UN human rights body condemns Burma junta
The UN Human Rights Council today condemned Burma's violent crackdown on protests and urged an immediate investigation of the situation in the country.
The 47-nation council said it "strongly deplores continued violent repression of peaceful demonstrators in Burma , including through beatings, killings, arbitrary detentions and enforced disappearances."
It is the first time the body has criticised a government other than Israel since replacing the discredited Human Rights Commission last year.
The council, which lacks enforcement powers, is limited to focusing global attention on human rights offenders.
The resolution, proposed by European countries, was passed after discussions that included direct testimony from a Swedish diplomat who visited Burma last month and saw troops firing on unarmed civilians.
The top UN human rights official demanded that Burma be held to account for its "shocking response" to the protests.
Louise Arbour, the UN high commissioner for human rights, said: "The peaceful protests that we have witnessed in recent weeks and the shocking response by the authorities are only the most recent manifestations of the repression of fundamental rights and freedoms that have taken place for almost 20 years."
The EU led the move for the special session by the Geneva-based rights organisation following discussions in the Security Council and the General Assembly in New York.
In the Security Council, even China, which has been reluctant to criticise Burma, joined the 14 other nations in expressing concern over the violence, urging the country's military rulers to exercise restraint.
"The government must give full account for its action during and after the protest, including precise and verifiable information on the number of people killed and injured as well as on the whereabouts and condition of those who have been arrested," said Ms Arbour, a former Canadian Supreme Court justice.
The EU urged the council to "strongly condemn" the Burma government's repression, but the language was toned down in negotiations that involved China and India.
The council has previously condemned alleged Israeli rights abuses in three special sessions. Its last emergency meeting was in December, when the politically divided body examined the situation in Sudan's region of Darfur.
The council urged the government of Burma "to ensure full respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms" and to "bring to justice perpetrators of human rights violations, including for the recent violations of the rights of peaceful protesters."
