be feared that the military coup will further exacerbate the already dramatic situation (...) of the Rohingya," warned Federal Development Minister Gerd Müller (CSU).

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cop / dpa / Reuters

Source: spiegel

All news articles on 2021-02-02

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