Rights groups seek tougher Myanmar sanctions

(July 08, 2011) More than 20 U.S.-based human rights and advocacy groups on Thursday urged President Barack Obama to expand financial sanctions against senior Myanmar officials because diplomacy has failed to bring democratic change. Washington has already imposed sanctions on scores of individuals and businesses in military-dominated Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, barring them from owning property or holding bank accounts in the U.S. The rights groups want the U.S. to take further steps allowed under 2008 legislation to prevent foreign banks that hold assets of those targeted by the sanctions from doing business with American banks. The groups also urge U.S. support for a U.N. investigation into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Myanmar, where the military is accused of violent suppression of ethnic minorities in border regions opposed to its authoritarian rule.