Myanmar Ambassador to united nations he urged the organization “to use all necessary means to take action against the myanmar army” to restore democracy in the country of southeast asia.
As the military stepped up the use of force to stop pro-democracy protests in Myanmar on Saturday, Kyaw Moe Tun addressed the New York General Assembly after Secretary-General’s Special Envoy António Guterres on MyanmarChristine Schraner Burgener warned that no country should recognize or legitimize the Myanmar junta.
“We need the strongest possible action by the international community to end the military coup immediately, to stop oppressing innocent people, to restore state power to the people and to restore democracy,” Kyaw Moe Tun said with applause and praise from Westerners and Islamic colleagues .
The police were in place early on in the capital Yangon and elsewhere on Saturday, distributed to common places of protest and detained while people were gathering, said the witnesses.
People continued to gather, their numbers building up through the morning, to chant and sing, and then melt into the side streets as police advanced, apparently dropping shock bombs and firing into the air.
Similar scenes were played in another city, Mandalay, and elsewhere, media reported. A protester in the central city of Monwya said police fired from water cannons as they surrounded the crowd.
“They blocked all exits,” Aye Aye Tint told Reuters from the city. “They used a water cannon against peaceful protesters, they shouldn’t treat people like that.”
In his emotional address to the UN on behalf of the ousted civilian government on Friday night, Kyaw Moe Tun said the leaders represented the country’s legitimate government. He finished with greeting with three fingers used by protesters.
Schraner Burgener called for a collective “clear signal in support of democracy” as she rang for a coup, urging “influential” countries to push the military to allow an independent assessment of the situation.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military took power and arrested civilian Prime Minister Aung San Suu Kyi and much of its National League for Democracy (NLD) party after the military complained of fraud in the November elections.
“Unfortunately, the current regime has so far asked me to postpone any visit. They appear to want to continue large-scale arrests and have forced people to testify against the NLD government. This is cruel and inhumane, ”said Schraner Burgener.
The country was largely paralyzed by days of protests and a campaign of civil disobedience with strikes against the military. Although the military chief, General Min Aung Hlaing, says authorities use minimal force during the protests, three protesters and one police officer were killed.
“If there is any escalation in terms of military action – and unfortunately as we have already seen in Myanmar – against people exercising their basic rights, let’s act quickly and collectively,” Schraner Burgener said.
The military promised elections but did not give a date. It introduced a one-year state of emergency.
“It is important that the international community does not give legitimacy or recognition to this regime,” Schraner Burgener said. “The result of the November 2020 election was clear with 82% of the vote for the NLD.”
Guterres pledged to mobilize enough international pressure “to ensure this coup fails”. The Security Council expressed concern over the state of emergency, but stopped condemning the coup.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said: “We call on all member states here today to use any available channel to tell the military that violence against the people of Myanmar will not be tolerated. Together we all show the people of Myanmar that the world is watching. We hear them and stand by them. ”
Chinese Ambassador to the UN Zhang Yun said the international community should respect Myanmar’s sovereignty and “avoid escalating tensions.”
Russia has said other countries should not intervene in Myanmar’s “exclusively internal process.”
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