Myanmar is an independent state in southeast Asia, formerly known as Burma , a former British colony. For more than 50 years, the country has been under a military dictatorship, meaning limited civil liberties and great poverty for the ordinary citizens.Democratic governance without the intervention of the military. In early 2021, on the pretext that the elections had been forged, the military arrested the country's president and prime minister and again imposed a military dictatorship that lasted for a third month. Mass protests are organized on the streets of major cities, but unfortunately some of the protests are suppressed by force by the military – innocent citizens, journalists, doctors, etc. have been killed.
Many journalists are fired and arrested, social media and access to information is restricted. Basic human rights are being violated and people are currently banned from expressing their views freely. This leads to numerous international sanctions, mostly economic ones, that try peacefully to loosen the power of the new military government, which is NOT elected by its people through democratic elections. Such sanctions are imposed as early as 2018 by the EU, when the military is still in opposition. The Council of Europe has extended and strengthened the embargo on Myanmar for weapons and equipment that can be used for internal repression. It is a well-known fact that the military is restricting the freedoms of religious minorities in the Buddhist country, and there are also serious suspicions of genocide against minorities. At this stage, the EU's response to the military coup remains within the statement of the spokesman of the EU Delegation in Myanmar:
"The European Union condemns the continued violent repression of peaceful protesters by the Myanmar military and security forces, which has resulted in yet more deaths of innocent civilians today. Unarmed civilians and medical workers have been shot, constituting clear breaches of international law. Hundreds of people have been arrested. The military has in parallel been increasing its crackdown on the media in Myanmar, with a growing number of journalists having been arbitrarily arrested, detained, and charged. The persecution and intimidation of media workers, who are simply doing their jobs, is unacceptable. Such attempts to silence the media and eradicate freedom of expression will not prevent the world from witnessing the actions of the Myanmar military and the bravery of the Myanmar people, nor will they give any legitimacy to the coup. There must be accountability and a return to democracy in Myanmar."
Source: БТА
