U.S., EU ramp up sanctions amid junta’s crackdown on democracy in Myanmar

The U.S. on Monday escalated its sanctions targeting officials in Myanmar in response to the increasingly violent crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators unfolding in the Southeast Asian nation since the military coup that took place there last month. 

“The military regime continues its violent crackdown, which has killed at least 194 people to date, including peaceful protesters,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement announcing new U.S. sanctions in coordination with the European Union.

Officials said the Treasury Department will freeze assets and block U.S. market access for Myanmar’s Chief of Police, Than Hlaing, and Bureau of Special Operations commander, Lieutenant General Aung Soe. The sanctions will also target two army units of Myanmar, also known as Burma, that have been involved in the crackdown on protesters.

The sanctions are designed to “show that this violence will not go unanswered,” said Mr. Blinken.

“The United States continues to call on the military regime to release all those unjustly detained; stop its attacks on civil society members, journalists, and labor unionists; halt the brutal killings by its security forces; and return power to the democratically elected government,” the secretary of state said.

The announcement was coordinated with the European Union, which announced its own slate of measures aimed at imposing costs on Myanmar’s military regime, including sanctions against 11 Burmese individuals associated with the last month’s coup and related violence.