MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th February, 2021) Russia's permanent representative to the United Nations office in Geneva, Gennady Gatilov, on Friday called against attempts to "whip up hype" around the situation in Myanmar during the UN Human Rights Council session on the recent military coup in the Asian country.
On February 1, Myanmar faced a coup as the military arrested State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and other top officials after accusing them of election fraud. The military declared a state of emergency for one year, pledging to hold a new election after it expires.
The UNHRC is holding a special session "the Human Rights Implications of the Crisis in Myanmar" on Friday after a joint request by the United Kingdom and the European Union. A draft resolution, seen by Sputnik, calls for releasing all those detained and lifting the state of emergency.
"Existing issues in the field of human rights must be resolved together with the interested countries [Myanmar] in the framework of open dialogue and cooperation. Today's special session is clearly not conducive to this. We call for an end to attempts to artificially whip up hype around the situation in Myanmar," Gatilov said at the HRC session.
The Russian diplomat mentioned that resolving the dispute between the military and civilian government in Myanmar lies within the nation's internal affairs. The same view was shared by China's ambassador to the UN, Chen Xu.
"China is not in favor of holding this special session by the Human Rights Council. What happened in Myanmar is essentially Myanmar's internal affairs," Chen said.
In addition, Belarus and Venezuela have voiced doubts over the need of holding the HRC special session.
