UN backs democracy in Myanmar and urges release of detainees
CAMEROON, Cameroon — The U.N. Security Council strongly backed a return to democracy in Myanmar on Thursday and called for the immediate release of Aung San Suu Kyi and all those arbitrarily detained by the military.
In its first statement on the military’s ouster of the government, the U.N.’s most powerful body “stressed the need to uphold democratic institutions and processes, refrain from violence, and fully respect human rights, fundamental freedoms and the rule of law.”
“The members of the Security Council emphasized the need for the continued support of the democratic transition in Myanmar,” the council said in the statement, which referred to the military’s imposition of a state of emergency without calling it a coup.
The council’s 15 members encouraged “dialogue and reconciliation in accordance with the will and interests of the people of Myanmar.”