Britain, EU request UNHRC to hold special session to address crisis in Myanmar

Britain and the European Union on February 8 requested that the United Nations Human Rights Council to hold a special session in response to the ongoing political crisis in Myanmar. Burma is under the control of the military and a state of emergency for a year. State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, President Win Myint and other members of the Parliament were detained and Army's Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing has taken charge of the country. 

The coup has garnered condemnation from all over the world, including from the United Nations, which called for the immediate release of Suu Kyi. The military junta has arrested hundreds of people considered close to Suu Kyi since last week, including her economic adviser, an Australia professor named Sean Turnell. In the wake of the crisis, the UK and the EU submitted a request for a speech session on the human rights implications of the turmoil. 

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Myanmar protests 

Meanwhile, Myanmar is witnessing one of its largest protests since the 2007 pro-democracy revolution as tens of thousands of people stormed the streets of Yangon to oppose the recent military coup. According to reports, protesters demanded the immediate release of political leaders, including State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi. The protest comes on a day the military junta ended the internet ban in the country, which only served as fuel to the fire. 

On February 1, the Burmese military began detaining the democratically elected members of the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) party. The military levelled allegations of election fraud and irregularities as their justification for the detainment of leaders. Suu Kyi's party had won the November 2020 election by a landslide, capturing 396 out of 476 seats in the parliament, a mandate much larger than in the 2015 polls. The election was monitored by international observers who certified it as "fair". Experts suggest the military feared that if Suu Kyi returns to power with a bigger majority, she would decrease the number of parliamentary seats reserved for the Army's proxy party.

READ: Week After Military Coup, Protests Swell Rapidly In Myanmar

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