UN expert on Myanmar says UNSC resolution not strong enough on 'gross rights violations'

New York [US], December 22 : In response to the adoption of the Security Council's first resolution on Myanmar since the military unleashed a brutal crackdown nearly two years ago, a UN-appointed independent human rights expert warned on Thursday that the "carnage" would only worsen without "strong, coordinated action" by UN Member States.
Thomas Andrews, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, acknowledged as "notable" that the Council crafted and advanced a draft that managed to avoid a veto. But "with all due respect" he said that the resolution adopted yesterday was not enough.
"'Demanding that certain actions be taken without any use of the Security Council's Chapter VII authority, will not stop the illegal Myanmar junta from attacking and destroying the lives of the 54 million people being held hostage in Myanmar", he said in a statement.
He said the systematic gross human rights violations -- amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity -- being perpetrated daily on the people of Myanmar by an illegal military junta requires strong, coordinated action by UN Member States.
"The demands put forward in the resolution -- including 'an immediate end to all forms of violence,' the release of political prisoners, the need for unimpeded humanitarian access, and the need to respect the rights of women and children -- are critically important but what is missing are consequences for the failure to meet them and the imposition of sanctions and accountability for crimes the military has committed to date," he added.
Andrews said he wholeheartedly agree with Security Council members Norway, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, Iceland, and Mexico that the language of the resolution should have been stronger.
"What the content of this resolution makes clear is that the action that is required to end this crisis will not come from the Security Council. It is therefore imperative that those nations with the political will to support the people of Myanmar take coordinated action immediately to end the carnage," he added.
Andrews said the Security Council resolution should not become a dead-end that is followed by more international inaction. It should be a wake-up call for those nations who support a people under siege. "It is clearly time for the creation of a working coalition of nations who are willing to stand with the people of Myanmar by providing what they need most -- action," he added.
India, China and Russia abstained in the United Nations Security Council on a draft resolution that demanded an immediate end to violence and the release of all arbitrarily detained prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi and ex-president Win Myint.