The UN Security Council has strongly condemned the use of violence against peaceful protesters in Myanmar and the deaths of hundreds of civilians.

But the council has dropped the threat of possible future action against the military following the February 1 coup.

The British-drafted press statement approved by all 15 council members on Thursday after intense negotiations that began on Wednesday expressed “deep concern at the rapidly deteriorating situation” in Myanmar and reiterated the council’s call on the military “to exercise utmost restraint”.

The original draft was far stronger and would have expressed the council’s “readiness to consider further steps” which could include sanctions.

It would also have “deplored” the use of violence against peaceful protesters and “condemned in the strongest terms the killing of hundreds of civilians by the security forces”.

Myanmar
Anti-coup demonstrators raise the three finger of resistance and a portrait of deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi as they prepare to confront police in Yangon on Thursday (AP)

But at the insistence of China, Myanmar’s neighbour and friend, the reference to “further steps” was eliminated and the stronger language, including the words “killing” and “deplore” was softened in the final statement, council diplomats said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The reference to “further steps” was replaced in the final statement with a sentence saying council members “stressed that they continued to monitor the situation closely and would remain actively seized of the matter”.

The final council statement also called “on all sides to refrain from violence” – which diplomats said Russia demanded – and “reiterated the need to fully respect human rights and to pursue dialogue and reconciliation in accordance with the will and interests of the people of Myanmar”.

It noted UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s March 27 statement “calling for a firm, unified and resolute response from the international community”. That was Armed Forces Day, when soldiers and police reportedly killed 114 people while suppressing protests in the deadliest bloodletting since the coup.

Myanmar
Anti-coup demonstrators gather tires to burn as they prepare to confront police in Yangon (AP)

British Ambassador Barbara Woodward said the council’s aim was “to sustain pressure” on the military to reverse the coup and support the people “in their courageous determination to restore peace and democracy”.

She expressed hope the council statement would have that effect alongside the forthcoming visit of UN special envoy Christine Schraner Burgener to the region and efforts by the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which includes Myanmar.

The press statement followed Wednesday’s closed council meeting at which Ms Schraner Burgener warned Myanmar faced the possibility of civil war “at an unprecedented scale” and urged the Security Council to consider “potentially significant action” to reverse the coup and restore democracy.

She did not specify what action she considered significant, but painted a dire picture of the military crackdown and told the council in a closed briefing that Myanmar “is on the verge of spiralling into a failed state”.

Military coup in Myanmar
Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s civilian leader, whose re-elected government was deposed in the coup as it was about to be sworn in (Paul Faith/PA)

Ms Schraner Burgener also urged the council “to consider all available tools to take collective action” and do what the people of Myanmar deserve — “prevent a multidimensional catastrophe in the heart of Asia”.

Chin’s UN ambassador, Zhang Jun, warned the council on Wednesday in remarks distributed by China’s UN Mission that “one-sided pressure and calling for sanctions or other coercive measures will only aggravate tension and confrontation and further complicate the situation, which is by no means constructive”.

He urged all parties to find a solution through dialogue that de-escalates the situation and continues “to advance the democratic transition in Myanmar”.

The coup reversed years of slow progress toward democracy in Myanmar, which for five decades languished under strict military rule that led to international isolation and sanctions.

As the generals loosened their grip, culminating in Aung San Suu Kyi’s rise to leadership in 2015 elections, the international community responded by lifting most sanctions and pouring investment into the country.

At Wednesday’s virtual meeting, Ms Schraner Burgener denounced the killing and arrest of unarmed protesters seeking to restore democracy. She cited figures from Myanmar’s Assistance Association for Political Prisoners that as of Wednesday, some 2,729 people have been arrested, charged or sentenced since the coup and an estimated 536 have been killed.