According to reports from the United Nations, three permanent members of the UN Security Council—the United States, Britain and France—are seeking to produce a UNSC presidential statement calling on Burma’s ruling junta to allow all factions to participate in the country’s political process “in order to achieve an inclusive national reconciliation with the direct support of the United Nations.”

Before releasing the statement, however, it must be approved by every member of the UNSC. Observers say that the Burmese regime’s allies in the council, China and Russia, are likely to stand in the way of any move to shame the military government.

Most Burmese are already thoroughly disillusioned with the UN’s efforts to facilitate a meaningful political dialogue in their country. Recently, one of Burma’s most respected journalists, Ludu Sein Win, echoed the sentiments of many of his compatriots when he said that “there are no countries in the world which have gained liberation through the help of the United Nations.”

Even if the Security Council releases a consensus presidential statement calling on the Burmese generals to ensure that a constitutional referendum in May “will be free and fair and that all will be allowed to participate on equal terms,” it will be too little, too late.

A “Vote No” campaign is currently gaining momentum throughout Burma, as activists and citizens in Rangoon, Mandalay and other main cities are pushing for the public to take a stand against the military’s draft constitution.

All leading opposition and activist groups—the National League for Democracy (NLD), the 88 Generation Students group and the All Burma Monks Alliance—have urged voters to cast a “No” vote in the constitutional referendum.

In response, the military regime is trying to ensure that the NLD and democracy activists have no room to maneuver. Local authorities have been training members of state-backed organizations how to crack down on crowds if protests break out, while pro-junta thugs have been carrying out attacks on critics of the constitution.

The latest incident occurred on Friday, when Tin Yu, an NLD member from Rangoon’s Hlaing Tharyar Township, was beaten with a stick by an unidentified attacker. He received serious injuries requiring fifteen stitches to his face.

This was the second attack in this area in less than a week. On Monday evening, the NLD chairman for Hlaing Tharyar Township, 74-year-old Myint Hlaing, was assaulted by an unknown attacker near his home. He was hospitalized for a two-inch cut on his head.

Last week, Myint Aye, a leading human rights activist, was beaten by two unidentified men near his home in Rangoon. He also required medical treatment for head wounds.

Such attempts to intimidate critics of the junta should provoke a strong reaction from the international community. However, only the US government has responded. “These blatant human rights abuses contribute to the climate of fear and repression in Burma as the regime prepares to conduct a referendum on its draft constitution,” said US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack in a statement on March 29.

The rest of the world’s silence on these cowardly attacks only serves to embolden the regime to continue using brute force rather than genuine dialogue to resolve Burma’s political problems.

If the UN does not move beyond empty expressions of “concern” about the situation in Burma, those who oppose the junta’s attempts to impose a “discipline-flourishing democracy” will be forced to continue risking their lives and their freedom with little hope of help from the outside world.