Myanmar/Burma's ambassador to the United Nations (UN), U Kyaw Moe Tun, has been dismissed from his post by the Myanmar military after he called on the international community to help remove the army from power.

Speaking at the UN General Assembly on 26 February during an informal meeting to hear a briefing by the Special Envoy on Myanmar, Mr Kyaw Moe Tun said: “We need further strongest possible action from the international community to immediately end the military coup, to stop [them] oppressing the innocent people, to return the state power to the people, and to restore the democracy.”

Mr Kyaw Moe Tun concluded his speech by holding up three fingers – a gesture that has been adopted by anti-coup protesters across the country, and previously by pro-democracy protesters in Thailand.

On 27 February, the Myanmar military announced that Mr Kyaw Moe Tun had been fired from his post. However, in her address to the General Assembly on Friday, Christine Schraner Burgener, the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy on Myanmar, urged Member States not to legitimise the Myanmar military’s rule. The UN has not received an official notification of any change to the representation of Myanmar at the UN, meaning Kyaw Moe Tun remains Myanmar’s recognised Ambassador.

Mr Kyaw Moe Tun’s show of bravery comes as the military, known as the Tatmadaw, is increasing its severe crackdown on anti-coup protesters across Myanmar. On 28 February, police and military forces used lethal force against protesters in locations across the country, resulting in the deaths of at least 20 people, with hundreds more beaten, arrested and injured.

Protests have been widespread across the country ever since the military seized power in a coup on 1 February, following a general election which the National League for Democracy (NLD), led by Aung San Suu Kyi, won by a landslide. Following the coup, the military declared a year-long state of emergency and put Aung San Suu Kyi and other civilian leaders under house arrest. Political power is now held by the commander-in-chief of the Burmese army, Min Aung Hlaing, and the military has responded to protests with increasing force over the past month.

In response to the killing of protesters on 28 February, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Tom Andrews, called for a global arms embargo and targeted sanctions against the military, saying: “Without concerted, co-ordinated international action to support the people of Myanmar in their time of greatest need, the nightmare in Myanmar that is unfolding before our eyes will get worse. The world must act. As the military junta ratchets up its violence against the people, I believe it is imperative that the international community ratchet up its response.”

Benedict Rogers, CSW’s Senior Analyst for East Asia and author of three books on Myanmar/Burma, said: “CSW applauds the impressive show of bravery from Kyaw Moe Tun at the UN General Assembly and echoes his call for urgent and forceful international action. The killing of protesters across the country over the weekend only further highlights the need for urgent and robust action. It has now been a full month since the military seized power in a brazen assault on democracy and freedom. We therefore reiterate and echo calls for targeted sanctions against members of the military and their enterprises, and for the immediate imposition of a global arms embargo. We also call on the UN Secretary-General to lead a global effort to press the military to step back and restore the elected civilian government, and to begin a genuine and inclusive process of dialogue and reconciliation with all stakeholders in the country, especially the ethnic groups. The international community must make it abundantly clear, not only in words but with actions, that the brutal crackdown on protesters and the illegitimate seizure of power by the military are utterly abhorrent and unacceptable, and that the wishes of the people, expressed through the ballot box in valid elections last November and in the streets in a month of protests throughout the country, must be respected.”