The UN Security Council "strongly" condemns the killing of hundreds of Myanmar civilians

The UN Security Council "strongly" condemned the killing of hundreds of civilians, including women and children, in Myanmar (formerly Burma), in a statement issued Thursday with the consensus of its members after China greatly reduced the tone and content of the text during arduous two-day negotiations.

In the statement drafted by Britain, which was previously occupying Myanmar, the 15 members of the Council said that they "express their deep concern over the rapid deterioration of the situation, and strongly condemn the use of violence against peaceful demonstrators and the killing of hundreds of civilians, including women and children."

Previous drafts of this statement included a phrase saying that the Security Council "is ready to consider new steps," hinting at the possibility of imposing sanctions against the military.

The military seized power in Myanmar two months ago in a coup that was rejected by a large section of the population protesting in peaceful demonstrations that were suppressed by the army with iron and fire, which resulted in the killing of at least 535 civilians.

Diplomats reported that China, which strongly opposes any sanctions against the putschists, has repeatedly thwarted attempts by Western countries to pass the text due to its inclusion, among other things, of the phrase.

Indeed, the statement issued by the Security Council was devoid of this phrase and any hint of sanctions, as the Security Council confined itself in its statement by saying that it "will keep the situation under close review."

Chinese-Russian pressure

Beijing also imposed, at the conclusion of the negotiations on the statement, to replace the phrase "hundreds of civilians were killed" with the place "hundreds of civilians were killed."

According to the diplomats themselves, Russia has also blocked the issuance of the text several times because it wanted to include a phrase condemning the killing of members of the security forces in the demonstrations, which it did not get in the end because the statement that was issued lacked an explicit reference to that.

A diplomat told the French Press Agency, on condition of anonymity, that the UN Security Council’s success in speaking with "one voice" sends a "very important signal" to the Myanmar army, tacitly acknowledging that the Westerners had to make many concessions to Beijing for the issuance of the statement.

Since the coup d'état of last February, the Security Council has not been able to issue any resolution on Myanmar, and has succeeded only in issuing 3 statements, including the one it issued Thursday.

The Security Council cannot issue any statement except by unanimity, while its decisions are issued by the majority, but China's possession of the right of veto is sufficient to wipe out any draft resolution in the cradle.

China, the primary supporter of Myanmar, refuses to acknowledge the occurrence of a military coup in Myanmar, and has sought every time the Security Council tried to issue a statement on the situation in its southern neighbor to reduce its content.

The UN envoy, Christine Schraner Burgner, had warned before the UN Security Council on Wednesday that Myanmar was facing an "unprecedented" risk of being drawn into a "civil war", calling on the council to use "all means" to avoid a "catastrophe" and "bloodbath" in this country.

Warnings

Yesterday, Thursday, the UN Special Envoy to Myanmar Christine Schraner Burgner warned the members of the UN Security Council of a disaster in the region, and during a session at the Security Council warned that Myanmar might slide into a failed state, and that the Rohingya will suffer more than others.

Burgner appealed to the members of the Council "to consider all available tools to take collective action against the coup, to do the right thing, and to prevent a multi-dimensional catastrophe in the heart of Asia."

Burgner estimated the number of people arrested since the Myanmar army coup at about 2,559, while the number of deaths at the hands of the army and police reached 521.

Burgner expected that the army does not deal with the mediation of the international community except when it feels its ability to contain the situation with repression, calling for responding to the call of Secretary-General Antonio Guterres with a firm response and measures that can reverse the course of events.

A new constitution

The Council of the Union of Myanmar - which includes representatives and opponents - announced the abolition of the 2008 constitution, and sought to enact a new constitution that includes the political and civil rights of various nationalities in the country, and the Council believed that the canceled constitution prolongs what they described as the military rule that violates human rights.

This comes at a time when other opponents are preparing to announce an opposition government of national unity in the coming days, in response to the authorities' violent suppression of peaceful demonstrations.