A UN General Assembly committee on Thursday condemned Myanmar’s recent election, which pro-democracy parties said was rigged to preserve authoritarian rule in the Southeast Asian country.
Myanmar’s biggest military-backed party earlier this month won the first election in the country in 20 years by a landslide.
The General Assembly’s Third Committee, which deals with human rights, approved a resolution on the rights situation in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, with 96 votes in favor, 28 against and 60 abstentions. This year’s resolution received four more yes votes than a similar declaration garnered last year.
The resolution, which was sponsored by the US, EU and Western powers, said UN member states were “deeply regretting that the Government of Myanmar did not take the necessary steps to ensure a free, fair, transparent and inclusive electoral process.”
BOYCOTT
The election was held with Nobel laureate and pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi in detention and her party disbanded for refusing to take part in a vote it said was unfair. Aung San Suu Kyi had urged supporters to boycott the poll.
Aung San Suu Kyi, who was released on Saturday, has spent 15 of the past 21 years in detention. The 65-year-old pro-democracy leader’s National League for Democracy (NLD) beat an army-backed party by a landslide in a 1990 election, but that result was ignored by the country’s military junta.
The resolution welcomed her release from “the most recent period of her arbitrary house arrest” and urged the junta to ensure that no restrictions are placed on the exercise of her human rights.
The resolution also said the assembly “strongly condemns the ongoing systematic violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms of the people of Myanmar.”
The Third Committee adopted a resolution condemning North Korea as well and will consider one on Iran later on Thursday. Resolutions criticizing the human rights situations in Myanmar, Iran and North Korea have become an annual ritual at the UN.
The 192-nation General Assembly is expected to formally adopt all human rights resolutions next month.
‘SHAM ELECTION’
Philippe Bolopion of Human Rights Watch said the declaration showed the junta “that most of the world saw through its sham election and the release of ... Suu Kyi, cynically designed to divert attention from the continued military rule and the detention of more than 2,200 other political prisoners.”
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon spoke with Aung San Suu Kyi by telephone on Thursday.
“The Secretary-General and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi both stressed the need for the Myanmar authorities to release all remaining political prisoners as a matter of priority,” the UN press office said in a statement.
The UN Security Council also discussed Myanmar behind closed doors on Thursday, but failed to agree on any kind of statement.
One diplomat said that China — Myanmar’s neighbor, close trading partner and protector on the 15-nation council — told the group that the junta had organized “a wonderful election” and everyone should support the government.
Although the US, Britain, France and other Western powers have urged council action on Myanmar over its human rights record, China has made clear it would use its veto power to block any punitive measures by the Security Council.
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