By DPA
New York : UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon decided Wednesday to send an envoy to Myanmar, where clashes between military forces and pro-democracy protesters have resulted in deaths and fears of more violence.
The UN Security Council also will meet later to discuss the situation in Myanmar and possibly make a statement expressing concern.
Ban asked Ibrahim Gambari to travel to Myanmar and called on “senior leadership of the country to cooperate fully with the mission in order to take advantage of the willingness of the UN to assist in the process of national reconciliation through dialogue.”
Ban said he had noted the use of force, arrests and beatings of demonstrators, and called on the country’s military authorities to “exercise utmost restraint toward the peaceful demonstrations taking place, as such action can only undermine the prospects for peace, prosperity and stability in Myanmar.”
Ban called for restraint from the military government on two previous occasions.
On Tuesday in an address to the UN General Assembly, Ban called for dialogue among all parties in Myanmar for national reconciliation.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, said from her headquarters in Geneva that the military government should refrain from using force against peaceful demonstrators.
“The use of excessive force and all forms of arbitrary detention, of peaceful protesters are strictly prohibited under international law,” she said.
Arbour called for respect under all circumstances of fundamental human rights.