Jim Carrey calls for U.N. sanctions on Myanmar

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Actor Jim Carrey urged the U.N. Security Council on Friday to ban all international arms shipments to Myanmar to pressure the country to end its brutal suppression of pro-democracy protesters and its detention of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

"This is a government that uses its weapons not in self defense, but against its own citizens," the actor/comedian told a news conference across the street from the United Nations.

"The time has come for the United Nations Security Council to start acting less like a group of corporations and more like united nations," he said, urging China and Russia -- Security Council members that have been resistant to sanctions -- as well as India to back the ban.

Last week, monks led protests of up to 100,000 people in Myanmar's largest city Yangon and elsewhere. The marches were halted by security forces who raided monasteries, imposed curfews, and killed 10 people, by the official count.

Carrey's speech was a precursor to a day of marches and protests planned by the U.S. Campaign for Burma.

He also made an appeal to Than Shwe, head of the latest junta in 45 unbroken years of military rule of the former Burma: "There is nothing to defend if you have lost the faith of your people. It is already over."

Carrey is best known for his comic roles in movies like "Dumb and Dumber" and "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective."

Reuters