Rights experts express regret over Myanmar uprising call

By GRANT PECK
Associated Press

BANGKOK (AP) — Several prominent former U.N. human rights experts have expressed regret that a leading resistance organization in Myanmar has called for a nationwide armed uprising against the country’s military government. The underground National Unity Government declared a “people’s defensive war” on Tuesday to remove the military from power. The group was established by elected legislators who were barred from taking office when the military seized power in February. The Special Advisory Council for Myanmar, which includes Yanghee Lee, the former U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, said it understands the frustration of people in Myanmar “after seven months of brutality by the junta,” but that violence is not the solution.