Business and the Military

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Description: "On March 4, 2024, the French lawyers William Bourdon and Lily Ravon reported Htoo Htwe Tay Za, also known as Rachel Tayza, to Italian authorities on behalf of Justice For Myanmar, requesting that they investigate her involvement as a shareholder and director of companies that are part of the EU-sanctioned Htoo Group of Companies, and where appropriate, to freeze her assets and to remove her from Italy. Rachel Tayza has continued to reside in Italy and conduct business for the EU-sanctioned Htoo Group of Companies, a crony conglomerate that is owned by her family. Htoo Group is a key node in the Myanmar military’s international network of businesses that provides it with funds, arms and equipment, which aids and abets genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. It does this though its network of more than 60 businesses in Myanmar and Singapore in sectors throughout the economy, including extractive industries. Htoo Group is also sanctioned by the US, UK and Canada. In its reasons for sanctions, the EU noted, “Htoo Group of Companies has acted as an intermediary for the provision of military equipment which was used against civilian populations protesting against the 1 February coup, all across the country and in particular in areas with ethnic minorities.” William Bourdon and Lily Ravon also submitted a dossier to Rachel Tayza’s bank, Banca Nazionale del Lavoro, which is owned by BNP Paribas, urging that they take action under EU sanctions. Rachel Tayza has been residing in Milan, where she recently completed her studies at a fashion school, supported by proceeds from Htoo Group of Companies, according to a Justice For Myanmar investigation. While in Italy, Rachel has continued to hold shares and act as director of at least seven Htoo Group companies, including ones newly formed after the military’s coup attempt, and those in direct business with the Myanmar army. This includes Ayeyarwaddy Resorts and Lodges Company Limited, which has build-operate-transfer contracts with the Myanmar army’s EU-sanctioned Office of the Quarter Master General. One of their projects is for a commercial project on 22 acres of land in Yangon, which provides the military with approximately USD$1.65 million annually under a 50-year contract, according to Myanmar Investment Commission data released by Distributed Denial of Secrets. Other companies Rachel holds shares in and serves as a director from Italy are Pegu Wood Company Limited, a subsidiary of Htoo Capital Company Limited, and One Fibre Company Limited, a subsidiary of Htoo Tech Company Limited, both established after the military’s illegal coup attempt. Rachel was previously a director and shareholder in the now dissolved Myanmar Avia Export Company Limited, a Myanmar military arms broker that supplied Russian military aircraft and spare parts. Rachel was sanctioned by the USA on January 31, 2023 for her active role in Htoo Group of Companies and for being the adult daughter of the Htoo Group Chairperson, Tay Za. Tay Za is sanctioned by the EU, USA, UK and Canada. Rachel’s brothers, Pye Phyo Tay Za and Htoo Htet Tay Za, are sanctioned by the USA, UK and Canada. In addition to providing arms, Htoo Group donated funds to the Myanmar military in 2017 in support of their campaign of genocide against the Rohingya, a fact noted in the EU’s sanctions designation against the conglomerate. Justice For Myanmar urges the EU to impose sanctions on the whole Htoo Group network of companies and individuals, including Rachel Tayza, as well as all other Myanmar junta cronies and arms brokers. Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung says: “Weak sanctions enforcement by Italian authorities has allowed Rachel Tayza to do business in Italy that funds an illegal and illegitimate military junta. “Rachel Tayza and her family have long aided and abetted the Myanmar military’s endless war crimes and crimes against humanity through Htoo Group of Companies and profited from the bloodshed of Myanmar people. “Rachel Tayza should be held accountable under EU sanctions and Italy needs to ensure that she and no other Myanmar cronies can do their bloodstained business on Italian soil. “The EU and other governments need to do far more to block the junta’s access to funds and arms through more concerted, strategic and coordinated sanctions that cover whole networks of companies, and through far stronger enforcement. “For three years, the people of Myanmar have courageously resisted the military’s failing attempted coup. “Italy and the EU must stand with the people of Myanmar in the struggle to build a new and inclusive Myanmar that respects human rights and guarantees justice and accountability.”..."
Source/publisher: Justice For Myanmar
2024-03-08
Date of entry/update: 2024-03-08
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Description: "This Rapid Market Assessment (RMA) is a suppliment to the MAU Market Price Report in Rakhine State. It provides township-level data on market functionality, activity, supply, and logistics. Data were collected through observation and KIIs with retailers during Feb. 10-13, 2024. Reports available at www.themimu.info/market-analysis-unit. KEY FINDINGS Village markets swelled with activity as most town markets remained closed; Busy markets still lacked many foods and NFIs but all markets had at least some critical goods; Fuel and medicines were scarce, and cooking oil and hygiene products were often unavailable; Retailers sourced goods from other townships, but transport costs continued to drive prices up; Retailers' largest challenge was transportation and its impact on price and supply; Customers may lack cash to buy available goods, as retailers cited weak demand in busy markets. Regional Overview Market Functionality - Village markets remained open even as town markets closed. Town markets in Sittwe and Maungdaw continued operating, and village markets remained open in other townships. Open markets followed regular hours. Market Activity - Village market activity increased as they absorbed volume from closed town markets. Town markets shrank and village markets grew as displaced households filled rural areas and retail followed. Prominant village markets in Ponnagyun and Rathedaung swelled with activity, although this did not always result increased availability of goods. Availability of Goods - Fuel and medicines were scarce, and many foods and NFIs were unavailable. Markets offered a variety of local winter vegetables, but some other goods were hard to find. Low-quality rice was available in village markets (near mills), but regional imports (e.g., NFIs) were more often unavailable. Transport & Logistics - Retailers still sourced goods from neighboring townships, although transport costs continued rising. Some retailers still sourced goods from neighboring townships, while others were deterred and made do with dwindling inventories. Retailer Challenges - Retailers struggled with high transport costs and a resulting drought in supply. Retailers reported weak demand even in village markets with increasing customers, possibly pointing to cashpoor households with little money to spend. Cash access (among retailers) was most challenging for Sittwe retailers but less so among those in villages. Possible Interventions - Retailers felt they could increase local supply with added support. Retailers expressed a willingness and ability to increase supply under more favorable circumstances. Freedom of movement for traders and fuel subsidies or other support for transportation costs were most likely to spur supply, while low-interest loans were less likely. Village retailers appeared more likely than those in towns increase supply, possibly because village markets have grown..."
