By IANS
New York : Human Rights Watch has urged India and other countries to take the lead in imposing a UN arms embargo and financial sanctions against the Myanmar junta for its crackdown on democracy activists.
In a new report issued Friday, Human Rights Watch has called for greater international action, including by the UN Security Council, to press the Myanmar government to undertake major reforms.
It criticised the lack of action by countries with good relations and influence on Myanmar such as China, India, Russia, Thailand and other Association of Southeast Asian Nations members.
“It’s time for the world to impose a UN arms embargo and financial sanctions, to hurt Burma’s leaders until they make real changes,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
“Countries like China, India and Thailand have the responsibility to take action to help hold the generals accountable and to end this long nightmare of military repression.”
Human Rights Watch said many more people were killed and detained in the government crackdown on monks and other protestors in Myanmar in September than the government has admitted.
Since then, the military regime has brought to bear the full force of its authoritarian apparatus to intimidate all opposition, hunting down protest leaders in night raids and defrocking monks, the report said.
The 140-page report, “Crackdown: Repression of the 2007 Popular Protests in Burma,” is based on more than 100 interviews with eyewitnesses in Myanmar and Thailand.
Human Rights Watch research determined that that the security forces shot into crowds using live ammunition and rubber bullets, beat marchers and monks before dragging them onto trucks, and arbitrarily detained thousands in official and unofficial places of detention.
In addition, many students and other civilians were killed, although without full and independent access to the country it is impossible to determine exact casualty figures.
“The crackdown in Burma is far from over,” said Adams. “Harsh repression continues, and the government is still lying about the extent of the deaths and detentions.”
Human Rights Watch found that the crackdown was carried out in part by the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA), a “mass-based social welfare” organisation with more than 23 million members the Myanmar military is grooming to lead a future civilian government.
USDA operated alongside the Swan Arr Shin (Masters of Force) militia, soldiers and riot police in beating and detaining protestors.
The report documented the killing of 20 people in Rangoon, but Human Rights Watch believes the death toll there was much higher, and that hundreds remain in detention.
Human Rights Watch was unable to gather information on killings and detentions from other cities and towns where demonstrations took place.
The ruling State and Peace Development Council (SPDC) claims that overall 2,927 people, including 596 monks, were “interrogated” and almost all have been released. It says that nine people have been sentenced to prison terms while 59 lay people and 21 monks remain in detention.
Human Rights Watch said that hundreds of protestors, including monks and members of the ’88 generation students, who led protests until being arrested in late August, remain unaccounted for.