The United Nations General Assembly did not call for a global arms embargo on the Burmese military, although rare steps were taken after the coup on February 1 to urge member states to “prevent the flow of weapons” into this violent country.

The resolution condemning the coup also requires the military to “immediately stop all acts of violence against peaceful demonstrators.”

On Friday, 119 countries approved the bill, with 36 countries including Myanmar’s main ally China abstaining. Only one country, Belarus, voted against it. It is sponsored by 50 countries.

Vulkan Bozkir, President of the 75th UN General Assembly, said: “We must advocate the protection of all basic human rights, including freedom of speech, access to information and freedom of peaceful assembly that have been repeatedly violated by the Myanmar military.” A statement.

At the meeting, the UN Special Envoy for Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener, also warned the 193-member institution that the country “is at risk of large-scale civil war.”

“Time is life. The chances of reversing military takeover are shrinking,” Schraner Bulgner said after the conference passed a non-binding resolution.

Hundreds of thousands of refugees are currently fleeing violence After the conflict between the military and ethnic groups, the country is in the country.

The vote took place on the same day The Security Council Holds Informal Talks on the Situation in Southeast Asian CountriesIn February, the military deposed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The resolution was not passed by consensus as people hoped, but through a vote, forcing all 193 UN countries to express their views.

In a quirk in history, the special envoy of Myanmar to the world agency Jue Meng Tun voted in favor of the text. He enthusiastically rejected the coup and ignored the military’s claims that he no longer represented Myanmar. The United Nations still considers him a legitimate envoy.

After the vote, the diplomat expressed regret that it took three months for the General Assembly to pass the resolution and did not specify the arms embargo more clearly.

He said: “The army is still operating in its own distorted reality,” while ignoring calls to stop violence.

“People at home and abroad resolutely stop illegal military administration and restore democracy.”

“Rare” move

Countries that abstained from voting included Russia, Mali (recently the second military coup in less than a year), Iran, Egypt, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand.

The UN General Assembly rarely passes resolutions condemning military coups or calling for restrictions on the supply of weapons to targeted countries.

“This is the broadest and most widespread condemnation of the situation in Myanmar so far,” said Olof Skog, the EU’s ambassador to the United Nations.

“The EU is proud of the resolution just passed by the UN General Assembly. It sends a strong and powerful message. It deprives the military government of legitimacy, condemns its abuse and violence against its own people, and demonstrates its isolation in the eyes of the world,” He says.

The resolution also called for the restoration of democracy in Myanmar and the release of all detained civilian leaders.

“We absolutely must create conditions for the restoration of democracy,” United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said before voting on the resolution, hoping to get a “very clear message” from the General Assembly.

‘Do the obvious’

It requires Implementation of the five-point plan drafted by ASEAN in April Including the appointment of a special envoy from the European Union.

The text also called on the military to allow UN Representative Burgner to visit the country and allow humanitarian aid to pass safely.

On Friday, Burgner briefed the Security Council at its closed-door meeting on Myanmar. The diplomat told Agence France-Presse that due to continuing differences among its members, no joint statement was passed at that meeting.

We must speak up for those who are silenced. We must advocate the protection of all basic human rights, including freedom of speech, access to information, and peaceful assembly, which have been repeatedly violated in the military. #Myanmar. pic.twitter.com/vbpSbjNo9A

-President of the United Nations General Assembly (@UN_PGA) June 18, 2021

Human Rights Watch stated that the General Assembly resolution “calls on UN member states to do the obvious: stop providing weapons to Myanmar.”

“Months of atrocities and serious human rights violations by military government security forces have shown time and time again why no government should send them a bullet. The UN Security Council should now strengthen and pass its own resolution to impose a global arms embargo on Myanmar. ,” said Luis Chabono, the UN director of Human Rights Watch.

Barbara Woodward, the British ambassador to the United Nations, stated that the resolution is an opportunity to “show that the world stands with the people of Myanmar, not with the military”, and that they “have committed crimes against ordinary civilians. Terrible acts of violence”.

According to the United Nations and the Aid Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), more than 860 civilians have been killed in Myanmar since the coup.

On Friday, one of two explosions in a military truck near the office of an army-backed political party in Yangon, the country’s largest city, killed two people. Local media reported that a senior rescue official said that six other people were injured.

There are also reports of a fire in Monywa, the largest city in the Sagaing region, but the cause of the accident has not been immediately determined.

#6?18?Coup Monywa, Sagaing

Fire

At around 9:30 p.m., a fire broke out in the Alon Camp market near the Northwest Military Headquarters, but it was still burning.#Myanmar what happened pic.twitter.com/Esn52AP1OH

-Shafiur Ra??hman (fishafiur) June 18, 2021