Source/publisher: Myanmar Information Management Unit (Myanmar) via "Reliefweb" (New York)
2024-03-05
Date of entry/update: 2024-03-06
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Description: "The MAU tracks market prices in southern Sagaing Region. Data are collected from three vendors per product per market at the end of each month. The data include prices from Monywa (main market), Myaung (Na Bet), Shwebo (main market), Ye-U (Tin Tein Yan), and Yinmarbin (Yin Paung Taing). Data and product specs are available at www.themimu.info/market-analysis-unit. KEY FINDINGS Prices for rice and pulses rose at least 8% in January, although cooking oil prices fell 6% or more; Vegetable prices fell 9% or more across markets with lower prices for onion, eggplant, and long bean; Meat and fsh price trends varied by market with Myaung and Ye-U experiencing lower prices; Prices for hygiene products were largely stable except in Monywa where prices were generally higher; Most NFI prices increased 3-12% in Monywa, and prices for tarps and other NFIs rose 2-7% across markets; Monywa saw a second month of broad price hikes, although increases this month were more limited to NFIs; Yinmarbin saw notable price stability in January after notable price increases for NFIs in December. Product-Level Price Changes Essential Foods – Prices for rice and pulses rose at least 8% in January, although cooking oil prices fell 6% or more. Prices for rice and pulses increased in three of fve markets monitored, rising at least 8% and 6%, respectively. By contrast, cooking oil prices declined for a second straight month, falling 6% or more across markets. Vegetables – Many vegetable prices fell at least 9%, with lower prices in most markets monitored. Long bean, eggplant, and onion fell in three of fve markets, declining at least 3%, 17%, and 23%, respectively. Prices for green chili fuctuated, while garlic prices rose 4-14%. Prices for watercress were stable. Meat and Fish – Meat and fsh price trends varied by market again in January, with lower prices in Myaung and Ye-U. Meat and fsh prices fell at least 6% in Myaung and at least 13% in YeU. Meat and fsh prices were stable in Shwebo and Yinmarbin, and they fuctuated 12-15% in Monywa. Hygiene Products – Prices for hygiene products were fairly stable in January, except in Monywa where prices rose. Prices for hygiene products rose 3-6% in Monywa, but elsewhere there were few clear trends. Prices for hygiene products fuctuated up to 33% in a few isolated cases but were otherwise mostly unchanged. Prices for hygiene products were stable in Shwebo. Other NFIs – NFI prices rose again in Monywa, and they increased moderately in other markets. Prices for plastic tarps, mosquito nets, longyis, and towels, were up 2-7% in most markets in January. Prices increased 3-12% for all NFIs monitored in Monywa, marking a second straight month of signifcant price hikes there. NFI prices were stable in Yinmarbin, where they rose sharply last month..."
Source/publisher: Myanmar Information Management Unit (Myanmar) via "Reliefweb" (New York)
2024-02-23
Date of entry/update: 2024-02-24
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Description: "In the first visit by a Chinese government official to Naypyitaw since last month’s ceasefire between the regime and the Brotherhood Alliance of ethnic armed organizations, Yunnan Province Governor Wang Yubo met junta leader Min Aung Hlaing on Tuesday. Wang, who is also the Chinese Communist Party’s deputy committee secretary for Yunnan Province, discussed the possibility of restoring border trade and the flow of goods between Myanmar and Yunnan. The anti-regime offensive known as Operation 1027 has disrupted Myanmar’s vital border trade routes with China. Border trade through Chin Shwe Haw, Muse, Pansai, Monekoe and Jinsanjiao has been halted. Amid pressure from China, the Brotherhood Alliance held talks with the regime and agreed a ceasefire on Jan. 11. As part of the truce, the two sides agreed to reopen vital Myanmar-China trade routes over which the joint ethnic armies have taken control. The alliance also agreed not to seize any more regime camps or towns in northern Shan State, while the junta agreed to refrain from conducting air strikes and shelling in the area. One month and 10 days after the fighting ceased in northern Shan State, the Yunnan governor came to ask Min Aung Hlaing to resume border trade. The two also discussed direct kyat-yuan payments, which they said would facilitate trade; construction of a railroad to promote bilateral trade; and cooperation in various sectors including agriculture, electricity and energy, according to junta media. On Sunday, Min Aung Hlaing attended a Chinese New Year celebration in Yangon with Chinese Ambassador to Myanmar Chen Hai. At the event, Min Aung Hlaing called China a “good neighbor” and a “good friend” that had stood by Myanmar through successive periods. Min Aung Hlaing said he was deeply grateful to China and the Chinese people for taking the “correct position” on the international stage regarding the internal affairs of Myanmar. Wang also met junta Commerce Minister Htun Ohn and called for cooperation to ensure smooth trade between the two neighbors. With the exception of Muse, the Brotherhood Alliance has taken control of all border towns in northern Shan State crucial for border trade with China. Meanwhile, some towns along the Mandalay-Muse highway including Kutkai and Hsenwi are also now controlled by ethnic armed organizations, which levy taxes on cargo trucks in parallel to the junta’s taxation system—a problem that observers say is difficult to resolve..."
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
2024-02-21
Date of entry/update: 2024-02-21
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Description: "The MAU tracks market prices in in Southeast Myanmar. Data are collected from three vendors per product per market in the last week of each month. The data include prices from Hpapun (Kamamaung market), Hsihseng (main), Kawkareik (main), Loikaw (Thiri Mingalar), Pekon (main), and Taungoo (Nat Htet). Data are available online at www.themimu.info/market-analysis-unit. KEY FINDINGS Essential food prices rising moderately in January, and rice prices were up 5%; Vegetable prices were stable across markets perhaps due to the arrival of winter supply, although eggplant prices rose sharply; Meat/fish prices were stable or rising in January with shrimp, fresh fish, and dried fish seeing price increases of 2-10%; Stable NFI prices stayed 20-80% above last year with blankets, mosquito nets, and hygiene items up the most; Markets remained closed in Kawkareik and Hsiseng, likely making it more difficult to supply some goods to area villages; Rice prices should be watched closely as transportation disruptions due to ongoing conflict may further in-crease prices. Product-Level Price Changes Essential Foods – Essential food prices continued to rise steadily in January, and rice prices were up at least 5%. Rice prices were up 5-17% in January. Prices for pulses and cooking oil were fairly stable, although they rose 4-7% in some cases. January extended a three-month trend of steadily-rising essential food prices. Retailers in Demoso attributed rising prices to increased checkpoints pushing up transportation costs. Vegetables – Vegetable prices were stable across markets in January. Eggplant prices rose sharply in Hpapun and Taungoo as retailers reported some reduction in supply, but otherwise there were few product-level price trends. Vegetable prices were sta-ble or rising in Hpapun and Taungoo, and they were fairly stable in Pekon. Meat and Fish – Meat and fish prices were stable or 2-10% higher in January. Prices for shrimp, fresh fish, and dried fish rose 2-10% in January, while chicken prices rose 7-20% in two markets. Fish paste prices spiked at the village market in Pekon due to supply limits, but prices for fish paste and pork were otherwise stable. Hygiene Products – Price trends for hygiene products varied by market in January. Prices for hygiene products increased 3% or more in Hpapun, but they fell 11% or more in Taungoo. Prices for hygiene products were stable in Pekon. Other NFIs – Prices for other NFIs were very stable in January. Notwithstanding several isolated price increases, NFI prices were quite stable. Prices for charcoal and cooking pots were up 6-12% in Hpapun, and prices for blankets fell in Taungoo, but otherwise there was little change in NFI prices in January..."
