• About Us
  • Who Are We
  • Work With Us
Wednesday, February 1, 2023
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Globe Post
39 °f
New York
44 ° Fri
46 ° Sat
40 ° Sun
41 ° Mon
No Result
View All Result
The Globe Post
No Result
View All Result
Home Democracy at Risk

HRW Slams Australia for ‘Unacceptable’ Myanmar Junta Meeting

Staff Writer by Staff Writer
04/08/22
in Democracy at Risk, World
Myanmar meeting

Australian ambassador Andrea Faulkner meeting with Myanmar's military leader Min Aung Hlaing, Photo: Handout Myanmar Military Information Team/AFP

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Human Rights Watch on Thursday slammed a meeting between Australia’s ambassador to Myanmar and the military junta chief, saying it was “lending credibility” to a regime accused of war crimes. 

Since a military-led coup ousted Aung San Suu Kyi‘s administration last year, Myanmar has been increasingly isolated internationally — with foreign governments urging an end to deadly crackdowns on mass democracy protests. 

Australia’s outgoing ambassador Andrea Faulkner met with junta leader Min Aung Hlaing in Naypyidaw on Wednesday, with state-owned media outlet Global New Light of Myanmar reporting the pair discussed “enhancement of cooperation in various sectors”. 

The ambassador was accompanied by Australia’s defense attache to Myanmar, Colonel Tony Egan, according to a statement by Min Aung Hlaing’s office.

Katrina Cooper from Australia’s foreign affairs department said the ambassador had used the meeting to reiterate calls for Myanmar to cease violence and release detainees. 

“The Australian government does not consider that the outgoing meeting legitimizes the current regime,” Cooper told a Senate committee in Canberra.

But HRW said the meeting and subsequent coverage in state media did just that. 

“This meeting is not only deeply unacceptable, but it undercuts efforts by other governments to isolate the military commander implicated in serious abuses,” HRW’s Myanmar researcher Manny Maung said.

“By taking photo ops and accepting gifts, Australia only serves to lend credibility to a military junta that is accused of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity against its own population.” 

Maung urged Australia to “align with its traditional allies”  by avoiding further high-level meetings with the junta and immediately imposing sanctions. 

Australian officials outlined seven other meetings and phone calls with the junta since the coup, but denied any sectors were engaging with the regime. 

Canberra has repeatedly called for the release of Australian economist Sean Turnell, who was working as an adviser to Suu Kyi when he was detained shortly after the coup. 

He has been charged with violating Myanmar’s official secrets law and faces a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison if found guilty.

Myanmar has been in chaos since a putsch in February 2021, with more than 1,700 people killed in crackdowns on dissent, according to a local monitoring group.

ShareTweet
Staff Writer

Staff Writer

AFP with The Globe Post

Related Posts

Myanmar school attack
World

Myanmar School Attack Could Be ‘War Crime’: UN Probe

by Staff Writer
September 27, 2022
Toru Kubota
Media Freedom

Myanmar Junta Charges Japanese Journalist With Encouraging Dissent

by Staff Writer
August 4, 2022
Australia wildlife
Environment

‘Shocking’ Government Report Lists Devastation to Australia Wildlife

by Staff Writer
July 19, 2022
Rohingya Muslims
National

US Says Myanmar Committed Genocide Against Rohingya

by Staff Writer
March 21, 2022
Myanmar's junta chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing
World

EU backs International Arms Embargo After Myanmar Massacre

by Staff Writer
December 30, 2021
Aug San Suu Kyi
Democracy at Risk

EU Condemns ‘Politically Motivated’ Suu Kyi Detention by Myanmar Junta

by Staff Writer
December 6, 2021
Next Post
Jen Psaki

White House Warns of 'Extraordinarily Elevated' March Inflation

ABN Amro

Dutch Bank Apologizes for Role in Slave Trade

Recommended

A supporter of nurses' strike and NHS holds a placard

UK Faces Fresh Mass Strikes as Wage Talks Derail

February 1, 2023
Israeli security forces in Jerusalem

Palestinian Gunman Kills 7 in East Jerusalem Synagogue Attack

January 30, 2023
The Doomsday Clock reads 100 seconds to midnight, a decision made by The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, during an announcement at the National Press Club in Washington, DC on January 23, 2020

‘Doomsday Clock’ Moves Closest Ever to Midnight

January 25, 2023
Police work near the scene of a mass shooting in Monterey Park, California

California Lunar New Year Mass Shooter Dead, Motive Unclear: Police

January 23, 2023
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern

Race on To Replace Ardern as New Zealand Prime Minister

January 20, 2023
Pfizer logo and vaccines

Pfizer to Sell More Drugs at Cost to Poor Nations

January 18, 2023

Opinion

George Santos from the 3rd Congressional district of New York

George Santos for Speaker!

January 16, 2023
Commuters waiting for buses in Metro Manila. Philippines

Eight Billion and Counting…

November 29, 2022
Mahsa Amini protests

Imagining a Free Iran

October 24, 2022
Vladimir Putin

How 18th Century International Law Clarifies the Situation in Ukraine

September 29, 2022
Vladimir Putin

Falling for Putin

September 15, 2022
US President Donald Trump

Donald Trump Thanks You for Your Sacrifice

August 17, 2022
Facebook Twitter

Newsletter

Do you like our reporting?
SUBSCRIBE

About Us

The Globe Post

The Globe Post is part of Globe Post Media, a U.S. digital news organization that is publishing the world's best targeted news sites.

submit oped

© 2018 The Globe Post

No Result
View All Result
  • National
  • World
  • Business
  • Interviews
  • Lifestyle
  • Democracy at Risk
    • Media Freedom
  • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Columns
    • Book Reviews
    • Stage
  • Submit Op-ed

© 2018 The Globe Post