UNSC calls for Aung San Suu Kyi’s release in first-ever Myanmar resolution

New York: The United Nations Security Council resolution on Wednesday (local time) urged Myanmar’s Junta to “immediately release all arbitrarily detained prisoners”, including Aung San Suu Kyi and ex-president Win Myint.

Under the Indian Presidency of the UNSC, voting on a resolution on Myanmar took place. The resolution was proposed by the UK.

The UNSC called for Myanmar’s Junta to release Aung San Suu Kyi as it adopted its first-ever resolution on the situation in the turmoil-ridden Southeast Asian country.

The 15-member Council has been split on Myanmar for decades and was previously only able to agree on formal statements about the country, which has been under military rule since February 2021.

Twelve members of the U.N. Security Council voted in favour of the resolution demanding an immediate end to violence in Myanmar, while China, Russia and India abstained.

US envoy to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said this resolution only represents a step toward ending the bloodshed, adding that ”much more must be done”.

China’s UN Ambassador Zhang Jun said there is no quick fix to the issue.

On February 1, 2021, Suu Kyi’s government was deposed in a military coup after her National League for Democracy party’s victory in national elections the previous year.

For five decades, Myanmar had been under strict military rule, leading to international isolation and sanctions. As the generals loosened their grip, culminating in Suu Kyi’s rise to leadership in the 2015 elections, the international community responded by lifting most sanctions and pouring investment into the country.

The coup was met with widespread civic unrest as people denounced her removal and the introduction of military rule. The Junta detained Suu Kyi and other officials and repressed protests violently, with the UN warning that the country had descended into civil war.

In 2008, the Council failed to adopt a draft resolution on Myanmar after Beijing and Moscow cast vetoes.

Then in December 2018, Britain made another attempt following the Rohingya crisis that saw 700,000 people flee Myanmar to neighboring Bangladesh but a vote was never held.

Britain began circulating a draft text of Wednesday’s resolution in September. Several amendments were made to ensure its passing, UN watchers say.

Language relating to the Council’s determination to use all its powers should Myanmar fail to adhere to the resolution were reportedly dropped.

Several members also objected to a provision requesting the UN secretary-general to report to the Council on the situation in Myanmar every 60 days.

Instead, the resolution calls for the secretary-general or his envoy to report back by March 15, 2023 in coordination with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

The Council had issued one unified statement on Myanmar since the coup ended the country’s brief period of democracy.

The military alleged widespread voter fraud during the November 2020 election, won resoundingly by Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party, although international observers said the poll was largely free and fair.

A junta court has found the Nobel laureate guilty on every one of the 14 charges it has heard so far, including corruption, and jailed her for 26 years.

Rights groups have slammed the trial as a sham designed to remove the democracy figurehead permanently from Myanmar’s political scene.

The military’s crackdown on pro-democracy protesters has killed more than 2,500 people, according to a local monitoring group.