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29 April 2023
TOKYO: Japan should sanction Myanmar as it has done for Russia over its Ukraine invasion, a United Nations expert said on Thursday (Apr 27), slamming the junta’s “barbarism and oppression”.
Thomas Andrews, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, also urged Japan to immediately end a training programme for Myanmar troops, warning it was tarnishing the image of the country’s military.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s government in February 2021, sparking fighting across swathes of the country and tanking the economy.
An air strike on a village in a resistance hotspot this month killed at least 170 people, according to media and locals.
“The human rights situation in Myanmar is horrific and getting worse,” Andrews told reporters in Tokyo at the end of a trip to meet Japanese officials and businesses.
“I urge Japan to consider joining all other G7 countries in imposing targeted economic sanctions on the Myanmar military and its key sources of revenue, just as it is doing in response to the crisis in Ukraine,” he said.
Sanctions against the junta “would weaken its capacity to attack its people,” he added, accusing the military of “barbarism and oppression”.
Japan halted new aid projects after the coup, although existing programmes were not affected. #
Source: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/world/un-urges-japan-sanction-myanmar-junta-3451271