Source/publisher: Myanmar Information Management Unit (Myanmar) via "Reliefweb" (New York)
2024-02-21
Date of entry/update: 2024-02-21
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Sub-title: Press ASEAN Members to Adopt Similar Measures
Description: "Australia was among a host of countries that imposed fresh sanctions on Myanmar on February 1, the third anniversary of the military coup. The government added five businesses to its list of 16 individuals sanctioned since 2021. Australia has targeted two banks that help fund Myanmar’s junta and its arms purchases, the Myanma Foreign Trade Bank and Myanma Investment and Commercial Bank. The sanctions also target three other entities, Asia Sun Group, Asia Sun Trading Co Ltd, and Cargo Link Petroleum Logistics Co Ltd, for their role in supplying jet fuel to the security forces: the same fuel that the military has used to carry out unlawfully indiscriminate airstrikes against civilians. Other governments had already taken action to limit the junta’s access to funding and jet fuel for the military. In June 2023, the United States sanctioned the two banks that Australia is now targeting. Canada has imposed comprehensive sanctions on jet fuel, while the European Union, United Kingdom and United States took steps to target Myanmar entities helping to purchase and supply jet fuel. Until now, Australia has hesitated to impose more sanctions out of concern for its relations with member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). No ASEAN countries have unilaterally sanctioned the junta, and Australia joined with other governments to back the bloc’s ineffectual efforts to get the military to end its abuses. Although Australia may have been slow to realize that targeted sanctions are crucial and need not compromise relations with ASEAN, they can still be effective. The US action against Myanmar’s banks prompted Singapore to cut ties between its Singapore-based United Overseas Bank and corresponding banks in Myanmar. In December, the Myanmar central bank announced it would stop setting foreign exchange rates, suggesting the junta’s inability to access outside currencies. The sanctions are having an impact. When it hosts a special summit with ASEAN members in Melbourne in March, Australia should press bloc members to enforce these sanctions in their own jurisdictions. Stronger measures are still possible: Australia should consider imposing sanctions against companies and individuals in the extractives industries. The Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise and other military-owned mining entities still collect the lion’s share of revenue for the junta. By taking a necessary step to help stop Myanmar military abuses, Australia shouldn’t stop now..."
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Source/publisher: "Human Rights Watch" (USA)
2024-02-05
Date of entry/update: 2024-02-05
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Description: "Justice For Myanmar welcomes the latest sanctions on the illegal Myanmar junta and its business associates, three years after the military launched a coup attempt that has failed because of the courageous mass resistance of Myanmar people. Since the attempted coup, the junta has committed widespread atrocity crimes and grave human rights violations with total impunity, enabled by a network of domestic and international companies. New sanctions targeted the military’s sources of funds and jet fuel. Australia’s second round of sanctions since February 1, 2021 designated Myanma Foreign Trade Bank (MFTB) and Myanma Investment and Commercial Bank (MICB), state banks illegally seized by the junta. The banks are key nodes in the military cartel’s economic networks, supporting the junta’s campaign of terror. Australia also targeted three companies that are part of Shoon group (formerly Asia Sun), which is the junta’s main partner in the import, storage and distribution of jet fuel. The Shoon companies designated were Asia Sun Trading Company Limited, Cargo Link Petroleum Company Limited and Asia Sun Group Company Limited. The US sanctioned Shwe Byain Phyu Group of Companies, a crony conglomerate founded by Thein Win Zaw, who is the group’s chairperson. Following the military’s coup attempt, Shwe Byain Phyu bought Telenor Myanmar, renamed ATOM Myanmar, providing the junta with enhanced surveillance capabilities and access to personal data. Justice For Myanmar exposed the business interests of Shwe Byain Phyu Group in 2022. The US also sanctioned Thein Win Zaw, his wife Tin Latt Min, and their adult children, Win Paing Kyaw and Theint Win Htet. In addition, the US sanctioned Myanma Five Star Line Company Limited, a shipping subsidiary of the US-sanctioned military conglomerate, Myanma Economic Holdings Limited. The UK sanctioned No. 1 Mining Enterprise (ME1) and No. 2 Mining Enterprise (ME2), state-owned enterprises illegally seized by the junta that play a central role in Myanmar’s mining sector. The two mining enterprises illegally channel funds and resources to the junta through production sharing contracts with local and foreign companies. Last year, JFM exposed Greenway Mining Group, a Chinese company that is using British Overseas Territories for its continued business in Myanmar with ME1. The UK also sanctioned Light Infantry Division 77 and Light Infantry Division 101, which are directly responsible for perpetrating international crimes. Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung says: “New Australian, UK and US sanctions are necessary to block the junta’s access to funds and jet fuel and come after sustained pressure from civil society. However, far more needs to be done to cut the junta’s access to funds, arms, equipment, technology and jet fuel. “Sanctions continue to be too slow, lack coordination and are not covering whole networks of companies and individuals, leaving too many openings for the junta and its associates to bypass measures. “The slow pace of Australian sanctions in particular is clearly inadequate. Australia should start imposing regular rounds of sanctions, including against the mining sector, in which Australians continue to have a significant presence. “UK, US, EU, Canada and Australia should extend sanctions to the whole network of entities and key individuals in the junta’s natural resources ministry, join the EU in fully sanctioning MOGE, and join Canada in banning the export, sale, supply and shipment of aviation fuel to Myanmar. “The people of Myanmar have struggled against a terrorist junta for three years and successfully blocked it from taking control of Myanmar. The fight continues and should be supported by the international community through targeted sanctions, a global arms embargo and a UN Security Council referral of the situation in Myanmar to the International Criminal Court. “The Myanmar military cartel must be dismantled.”..."
Source/publisher: Justice For Myanmar
2024-02-02
Date of entry/update: 2024-02-02
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Description: "Shipping data suggests attempt to evade sanctions in aviation fuel supply chain Direct sales of fuel diminish; instead intermediaries appear to aid purchase of fuel to Myanmar At least seven shipments of aviation fuel to Myanmar in 2023, with direct links to storage unit in Viet Nam 2023 the worst year for air strikes in Myanmar since coup three years ago New evidence suggests Myanmar’s military is using new tactics to import aviation fuel after sanctions were imposed in response to air strikes that have unlawfully killed and injured civilians, Amnesty International said today ahead of the third anniversary of the 2021 coup. Shipping, satellite, trade and customs data analysis by Amnesty shows significant changes to how aviation fuel entered Myanmar over the past year, with the military appearing to use new routes and rely on storage units to obfuscate the origin of the fuel. “After the international community took action on this deadly supply chain, the Myanmar military is ripping a page out of the sanctions evasion playbook to continue importing jet fuel,” said Montse Ferrer, Deputy Regional Director for Research. “Air strikes have killed or injured hundreds of civilians across Myanmar in 2023, and left many feeling nowhere is safe. The best way to stop the Myanmar military from carrying out lethal air strikes is to stop all jet fuel imports into the country.” Multiple buyers and storage units that conceal origin The supply chain of aviation fuel to Myanmar appears to have shifted considerably since sanctions were passed by the UK, the USA, the EU and others last year. Buyers in Myanmar are no longer purchasing fuel directly but apparently relying on multiple purchases and sales of the same fuel to distance themselves from the original supplier of the aviation fuel. Amnesty’s new research uncovers this apparent ruse. The findings show that in 2023, as pressure built on companies and states to suspend shipments of jet fuel to Myanmar in the wake of an Amnesty International investigation into the supply chain, there was a lull in imports between January and March. In April that year, they picked up again, and vessel tracking data, satellite imagery and customs and trade data show that at least six shipments entered the country between April and August in 2023. Then, in August, the US passed its latest round of sanctions on jet fuel, which appears to have led to another lull in imports from September to November, after which Amnesty identified one final jet fuel shipment in December 2023. The seven shipments, adding up to at least 67 kilotonnes of aviation fuel, represent an increase in shipments compared to 2021-2022, year on year. While in 2021-2022 the majority of aviation fuel entered Myanmar as direct sales of fuel shipments – making it much easier to trace the supplier – in 2023, the fuel appears to