Burma faces call for arms ban
Human rights pressure group Amnesty International today urged the UN Security Council to ban all arms sales to Burma.
The also called for the country’s main arms suppliers – China and India – to suspend all deals.
The move came as a UN special envoy in Rangoon made a final effort to meet the country’s top military leader today, hoping to persuade him to accept the people’s demands for democracy.
Ibrahim Gambari spent the weekend in talks with minor officials but was snubbed by General Than Shwe who heads the country’s military junta.
Meanwhile Amnesty said in the wake of the brutal suppression of last week’s protest marches: “An unambiguous message must be sent urgently to Burma military leaders that their brutal crackdown on peaceful protesters ... will not be tolerated or fuelled by any member of the international community.”
Troops used live ammunition, tear gas and batons to drive demonstrators off the streets. Hundreds of people, including Buddhist monks, were arrested for their role in the demonstrations. Many monasteries were ransacked and sealed.
The government says 10 people were killed in the crackdown, but dissident groups and foreign governments say the number is far higher.
“It is unacceptable for states to continue to supply arms to a government that is already responsible for persistent serious violations of human rights and which now resorts to violence against peaceful demonstrators,” Amnesty said.
Amnesty also called on the principal suppliers of arms to Burma, particularly China and India, in addition to Russia, Serbia, Ukraine and Southeast Asian nations, to stop arms deals with Burma.
The EU and the US imposed embargoes on the direct and indirect supply of military items to Burma in 1988 and 1993 respectively.
In Rangoon today troops removed road blocks and appeared to ease their stranglehold on the city.
Riot police moved from the city centre to the outskirts, but were still checking cars and buses, and monitoring the city by helicopter.
Traffic was still light and most shops remained closed. Some monks were allowed to leave monasteries to collect food donations, watched by soldiers lounging under trees.
“It’s outwardly quite normal at the moment. The traffic seems to be flowing, there’s a lot of military tucked away in less visible locations,” said British Ambassador Mark Canning.
“They’ve obviously for the moment squeezed things off the streets,” he said.
