Trust in U.S. ends in total fiasco

February 23, 2022 - 21:32

TEHRAN- Myanmar has been stuck in the gnarls of an autocratic race as the aftermath of the military coup on February 01, 2021.

The armed forces have apparently grabbed the lead in Southeast Asia's authoritarian race to the bottom. 

The military's inability to win voters' hearts and minds was a primary motivator for the coup.

Autocrats everywhere will be empowered, while democratic leaders will be disheartened.

Many Myanmar citizens have compared the security forces' ruthless crackdown, beatings, and cruel treatment to terrorism.

The Myanmar military launched systematic perpetration of violence and repression against its own people backed by Aung San Suu Kyi against the armed forces' Union Solidary for Development Party.

Since the military coup on February 1, demonstrators have been calling for the restoration of a civilian government and the release of their leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, and her colleagues, who have been detained since then.
The widespread revolt has been met with a harsh military response that has resulted in the deaths of over 860 individuals.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres earlier stressed said “we cannot live in a world where military coups become a norm. It is totally unacceptable.”

In 2015, Aung San Suu Kyi led her National League for Democracy (NLD) to victory in Myanmar's first openly contested election in 25 years.

However, she was toppled in a coup in 2021, when the military took control and jailed her as well as the political leadership surrounding her.

That was her prize who laid trust in the U.S.-backed generals involved in the genocide against Rohingya people. 

She was all ears when coming to the obedience to the American orders. Eventually, she lost everything including her fame and honor. In American eyes, every puppet or despot that they install has an expiry date. When finished, they are finished too. 

A brutal crackdown on Rohingya Muslims by Myanmar's army in August 2017 drove hundreds of thousands to escape over the border into Bangladesh.

They jeopardized everything to flee by water or foot from a military offensive termed afterwards by the UN as a "classic example of ethnic cleansing."

The UN's highest court ordered the Buddhist-majority country to take steps to protect members of the Rohingya group from genocide in January 2020.

However, Myanmar's army has stated that it struggled with Rohingya people and denied any slaughter of civilians. Aung San Suu Kyi has frequently disputed charges of genocide.

In an August 2018 report, UN investigators accused Myanmar's military of carrying out mass executions and rapes with "genocidal intent."

When Aung San Suu Kyi appeared in court in December 2019, she denied claims of genocide.

However, the court's initial judgment in January 2020 required Myanmar to adopt emergency measures to safeguard the Rohingya from persecution and killing.

With over 500,000 Rohingya still estimated to be living in Myanmar's northern Rakhine region, UN investigators have warned that there is a "serious risk that genocidal crimes may occur or reoccur."

On February 22, the United Nations called on countries providing the junta with fighter jets that are still used against civilians to halt the flow of weapons enabling atrocities.

Myanmar has been in chaos since a coup ended a decade of fragile democracy, sparking protests that forces crushed with fatal force.

According to the United Nations, at least 1,500 civilians have been killed, and more than 300,000 people have been displaced as a result of rural fighting between the military and armed opponents. The junta claims to be combating "terrorists" and opposes U.N. intervention.

Special Rapporteur Tom Andrews maintained in a report to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva that these weapons had been used on people.

“It should be incontrovertible that weapons used to kill civilians should no longer be transferred to Myanmar. These transfers truly shock the conscience,” Andrews said in a statement.

“Stopping the junta’s atrocity crimes begins with blocking their access to weapons. The more the world delays, the more innocent people, including children, will die in Myanmar.”

“The people of Myanmar are imploring the UN to act,” said Andrews. “They deserve an up-or-down vote on a Security Council resolution that will stop the sale of weapons being used to kill them. Too many families are finding themselves in the crosshairs of weapons of war. This must end.”

The Special Rapporteur urged the Security Council to take action.

“I appeal to Member States of the UN Security Council who are appalled by the killing of Myanmar civilians to put forward a resolution to stop it,” he said. 

“Transparency matters. The Security Council should consider, at the very least, a resolution to ban weapons that are being used by the Myanmar military to kill innocent people.”

The European Union has expanded sanctions imposed on Myanmar following last year's coup to include a state-owned oil and gas business that is a major source of revenue for the military, as well as a number of prominent officials. 

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