have been bought and sold more than once, before arriving to Myanmar. Further, the vessels identified by Amnesty picked up the aviation fuel at a storage unit in Viet Nam immediately prior to traveling to Myanmar. “This is significant because storage units make fuel notoriously hard to trace,” explains Ferrer. “A lot can happen at a storage unit – fuel can be blended to mask its origin; sellers can lose track of buyers as fuel changes hands; storage unit owners or managers can claim ignorance once the fuel arrives at rented-out tanks. In addition, the larger a storage unit, the more ships arrive with different types of cargo, making the tracing of goods by external actors virtually impossible. “This could be a way to evade sanctions. Fuel is no longer sold by the supplier directly to a Myanmar – possibly sanctioned – entity, but through one or more intermediaries, while also ensuring that the vessel’s last stop before arrival in Myanmar is a storage unit which cannot be easily linked to the actual fuel supplier.” Viet Nam connection The seven shipments in 2023 loaded aviation fuel at a small storage terminal called Cai Mep Petroleum terminal close to Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam, which is operated by local company Hai Linh Co. Ltd. Shipments occurred in April, May, June, July, August and December. Vessel tracking and customs data has made it possible to identify what likely occurred during these shipments. First, the original supplier sold the jet fuel to a trader. That trader would have then off-sold it, once or multiple times, but in all cases, the second-to-last sale of the jet fuel before transfer to Myanmar was from a trader to a Vietnamese company. This Vietnamese company then received the fuel at a storage terminal in Cai Mep managed by Hai Linh. After storing the fuel for anywhere between a few hours to days, that fuel was sold to Myanmar and transported by vessel. Amnesty has identified three shipments to Viet Nam that were immediately preceded by deliveries from recognizable locations. In one case, a shipment of jet fuel in August originated (although having been transported by a different vessel) from the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) terminal in Huizhou, the third-largest national oil company in China. According to vessel tracking data and satellite imagery, two other shipments in April and May onloaded the jet fuel at the Pengerang Independent Terminals, a storage terminal in Malaysia partly owned by Vopak, before arriving in Viet Nam and subsequently travelling to Myanmar (also by a different vessel). Vietnamese customs data has also made it possible to identify the fuel traders that made the second-to-last purchase of jet fuel that transited through Viet Nam. The most prominent of these is BB Energy (Asia) Pte. Ltd., the Singapore branch of privately owned BB Energy, based in Dubai and described as “among the world’s leading independent energy trading companies”, with 30 offices around the world, including one in London. At least three of the seven shipments that transited through Viet Nam before arriving in Myanmar involved BB Energy (Asia). It is unclear whether the trading companies knew the fuel they were selling to Vietnamese companies would soon thereafter end up in Myanmar, or whether their actions could run afoul of existing sanctions. These traders sold the fuel to a Vietnamese company, which then appears to have sold the jet fuel to a Myanmar purchaser. Customs data indicates one of these companies to be Hai Linh Ltd., the company that owns and operates the storage terminal at Cai Mep. Jet fuel offloaded in sanctioned-linked Yangon terminal All seven aviation fuel shipments were offloaded at the former Puma Energy terminal in Thilawa area port, Yangon, Myanmar. Following Puma Energy’s departure from Myanmar in December 2022, it sold its assets and transferred the management of the Thilawa terminal to a joint venture between Shoon Energy Thilawa Terminal Co. Ltd. (formerly Asia Sun Aviation) and a state-owned and military controlled entity, MPE. Several Shoon Energy companies – although not the company managing the terminal – have been sanctioned by the UK, the USA, the EU and others for their role in the import and distribution of aviation fuel. “The fact that these shipments are arriving at the same terminal with direct links to sanctioned companies and individuals and to the Myanmar military raises real questions about sanction effectiveness and compliance for those involved in the supply chain,” Ferrer said. Six of the seven Vietnamese shipments were transported by the Chinese-flagged oil tanker HUITONG 78 (IMO 9646479); the remaining shipment was done by Liberian-flagged oil tanker YIDA 8 (IMO 9936941). Amnesty was unable to confirm the current owners of these vessels. Companies’ responsibility and countries’ obligations across entire value chain As outlined in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, companies have a responsibility to seek to prevent or mitigate adverse human rights impacts by conducting human rights due diligence. In conducting such due diligence, international standards establish that companies should assess the entire value chain for human rights risks and harm. In fact, companies can become directly linked to the harm – and in certain cases, liable under sanctions regimes – as a result of the irresponsible usage of the products or services they supply or manage. This includes jet fuel suppliers, fuel traders and storage terminal managers such as BB Energy, CNOOC, Hai Linh, Vopak and others. “We have been told time and time again by companies that they are not responsible for what happens to the products after they sell them; or that they cannot control what happens at the storage terminals they themselves own and operate. However, the reality is that companies *can *know and should know what happens to their entire value chain if they are at all serious about human rights due diligence,” Ferrer said. Under international law, all states have a duty to protect against human rights abuses by all actors, including companies. This means that states must protect individuals and communities from the harmful activities of corporate actors through effective policies, legislation, regulation and adjudication. “The role played here by Viet Nam is particularly problematic. The Cai Mep port is essential for this new supply chain to work – and so the Vietnamese government has an obligation to make sure its ports are not being used for activities linked to human rights violations,” Ferrer said. 2023 worst year for air strikes Myanmar military air strikes continued over the same period, with the UN reporting in September 2023 a significant increase compared to the first year after the coup. In December 2023, Amnesty International documented, among other potential war crimes, the military’s indiscriminate air and ground attacks on Pauktaw town in Rakhine State, as well as its likely use of banned cluster munitions in northern Shan State. Amnesty International also documented how, on 9 October, an air strike followed by mortar fire on a camp for internally displaced persons in Mung Lai Hkye village, Kachin State killed at least 28 civilians including children, and injured at least 57 others. According to media reports, air strikes resulting in civilian deaths also took place in Bago and Sagaing Regions and in Chin, Kayah, Kayin and Mon states. For example on 27 June, air strikes near a monastery in Nyaung Kone village in Sagaing Region killed a monk and at least nine other civilians. On 11 April, in the single deadliest aerial attack since the coup, military aircraft bombed a gathering of people who were inaugurating a new local administrative office in the village of Pa Zyi Gyi, also in Sagaing Region. At least 100 civilians were killed, including 35 children, as well as 18 people aligned with armed opposition groups. The military admitted the attack but claimed that explosives stored at the site where the gathering was taking place were responsible for the scale of the fatalities. “There’s an epidemic of deadly, unlawful air strikes in Myanmar, but the cure is clear. We have to stop jet fuel imports from ending up in the hands of the Myanmar military,” Ferrer said. Background Since the 1 February 2021 coup, air strikes have killed, maimed and displaced civilians across the country, targeting schools, IDP camps and other civilian infrastructure. In response, Amnesty International published Deadly Cargo: Exposing the Supply Chain that Fuels War Crimes in Myanmarin November 2022, which it published in collaboration with Justice for Myanmar. The report revealed how aviation fuel reached the country, how it ended up with the Myanmar military and how it reached bases from which air attacks that constituted war crimes were conducted. In March 2023, Amnesty published updated findings on new shipments. Following evidence linking foreign and domestic companies to the supply of aviation fuel to the Myanmar military, the UK, the USA, Canada, the EU and Switzerland imposed sanctions on companies and individuals in Myanmar and Singapore involved in the procurement and distribution of aviation fuel into Myanmar. In August, the USA extended the reach of potential sanctions, stating that anyone involved in this industry was at risk. All companies named in this press release were contacted for comment with the exception of Shoon Energy Thilawa Terminal Co. Ltd, who were contacted by Amnesty International at the time the findings against them were originally published. The only company to respond to Amnesty International for this press release is Royal Vopak who emphasised their respect for human rights and claimed to have no record of a vessel birthing at Pengerang storage terminal on or about the dates we identified. This conflicts with Amnesty’s own evidence..."
