NGOs call on UN to hit Myanmar with arms embargo

UNITED NATIONS: About 200 non-governmental organisations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, on Wednesday called on the UN Security Council to impose an arms embargo on the military junta in Myanmar.

The call comes despite opposition from China -- the junta’s main backer -- and Russia, which both hold veto-wielding power on the Council, to any sanctions amid the months-long crisis in the former Burma.

“No government should sell a single bullet to the junta,” which seized power on February 1 in a coup, the NGOs said in a joint statement. “Imposing a global arms embargo on Myanmar is the minimum necessary step the Security Council should take in response to the military’s escalating violence.” Since the junta took power, ousting the civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi, several groups have called in vain for an arms embargo.