Peter Dejong
The 193-member body voted on Friday with a large majority in favor of a corresponding resolution, which also urged the release of the ousted Prime Minister Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners.
119 countries voted for the declaration, which, however, has no binding effect under international law. 36 states – including Russia and China – abstained, only Belarus voted against the text. The other countries did not vote.
The UN Security Council, whose resolutions are binding, unlike the General Assembly, had not been able to agree on a common text since the February 1st coup, but only issued statements condemning the violence, among other things. China, Russia, the USA, France and Great Britain have a right of veto in the 15-member council, but not in the general assembly.
Since the military coup in early February, the former Burma has sunk into chaos and violence. The generals had ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s government. The Nobel Peace Prize laureate has been under house arrest ever since. According to estimates by the prisoners’ aid organization AAPP, more than 850 people have already been killed in ongoing protests against the junta. In many parts of the country, rebel groups from ethnic minorities and newly formed militias are fighting with the military. (SDA)