On Thursday 26 April, the Council of the EU extended its embargo on arms and equipment that can be used for internal repression for one year. It also strengthened it, prohibiting the provision of military training to and military cooperation with the Burmese army (see EUROPE 11884).
The embargo was until now just on the export of dual-use goods for use by the military and border guard police, and it imposed restrictions on the export of equipment for monitoring communications that might be used for internal repression.
The Council also adopted a legal framework for targeted restrictive measures against certain persons from the Myanmar Armed Forces (Tatmadaw) and the border guard police.
The framework will make it possible, should crimes continue to go unpunished, to impose a travel ban and an assets freeze on individuals responsible for serious human rights violations, the Council stated in a press release, mentioning as examples the incitement of violence, discrimination and acts of violence against minorities in Rakhine, and obstructing the voluntary and safe return process of displaced persons from Rakhine State to their place of origin. Those responsible for obstructing the conduct of independent investigations into alleged serious human violations or abuses, or those responsible for obstructing the rapid and unimpeded passage of humanitarian assistance can also now be sanctioned.
The Foreign Affairs Council of 26 February had called for such measures (see EUROPE 11969). (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)