In his annual address to the UN Human Rights Council, Guteresre named only one country, and that was Myanmar.
“Today, I call on the Myanmar army to end the repression immediately,” the UN Secretary-General said at the opening of the 46th session of the Geneva-based Council.
“Release the prisoners. Stop the violence. Respect human rights and the will of the people expressed in the recent elections,” he said, insisting that “coups have no place in today’s world.”
“We see the destruction of democracy, the use of brutal force, arbitrary arrests, repression in all its forms. The restriction of civic space,” Guteresre warned the council.
There are attacks on civil society and “serious violations of minorities without prosecution, including recent developments that are rightly called ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya population,” the secretary-general said.
“The list goes on,” he added. “All of this together creates a perfect storm of turmoil.”
The UN Secretary-General expressed “full support for the people of Myanmar in its quest for democracy, peace, human rights and the rule of law”.
A military coup has already been reported in Myanmar on 1 February, with Prime Minister Auna Su Chi and other senior leaders of the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) arrested.
The generals base the organization of the coup on the alleged irregularities in the November elections. The NLD won a convincing victory in these elections.
640 people have been detained since the coup, activists estimate.
Mass demonstrations and protests by coup opponents take place regularly in Myanmar cities.
The junta is cracking down on protesters, and two people were killed in security forces in Yangon on Saturday.
Guteresre condemned Saturday’s “violence that claimed lives” in the past.
“The use of lethal force against peaceful protesters, their intimidation and terrorization is unacceptable,” Guterres said on Twitter.
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