The United Nations (UN) General Assembly plans to develop a draft resolution on Myanmar on Tuesday. It called for the “immediate suspension” of arms deliveries to Myanmar’s junta, and a UN representative told the AFP news agency on Sunday.
The resolution calls for “the immediate suspension of the direct and indirect supply, sale and transfer of arms, ammunition and other military equipment to Myanmar.”
While General Assembly resolutions are not binding, they do have great political significance. If the members do not reach a unanimous agreement on Tuesday evening at the plenary meeting of the UN, the 193 member states will vote on the measure.
The resolution has been negotiated for weeks. So far, 48 countries have backed the plan for the resolution. South Korea is currently the only Asian country to do so.
In the draft, Myanmar’s General Assembly also calls for an end to the state of emergency and violence against peaceful protesters. The immediate and unconditional release is also demanded of President Win Myint, Head of Government Aung San Suu Kyi and others arbitrarily detained since the coup d’état on February 1.
A group of human rights organizations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, already called on the UN for an arms embargo against Myanmar at the beginning of this month. This is because of the military’s continued violent crackdown on protesters after the coup.