EU foreign ministers have agreed to draw up possible sanctions against Myanmar generals over "serious human rights violations." Myanmar continues to deny most allegations of abuses committed against Rohingya Muslims.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/M. Uz Zaman
Advertisement
European Union foreign ministers on Monday asked the bloc's top diplomat to draw up a list of sanctions to be imposed on senior Myanmar military officers over "serious and systematic human rights violations" in the country.
The measures would be the toughest sanctions to be imposed on Myanmar by Brussels as it tries to hold the military accountable for a brutal crackdown on Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine state. The violence has caused 700,000 people to flee their homes since August.
Following a meeting in Brussels, the ministers said they tasked foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini with proposing "targeted restrictive measures" against senior military officers. They'd also asked her to draw up an extension of an arms embargo that was initiated in the 1990s but was due to expire at the end of April.
The sanctions would include EU travel bans and asset freezes.
Satellite images like these show that villages in Rakhine have been destroyed (L. before, R. after)Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/DigitalGlobe
Accusations of ethnic cleansing
Except for the arms embargo, the bloc suspended all restrictive measures in place against Myanmar in 2012 as a gesture of support for the country's transition from military rule to democracy in recent years.
However, the EU has been one of the most vocal critics of the crackdown in Rakhine state, which both the United States and the United Nations have described as "ethnic cleansing."
The move to prepare sanctions reflects reluctance in the UN Security Council to impose measures of its own on Myanmar, with veto-wielding powers Russia and China saying this month that they believed the situation in Rakhine was under control.
Flood threat to Rohingya camp
01:43
This browser does not support the video element.
Global rights icon Suu Kyi under fire
De facto Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel peace laureate, has meanwhile come under renewed pressure to do more to stop the crackdown. Three fellow laureates urged her on Monday to speak out against the violence or risk prosecution for "genocide."
"This is clearly, clearly, clearly genocide that is going on by the Burmese government and military against the Rohingya people," Maguire said.
Myanmar denies most of the allegations leveled at it by the international community over the crackdown, asking for more evidence. At the same time, however, it will not grant independent journalists, human rights monitors or UN-appointed investigators access to the conflict zone.
Aung San Suu Kyi: From freedom fighter to pariah
Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi had the global community rooting for her when she was the world's most famous political prisoner. But in recent years she was accused of standing by while soldiers massacred Rohingya Muslims.
Image: Reuters
Darling of democracy
Aung San Suu Kyi, the daughter of Myanmar's assassinated founding father Aung San, returned to her home country in the late 1980s after studying and starting a family in England. She became a key figure in the 1988 uprisings against the country's military dictatorship. Her National League for Democracy (NLD) was victorious in 1990 elections, but the government refused to honor the vote.
Image: dapd
Military rule
Suu Kyi spent 15 of the 21 years between 1989 and 2010 under house arrest. After 1995, the rights advocate was barred from seeing her two sons and husband, Michael Aris, even after the latter was diagnosed with cancer. Aris, seen here displaying an honorary doctorate awarded to his wife, died in 1999.
Image: TORSTEN BLACKWOOD/AFP
'The Lady'
Suu Kyi's determination to bring democracy and human rights to her country won her international renown, including the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize. She was so popular that in 2011 famous French director Luc Besson made a biopic of her life starring Malaysian actor Michelle Yeoh. Suu Kyi was often called the world's most famous political prisoner.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/Seven Media/Doha Film Institute
Sworn in as lawmaker
Decades of campaigning finally paid off, and in 2012 Suu Kyi was allowed to run in free elections. She won a seat in parliament as Myanmar began its transition away from military government. After general elections in 2015, she became the country's de facto civilian leader, although officially she held the post of foreign minister and state counselor — a role akin to prime minister.
Image: AP
Persecution of the Rohingya
Rohingya, a mostly Muslim ethnic group, had their citizenship revoked by Myanmar's Buddhist-majority government in 1982. Long persecuted, their plight intensified in 2016 when Myanmar's military began what it called "clearance" of illegal immigrants. Groups such as Human Rights Watch have described it as "ethnic cleansing." Thousands have died, and hundreds of thousands have fled their homes.
Image: Reuters/D. Siddiqui
Fall from grace
When she became state counselor in 2016, Suu Kyi set up a commission to investigate claims of atrocities against the Rohingya in Rakhine state. Suu Kyi accused the Rohingya of spreading "a huge iceberg of misinformation," and said she was concerned by the "terrorist threat" posed by extremists. Her stance sparked protests in Muslim-majority countries around the world.
Image: picture-alliance/Zumapress/J. Laghari
Nobel no more?
Due to her handling of the Rohingya crisis, Suu Kyi was stripped of various honors and lost much of her international support. The Nobel committee was forced to issue a statement saying that her peace prize could not be revoked. Fellow Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai called on Suu Kyi to "stop the violence." Suu Kyi said that outsiders could not grasp the complexities of the situation.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
A controversial election
In 2020, Myanmar's ruling National League for Democracy party won the November 8 general election, with enough seats to form the next government. However, the military's proxy party, the Union Solidarity and Development party, claimed fraud and demanded a new election supervised by the military. With that came comments alluding to a possible coup. Supporters of the party also marched in protest.
Image: Shwe Paw Mya Tin/REUTERS
Military detains Suu Kyi
Myanmar's civilian leader, along with several of her political allies, were detained in an early morning raid on February 1, 2021 led by the military. The move came amid escalating tensions between the civilian government and army, which had been in control for decades.The junta claimed electoral fraud, announced a yearlong state of emergency and named a former general as acting president.
