The EU extends the sanctions to 19 Burmese soldiers and leaders for the repression after the coup

BRUSSELS, Nov. 8 (EUROPE PRESS) –

The Member States of the European Union have adopted this Tuesday a new round of sanctions against 19 senior military, political and judicial officials responsible for the repression in Burma after the February 2021 coup.

In the fifth round of restrictions against the Burmese regime responsible for the coup, the EU includes the new Minister of Investments and Foreign Economic Relations, Kan Zaw, for being part of the regime that took power during a military coup and ousted elected leaders legitimately and for its active role in supporting military efforts to attract foreign investment.

Likewise, the sanctions extend to members of the judiciary such as the president of the Supreme Court of Burma, Htun Htun Oo, for the prosecution of democratically elected leaders and to different officials of the Department of Prisons to whom the EU attributes violence, beatings, torture and other inhumane treatment of prisoners in Burma.

In the military section, the EU puts the Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force, Htun Aung, in its ‘black list’, in addition to various positions in the Army, Tatmadaw, for being behind serious violations of Human Rights, crimes and atrocities , including assassinations, ground and air attacks against civilians.

Likewise, the Twenty-seven have sanctioned the State Administrative Council, the government body created after the coup led by General Min Aung Hlaing to exercise state functions and which the EU sees as responsible for policies and activities that undermine democracy.

With this round of punitive measures, the EU brings to a total of 84 natural persons and 11 entities those designated on its black list, on which the freezing of assets and a travel ban weigh, which prevents them from entering or transiting through the EU territory. In addition, individuals and entities in the EU are prohibited from making funds available to those sanctioned.

The new sanctions come two years after the legislative elections in which the National League for Democracy of the Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi swept away, a result that the military never recognized and that ended up leading a riot to avoid the constitution of the new Parliament.

Since then, the Tatmadaw has violently persecuted protesters and activists advocating the restoration of democracy and an end to military rule, with at least 2,400 people killed since the coup.