Source/publisher: Amnesty International
2024-01-31
Date of entry/update: 2024-01-31
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Sub-title: UN Security Council Should Impose Global Arms Embargo, Jet Fuel Sanctions
Description: "UN Security Council Should Impose Global Arms Embargo, Jet Fuel Sanctions (Bangkok) – Myanmar’s military junta has increasingly carried out unlawful airstrikes harming civilians in its military operations against a coalition of opposition and ethnic armed groups, Human Rights Watch said today. Governments that provide transfers or assistance of arms or materiel to the junta forces risk being complicit in war crimes. Three years since the February 1, 2021, coup in Myanmar, the junta’s widespread and systematic abuses against the population – including arbitrary arrests, torture, extrajudicial killings, and indiscriminate attacks on civilians – amount to crimes against humanity and war crimes. In 2023, Human Rights Watch investigations found that the military’s unlawful airstrikes in Sagaing Region and Kachin State were apparent war crimes. “Concerned governments should be doing more to curb the junta’s capacity to commit appalling laws-of-war violations,” said Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “United Nations member countries should urge the UN Security Council to impose an arms embargo on Myanmar, including sanctions on jet fuel that facilitates unlawful air attacks on civilians.” The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said in a statement on January 30 that Myanmar’s deteriorating human rights situation was now in “free fall.” “The people of Myanmar have been suffering for too long,” Türk said. “Since the end of October last year, their situation has deteriorated even further as a result of the long-established tactics of the military to target them.” On October 27, 2023, the Three Brotherhood Alliance – an anti-junta coalition of the Arakan Army, Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army – began Operation 1027, an offensive that seized Myanmar military outposts in northern Shan State. The offensive also triggered opposition attacks on Myanmar security forces elsewhere in the country. The junta responded to the attacks with military operations that have involved serious violations of the laws of war. Amnesty International determined that junta forces most likely used cluster munitions during attacks on the town of Namkham in Shan State in early December. The use of cluster munitions, large weapons that include dozens of smaller weapons known as submunitions, is inherently indiscriminate and constitutes a war crime. The renewed fighting within weeks displaced about 600,000 people across Myanmar. Humanitarian agencies and local organizations have struggled to respond to the surge in displacement. An unknown number of civilians have been killed and injured in recent airstrikes. An aid worker in Muse township near the China border told Human Rights Watch that his friend fled from Namhkam after his wife was killed in a junta airstrike on December 1, an incident reported by the Shan Human Rights Foundation. “He managed to hide their two children in the bunker when they first heard the sounds of a jet,” the aid worker said. “But his wife was showering as it was morning. … She didn’t make it to the bunker and died right there when the junta dropped the bomb. He was injured too, and luckily the children are safe but now they don’t have a mother.” A spokeswoman from a local ethnic and women’s rights group, the Ta’ang Women’s Organization, said she fled Namhkam township on December 2 after repeated junta airstrikes in her village. “At first, I hid with my family in a dirt bunker we had dug near our home,” she said. “There were so many explosions … it was hard to tell whether it was all the same attack or many planes dropping bombs. The planes came day and night, and they also circled around us repeatedly even if they weren’t dropping bombs.” The Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, which reports data on the Myanmar military’s air and drone strikes, found strikes to have substantially increased since early 2022. This data is compiled from media reports and may significantly undercount the military’s total air and drone strikes. Canada, the European Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States have imposed and expanded sanctions since the coup, but sanctions on jet fuel have been inconsistent. Canada is the only country to have imposed comprehensive sanctions on the export, sale, supply or shipment of aviation fuel to Myanmar. In 2023, the EU, UK, and US also introduced some sanctions that targeted private actors supplying fuel, arms and funds to Myanmar. However, five British companies are still providing insurance cover for deliveries of aviation fuel to Myanmar. Governments in the region have not sent a clear message to Myanmar’s junta concerning ongoing rights violations, Human Rights Watch said. Laos, as the 2024 chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), should work with other ASEAN member countries to take a more robust approach that pressures the junta to end its abuses and remove restrictions on humanitarian assistance. The European Union, whose foreign ministers will meet with ASEAN foreign ministers on February 2, should urge ASEAN members, in particular Thailand and Singapore, to cooperate in enforcing sanctions in their jurisdictions. The UN Security Council should meaningfully follow up on its December 2022 resolution on Myanmar by imposing an arms embargo, including jet fuel, and refer the country situation to the International Criminal Court. Russia and China, which both abstained from the 2022 resolution, should not block stronger measures by the council. Russia and China have continued to sell weapons to Myanmar’s junta since the 2021 coup, according to the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar. “Myanmar’s people have been suffering for years under a junta that shows them no regard,” Pearson said. “A stronger international response is still needed to press for an end to the military’s abuses.”..."
