The United States and the European Union on Tuesday imposed fresh sanctions against Myanmar. File Photo by Xiao Long/UPI |
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Nov. 8 (UPI) -- The United States and the European Union imposed sanctions targeting Myanmar's junta on Tuesday, the two-year anniversary of the last election of the country's ousted civilian government.
The two allies have repeatedly imposed punitive measures against Myanmar since Feb. 1, 2021, when the country's military overthrew the government of Aung San Suu Kyi on widely debunked charges of voter fraud during the Nov. 8, 2020, election, in which Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy gained overwhelming public support.
"Two years ago, the National League for Democracy won an overwhelming victory in Myanmar's general election, which was stolen by the junta. Today, the EU has adopted a fifth package of sanctions in response to the appalling rise of violence by the junta against its own people," Josep Borrell, high representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, tweeted Tuesday.
The U.S. Treasury and State Departments blacklisted Sky Aviator Co. for performing upgrades and maintenance for junta aircraft, as well as the company's founder, Kyaw Min Oo, a 40-year-old Myanmar businessman who is accused of facilitating arms and weapons deals for the military.
In a coordinated move, Europe on Tuesday sanctioned 19 individuals, including ministers, the Supreme Court's chief justice, members of the armed forces known as Tatmadaw and the air force and unnamed business representatives. The State Administration Council was also blacklisted.
Since the coup, the EU has applied asset freezes and travel bans on 84 individuals and 11 entities with its five sanctions packages.
The allies have continued to tighten their diplomatic vices on Myanmar since the coup as the junta has confronted mass protests with a bloody crackdown.
According to the Thailand-based human rights organization Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, more than 2,400 people have been killed and some 16,110 have been arrested since the military takeover of the country.
On Oct. 23, the regime conducted a deadly airstrike on a music festival in the country's mountainous northern state of Kachin, killing as many as 100 people, including artists and musicians.
The U.S. State Department said its Tuesday action was targeting those who enabled air assaults and the killing of civilians.
"We stand with the people of Burma in the face of the regime's increasingly brazen attempts to terrorize and intimidate them, while suppressing their aspirations for a democratic, inclusive and prosperous future," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.
