The European Union on Monday imposed sanctions on several top officials in Myanmar including government ministers, election officials and top military brass over ongoing human rights abuses in the country.
The bloc imposed asset freezes and travel bans on 22 people and slapped restrictive measures on four “entities,” including state-owned and private companies.
EU headquarters said in a statement that the bloc “is deeply concerned by the continuing escalation of violence in Myanmar and the evolution towards a protracted conflict with regional implications. Since the military coup, the situation has continuously and gravely deteriorated.”
Widespread nonviolent protests in Myanmar followed a Feb. 1, 2021, military takeover that ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. An armed resistance grew after peaceful protests were put down. The country now faces an insurgency that some experts characterize as a civil war.
More than 1,500 civilians have been tortured to death or killed in the violence, many of them in attacks in rural areas by security forces, including airstrikes.
The 27-country bloc has now imposed sanctions on a total of 65 people and 10 entities, which are usually organizations, agencies, companies or banks.