Source/publisher: Human Rights Watch (USA)
2024-01-30
Date of entry/update: 2024-01-30
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "Australian companies, executives and investors are continuing to operate in Myanmar’s junta-dominated mining sector three years after the military launched a brutal and illegal attempted coup. A new Justice For Myanmar report, Mines Against Humanity, reveals the Australian owned and led companies that are engaged in extraction, exploration and services that provide the junta with revenue, or support the maintenance of a sector that bankrolls junta atrocities. Companies are wrongly treating the illegal junta as if it were the government of Myanmar. The junta is not the legitimate government of Myanmar and has failed to take effective control of Myanmar’s territory because of the sustained and courageous mass resistance of the Myanmar people. The junta has responded with a war of terror through indiscriminate air strikes and shelling, the killing of more than 4,400 people, rape, torture, the arbitrary arrest of more than 25,800, the destruction of whole communities and the displacement of more than 2.3 million. The continued Australian presence in Myanmar’s mining sector is a result of Australia’s failure to impose sanctions on the junta’s sources of funds, and a lack of guidance on Australia’s expectations for responsible business in Myanmar. This report documents 10 company networks that have remained active in Myanmar following the coup attempt and highlights six company networks that are not currently active in the mining sector but remain registered in Myanmar and require monitoring should they resume operations under the junta. These include: Valentis, a sprawling network of companies backed by Australian investors set up by brothers closely connected to the military. Among Valentis’s activities, Justice For Myanmar’s investigation uncovered an apparent visit to a MEC coal project since the coup attempt, the provision of services to a Myanmar arms broker and business links to a militia under junta control. Cornerstone Resources – a company thought to be owned by prominent Australian prospector Mark Creasy, and that has an Australian address, has continued to mine and refine zinc in Shan state following the military’s coup attempt. Justice For Myanmar uncovered transactions with military conglomerate Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC), which may breach UK sanctions given its previous registration in the British Virgin Islands at the time of the transactions. The Australian branch of the global consulting firm Knight Piésold is providing environmental services to the China owned Wanbao Mining for copper mines that operate in partnership with military conglomerate Myanma Economic Holdings Limited (MEHL). Services were provided as recently as 2023 and it is uncertain whether Knight Piésold is interpreting their contractual obligations consistently with the due diligence exception in the Australian Autonomous Sanctions Act 2011 to avoid breaching the sanctions against MEHL. The Australia-based miner PanAust has maintained its large-scale exploration licences in Sagaing, a region ravaged in the junta’s campaign of terror. By paying fees to the junta, it helps fund its atrocities. Asia Pacific Mining Limited, a company with Australian executives, has been communicating with senior members of the junta to continue and expand its exploration activities under cover of the military’s coup attempt. Even after the coup attempt and amid local opposition, Australian-led company Access Resources Asia has been pushing ahead with gold exploration in eastern Shan state. Australian Laboratory Services (ALS), listed on the Australian Stock Exchange, has maintained its business in Myanmar following the military’s coup attempt and has done mineral testing for Access Resources Asia and junta-controlled universities. Justice For Myanmar calls on Australia to immediately impose sanctions on mining enterprises controlled by the junta; to widen sanctions against the junta’s sources of funds, arms and jet fuel, in coordination with its allies; and to investigate sanctions-busting activity and penalise or prosecute companies and individuals as appropriate. Justice For Myanmar calls on companies operating in Myanmar to follow the laws, policies and guidance of the legitimate federal bodies, including the National Unity Government (NUG), National Unity Consultative Council (NUCC), applicable state councils, and relevant Ethnic Resistance Organisations, and to fulfil their responsibilities under the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises on Responsible Business Conduct, the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Business Conduct, the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas, and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Under the NUG’s Three-Pillar Framework Guiding Responsible Investment and Continued Operations, companies should avoid all business with the junta and fulfil contractual obligations to the state by paying funds into an escrow account for the lawful and legitimate government of Myanmar. Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung says: “It is unacceptable that three years after the military’s illegal coup attempt, Australia is still failing to take necessary action to block the junta’s sources of funds from mining and other lucrative sectors. “The Myanmar military operates as a cartel that is stealing the wealth of the people of Myanmar on a massive scale to fund its war of terror and enrich war criminals. “Yet, there are Australian companies, executives and investors in the mining sector that are continuing business as usual, financing the illegitimate junta and helping to keep a corrupt and destructive mining sector open for business. “Australia needs to act now to impose sanctions on the junta, its businesses, and cronies, and stop Australians from directly and indirectly providing funds and other forms of support to the junta. “Australian owned and led businesses in Myanmar should follow the laws, policies and guidance of the legitimate federal bodies, including the NUG, NUCC, applicable state councils, and relevant EROs, and fulfil their international human rights responsibilities.”..."
Source/publisher: Justice For Myanmar
2024-01-30
Date of entry/update: 2024-01-30
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Description: "The United States announced updates to the first business advisory for Myanmar. The supplemental advisory, jointly issued by the Departments of State, Treasury, Commerce, Labor, and Homeland Security, and the Office of the US Trade Representative, includes the identification of additional sectors and activities of concern, notably mining, timber and jet fuel. Businesses, including financial institutions and individuals, are advised to adopt heightened compliance and due diligence measures to reduce risks of exposure to the junta and its enablers. Denisse Rudich, Senior Policy Advisor at The Sentry, said: “Following the publication of the supplemental business advisory by the US Government, banks in the US and abroad, particularly in countries such as in Singapore, Thailand, and the UAE should monitor transactions to stop the flow of funds suspected of being linked to the military junta and carry out enhanced due diligence. They should engage with their correspondent banking networks, taking measures to prevent de-risking and ensure that humanitarian aid organizations, civilians, and essential sectors of the economy maintain unhindered access to the international financial system.” Oliver Windridge, Director of Illicit Finance Policy at The Sentry, said: “We welcome the supplemental advisory on Burma by the US Government. It complements the continued targeted sanctions policy adopted by the US to constrain and contain the Myanmar junta by restricting access to funds that finance its brutal war on the people of Myanmar. Targeted sanctions will not solve the crisis in the country on their own, but as essential financial tools of pressure, they must be wielded by the US and its like-minded partners in a coordinated manner and against networks of enablers to enhance their effectiveness. In addition to sanctions, the advisory identifies high-risk business sectors that companies will want to stay clear of to prevent their potential complicity in the atrocities of the Myanmar junta. It nevertheless encourages legitimate and responsible trade and investment flows that benefit the Myanmar population.” Yadanar Maung, Justice For Myanmar spokesperson, said: “It is positive that the US is continuing to advise companies in Myanmar to act responsibly and avoid key sectors that provide the junta with funds and resources that it needs to commit atrocities. However, this advice needs to be urgently backed up with more targeted sanctions by the US in coordination with its allies, including Australia, which remains exposed to Myanmar’s mining sector. There still are too many gaps in the sanctions that have been imposed and a large number of businesses and individuals that remain unsanctioned, despite evidence of complicity in the junta’s international crimes.” The first US business advisory on Myanmar, published in January 2022, was issued “to inform individuals, businesses, financial institutions, and other persons — including investors, consultants, and research service providers — of the heightened risks associated with doing business in Burma, and particularly business activity that could benefit the Burmese military regime.” For media inquiries or interview requests for The Sentry, please contact: Greg Hittelman, Director of Communications, [email protected] For media inquiries for Justice For Myanmar, please contact: Yadanar Maung, Spokesperson, [email protected] About Justice For Myanmar Justice For Myanmar is a covert group of activists using research, data visualisation, and reporting to expose and dismantle the business networks that fuel brutality, corruption and mass-scale suffering. About The Sentry (Short descriptor for press use: “The Sentry, an investigative organization that tracks corruption”) The Sentry is an investigative and policy organization that seeks to disable multinational predatory networks that benefit from violent conflict, repression, and kleptocracy. Pull back the curtain on wars, mass atrocities, and other human rights abuses, and you’ll find grand corruption and unchecked greed. These tragedies persist because the perpetrators rarely face meaningful consequences. The Sentry aims to alter the warped incentive structures that continually undermine peace and good governance. Our investigations follow the money as it is laundered from war zones to financial centers around the world. We provide evidence and strategies for governments, banks, and law enforcement to hold the perpetrators and enablers of violence and corruption to account. These efforts provide new leverage for human rights, peace, and anti-corruption efforts. For more information: www.TheSentry.org..."
Source/publisher: Justice For Myanmar
2024-01-29
Date of entry/update: 2024-01-29
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Sub-title: Like everything else in the nearly three years since the coup, the junta’s air superiority is fading.
