Foreign Desk Report
BERLIN: The European Union prepared to impose sanctions on 11 people linked to last month’s military coup in Myanmar on Monday as the number of killings of pro-democracy demonstrators by security forces reached what Germany’s foreign minister called “an unbearable extent”.
At least 250 people have been killed so far in the crackdown on the protests, according to figures from the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) activist group. Three people were killed in Myanmar’s second city, Mandalay in renewed unrest on Monday, including a 15-year-old boy, witnesses and news reports said. “The number of murders has reached an unbearable extent, which is why we will not be able to avoid imposing sanctions,” German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas told reporters as he arrived in Brussels for a meeting with his EU counterparts.
The sanctions will be the EU’s most significant response to the events in Myanmar so far. The names of the 11 people involved in the coup and repression of demonstrators will be made public after the meeting. According to diplomats and documents, the EU is also planning to target companies “generating revenue for, or providing financial support to, the Myanmar Armed Forces”.
“We don’t intend to punish the people of Myanmar but those who blatantly violate human rights,” Maas said. The military is heavily involved in business. Its conglomerates include Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited (MEHL) and Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC) which are spread throughout the economy from mining and manufacturing to food and beverages to hotels, telecoms and banking.
The new sanctions are expected to bar EU investors and banks from doing business with them. They follow a U.S. decision last month to target the military and its business interests.
Britain, the former colonial power, last month froze the assets and placed travel bans on three Myanmar generals over the military coup.
Myanmar has been locked in crisis since the elected government led by Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi was overthrown by the military on Feb 1.
The junta says a Nov. 8 election won by Suu Kyi’s party was fraudulent, an accusation rejected by the electoral commission. Military leaders have promised a new election but have not set a date.
Suu Kyi and other figures in her National League for Democracy being held in detention while an array of accusations, have been levelled at her, including bribery. Her lawyer says the charges are trumped up.
