The phrase non-interference in the internal affairs of sovereign countries should be seen also from “Responsibility to Protect” (R2P or RtoP) point of view.

The Responsibility to Protect is a global political commitment which was endorsed by all member states of the United Nations at the 2005 World Summit to prevent genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity, according to Wikipedia.

It is based upon the underlying premise that sovereignty entails a responsibility to protect all populations from mass atrocity crimes and human rights violations.

This implies if a state is unable or unwilling to protect its population or part of the population according to the internationally accepted norms, the R2P could be applied theoretically. But its implementation is controversial, as binding UNSC endorsement is necessary for the UN peace-keeping to be involved.

In Burma case, China and Russia could use their veto powers to block the UNSC endorsement and this exactly is happening. As such, only the non-binding UNSC’s President statement is made public, which the Aung San Suu Kyi’s NLD regime doesn’t see it appealing or appropriate.

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