Description: "One of the most important setbacks for Myanmar’s military since an opposition alliance launched Operation 1027 last October has been the loss of three different aircraft: two jet trainers and an Mi-17 heavy-lift helicopter. An Mi-35 attack helicopter was also lost in 2023. The Myanmar military should have total air superiority. For the first two years of the conflict, the opposition National Unity Government’s (NUG) best air defense was doxing Air Force pilots – publishing their addresses, as part of an assassination campaign. Gradually, the NUG’s People’s Defense Force militias began to erode the junta’s air superiority by effectively deploying armed drones. Significantly, we’re now seeing Ethnic Resistance Organizations (EROs) begin to deploy air defenses, at a time when the junta has become even more dependent on air attacks. That increased tempo of operations requires more maintenance on overworked airframes. These military junta losses matter for three reasons. First, while not small by regional standards, the Myanmar Air Force (MAF) certainly does not have excess capacity. At the top end, it has some 31 SU-29s and four recently delivered SU-30s from Russia. The recently delivered seven JF-17s multi-role fighters, jointly produced by China and Pakistan, are reportedly already grounded due to cracks in their airframes and other maintenance issues. Airworthiness questions On paper, Myanmar has approximately 40 other jet fighters, but these are old, Chinese-produced knock-off Russian jets from the 1990s. They are well beyond their service life. The MAF is thought to have 20 Nanchang Q-5s, the Chinese version of the MiG-19, down from the 36 it imported from 1994-2001. It also has some 21 Chengdu J-7s, a Chinese produced MiG-21. That’s down from some 60 that it had purchased from 1990-1999. It’s unclear how many of these fighters are still airworthy. Myanmar’s military has relied on its 18 Russian-built Yak-130 trainers for much of its combat operations. Since the February 2021 coup, Myanmar has taken delivery of some six Guizhou JL-9 jet trainers, referred to as FTC-2000G, which have a spotty performance and safety record. The MAF also flies an unknown number of Chinese K-8 trainers that can be used for ground support. Second, we should also assume that given sanctions on the Singapore-based companies that have been the key importers of spare parts, the overall lack of foreign exchange available to the junta, and other supply chain issues, including those caused by Russia’s war in Ukraine, that around 20% of the aircraft are probably not operational. In December 2023, the sanctioned director of Sky Aviator and two others were caught trying to smuggle 508,925 Singapore dollars (US $382,380) in cash out of that city-state. Sky Aviator, which has an office in Singapore, had a large contract to purchase spare parts for the air force. Another sanctioned firm, Sky Royal Hero Company Limited, has the contract for the maintenance and spare parts for servicing the Russian jet fighters. For nearly three years, the MAF has been flying at increased tempos without the scheduled maintenance they require. Airstrikes ramping up The military’s promised counter offensive has not materialized. Over 4,000 troops have surrendered since Operation 1027 began, and well-documented recruitment issues mean the military does not have a sufficient number of troops to launch ground offensives across the multiple battle zones, which has forced them to rely on long range artillery and air strikes. An independent research firm documented 336 airstrikes in December 2023, alone, with nearly half against the Three Brotherhood Alliance, the group of ethnic armies behind Operation 1027.. The loss of one of their 12 already over-taxed heavy lift helicopters is another important setback for the military’s counter-offensive. One of their tactical advantages has been air mobility and resupply, especially given their loss of key roads. Although the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) claims to have shot down the Guizhou JL-9/FTC-2000G on Jan. 17, there is little evidence to support this, Video footage that shows the plane falling from the sky, without smoke or any other sign of hostile fire, indicates likely engine failure. That leads to the third implication: The MAF is losing aircraft to hostile fire. While the military claims that it was a technical malfunction that brought down a K-8 trainer, Karenni forces claim to have shot it down. The KIA claims to have shot down an Mi-17 transport helicopter, killing all six crew members on Jan. 3. Both helicopters and the trainers, especially when they are being used for ground attacks, are vulnerable to small arms fire. Eyes on Beijing But these developments also beg the question: What weapons are being used to down the aircraft? The only ethnic armed group that is known to have shoulder-launched surface-to-air missiles (known as MANPADs) is the United Wa State Army (UWSA). Until very recently, the UWSA has sat out the conflict, neither supporting the junta nor joining the NUG. It recently declared its neutrality in the Three Brotherhood Alliance’s Operation 1027, though it did receive two townships from them. Though the UWSA has quietly sold weapons to other ethnic armies and the NUG, it has, to date, refrained from selling MANPADs. Has that changed? And if so, why now? It was long believed that they would not sell the weapons for fear of angering China. So did China approve the transfer, or are the groups now willing to incur Beijing’s wrath? The KIA claims that they shot down the Mi-17 helicopter with a Chinese made FN-6 MANPAD. The transfer of these weapons to the KIA has never been acknowledged, and may indicate a substantial shift in Chinese policy. Even if the Jan. 17 crash was caused by a mechanical failure, the KIA is smart to claim credit for downing the aircraft – if for no other reason than to sow fear amongst the pilots. But what is clear, is that at the same time Myanmar’s military has become even more dependent on air strikes, it’s confronted by international sanctions and cash shortages that have hurt the servicing of their planes. At the same time, opposition forces are now fielding a limited number of surface-to-air missiles. Like everything else in the nearly three years since the coup, the junta’s air superiority is slipping away..."
Source/publisher: "Radio Free Asia" (USA)
2024-01-20
Date of entry/update: 2024-01-20
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Sub-title: UN Security Council Should Impose Sanctions on Military Junta
Description: "(Bangkok) – Myanmar’s military junta in 2023 increasingly carried out unlawful airstrikes against villages with ethnic minorities and anti-coup residents, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2024. The security forces committed mass killings, enforced disappearances, torture, rape and other sexual violence, and arbitrary arrests and detention. “The junta’s increased unlawful airstrikes exemplify the deteriorating human rights situation in Myanmar since the 2021 coup,” said Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Governments should tighten sanctions on the military, and urge the UN Security Council to impose an arms embargo on Myanmar and refer the situation to the International Criminal Court.” In the 740-page World Report 2024, its 34th edition, Human Rights Watch reviews human rights practices in more than 100 countries. In her introductory essay, Executive Director Tirana Hassan says that 2023 was a consequential year not only for human rights suppression and wartime atrocities but also for selective government outrage and transactional diplomacy that carried profound costs for the rights of those not in on the deal. But she says there were also signs of hope, showing the possibility of a different path, and calls on governments to consistently uphold their human rights obligations. In April, Myanmar’s military used a thermobaric weapon – a fuel-air explosive – in Sagaing Region that killed more than 160 civilians. In October, the military attacked a village hosting hundreds of displaced civilians in Kachin State, killing 28 civilians, including 11 children. And since the February 2021 coup, the military has used domestically produced cluster munitions, which are inherently indiscriminate, in populated areas. The junta blocked desperately needed aid from reaching millions of people in conflict areas, in violation of international humanitarian law. More than two million people have been internally displaced, with many fleeing air and ground attacks multiple times. In October, tens of thousands of people fled clashes between the military and an alliance of ethnic armed groups and anti-junta People’s Defense Forces in northern Shan State. In May, Cyclone Mocha, one of two strongest tropical cyclones ever recorded in the North Indian Ocean, left a trail of destruction affecting nearly eight million people across Chin, Kachin, and Rakhine States, and Sagaing and Magway Regions. Junta authorities refused to authorize travel and visas for aid workers, release urgent supplies from customs and warehouses, or relax onerous and unnecessary restrictions on lifesaving assistance. UN Security Council measures against Myanmar authorities have long been stymied by Russia and China, both of which have veto power. Other governments should find ways to expand their own national sanctions to press the junta to change course, Human Rights Watch said. UN member countries should comply with a UN General Assembly 2021 resolution, which urged governments “to prevent the flow of arms into Myanmar.” Key governments such as the United States expanded sanctions, including on two Myanmar banks used by the junta to purchase weapons and military equipment. In August, the US issued a directive prohibiting financial transactions involving the military-owned Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE). But the European Union, US, Canada, and the United Kingdom should better coordinate and enforce their actions while seeking compliance by Singapore, Thailand and other neighbors of Myanmar. The International Criminal Court (ICC) currently has an investigation into crimes related to the 2017 ethnic cleansing campaign against the Rohingya, but it is limited in scope. An ICC referral remains critical to address the full range of atrocity crimes in Myanmar. Separately, the UN Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar continued gathering evidence for future prosecutions. The International Court of Justice is hearing the case on Myanmar’s alleged state responsibility under the Genocide Convention. On November 15, six countries joined the case initiated by Gambia in 2019..."
