UN human rights agency adopts watered-down text over Myanmar coup

Thomas Andrews, UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Myanmar is displayed on a screen as he addresses his statement during the Human Rights Council special session on “the human rights implications of the crisis in Myanmar” at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. Picture: Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP

The UN’s top human rights body has passed a consensus resolution urging military leaders in Myanmar to immediately release Aung San Suu Kyi and other civilian government leaders detained after a military coup, while watering down an initial draft text amid pressure led by China and Russia.

In a special session at the Human Rights Council, the original resolution presented by Britain and the European Union was revised to remove calls to bolster the ability of a UN rights expert to scrutinise Myanmar and for restraint from the country’s military.