Source/publisher: Human Rights Watch (USA)
2024-01-11
Date of entry/update: 2024-01-11
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Description: "‍ Justice For Myanmar welcomes the latest sanctions on the Myanmar military junta and its associates, as it intensifies its war of terror against the people, and calls on governments to urgently step up and better coordinate sanctions. The latest sanctions come as the junta continues to lose territory and control, almost three years after launching an illegal coup attempt. On December 11, the EU sanctioned the entities Star Sapphire Group of Companies and Royal Shune Lei Company Limited, which are both suppliers of arms and equipment to the Myanmar military, aiding and abetting its international crimes. Star Sapphire Group of Companies is a crony conglomerate closely associated with the family of Min Aung Hlaing, whose children’s assets were caught in a Thai drug raid against Star Sapphire Group’s founder, Tun Min Latt. Tun Min Latt is currently in custody in Thailand on drug trafficking and money laundering charges. Royal Shune Lei Company Limited is an arms broker for the Myanmar military that has been sanctioned for the first time. Justice For Myanmar previously highlighted its links to the sale of arms and dual use goods from Russia and Serbia. The company may have also brokered the sale of arms from North Korea to the Myanmar military in 2022, according to reports. The EU also sanctioned members of the junta’s State Administration Council, Nyo Saw, Wunna Maung Lwin and Hmu Htan, as well as the commander of the military’s Eastern Command, Hla Moe. Nyo Saw is a major player in the junta’s cartel, having been chairperson of Myanmar Economic Corporation and a member of the junta’s Foreign Exchange Supervision Committee. On December 8, the UK sanctioned Colonel Chit Thu, whose legal name is San Myint, and his associates Saw Min Min Oo and She Zhijiang (also written as She Zhi Jiang). San Myint leads the Karen Border Guard Force, a militia under Myanmar military command in Karen State. Min Min Oo is a colonel in the same militia and plays a key role in the militia’s corrupt business dealings, which include illegal casinos and cyber slavery compounds. She Zhijiang, a Chinese fugitive who obtained Cambodian citizenship, is their business associate and led the Yatai project in Shwe Kokko with the Karen Border Guard Force up until his arrest in Thailand in 2022 after an extradition request by Chinese authorities. All three have been sanctioned for the first time. Also on December 8, Canada for the second time sanctioned the war criminal, Min Aung Hlaing, who is responsible for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, and is leading the military’s coup attempt. He was designated under the country’s Magnitsky Law, the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act. Canada also sanctioned Min Aung Hlaing on February 18, 2021 under the Special Economic Measures (Burma) Regulations. Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung says: “These latest sanctions are welcome as a further step in blocking the Myanmar military junta’s sources of funds and arms, which it needs to continue its war of terror against the people. “It is also welcome that the UK has sanctioned key individuals in the Karen Border Guard Force network, who, under Myanmar military command, are responsible for grave human rights violations and crimes that include human trafficking, the enslavement of victims in cyber scam compounds, the operation of illegal casinos and money laundering. “The Myanmar military junta is at the apex of these criminal networks, and the threat they pose to the ASEAN region and beyond cannot be eradicated until the Myanmar military cartel is dismantled and there is federal democracy. “However, the pace of sanctions has so far been too slow compared to the unprecedented crisis on the ground. Far more needs to be done urgently to cut the junta’s sources of arms and funds. We call on governments to step up and better coordinate for further sanctions and for justice and accountability.”..."
Source/publisher: Justice For Myanmar
2023-12-12
Date of entry/update: 2023-12-12
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Description: "Myanmar economic recovery falters as conflict and inflation weigh Broad-based slowdown anticipated across productive sectors YANGON, December 12, 2023—Little economic growth is expected in Myanmar in the near term, as rising conflict, trade and logistics disruptions, kyat volatility and high inflation combine to negatively impact businesses and households, the World Bank’s semi-annual Myanmar Economic Monitor said. Myanmar’s economy is projected to grow by just 1% over the year to March 2024, according to the report, Challenges amid conflict. Conflict has escalated across much of Myanmar since October, leading to the displacement of an estimated half a million people, disrupting key overland trade routes and increasing logistics costs. Even if conflict does not escalate further, growth is expected to remain subdued over the rest of 2024 and into 2025 given a broad-based slowdown across productive sectors including agriculture, manufacturing, and trade. The size of Myanmar’s economy remains around 10% lower than it was in 2019, leaving it the only economy in East Asia that has not returned to pre-pandemic levels of economic activity. Consumer prices rose by almost 29% in the 12 months ending in June this year, and the more recent drop in the value of the kyat and escalation in conflict have led to further price rises in the months since. Household incomes continue to be severely strained. In surveys conducted by IFPRI in mid-2023, 40% of households reported earning less than in the previous year, with median real incomes declining by around 10 percent. Measures of food insecurity have also worsened. “The economic situation has deteriorated, and uncertainty about the future is increasing,” said World Bank Country Director for Myanmar, Cambodia, and the Lao PDR, Mariam Sherman. “High food price inflation has had a particularly severe impact on the poor, who spend a larger portion of their income on food, and who tend to live in areas where prices have risen at a faster pace." Indicators of business activity have worsened since mid-2023. Firms reported operating at just 56% of their capacity in September, down 16 percentage points from March. Weakness in sales has been a major challenge, particularly for retailers. A special section of the report explores the scope for Myanmar’s garment industry to continue to drive growth in employment and incomes, as it has done for much of the past decade. However, conflict, high logistics costs, trade and foreign exchange restrictions, and electricity disruptions have raised the cost of doing business and reduced the sector’s international competitiveness. “With the operating environment deteriorating and uncertainty about the future increasing, Myanmar’s garment firms have been forced to focus on survival rather than investment and growth,” said World Bank Program Leader and Senior Economist for Myanmar, Kim Alan Edwards. “The scarring effect of recent developments is likely to curtail Myanmar’s longer-term development potential, in the garment industry and across the broader economy”..."
Source/publisher: World Bank
2023-12-12
Date of entry/update: 2023-12-12
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Description: "Greenway Mining Group Limited, a mining company based in Kunming, China and operating through British Overseas Territories, is expanding its business in Myanmar following the military’s illegal coup attempt, providing revenue to the junta as it widens its campaign of terror. The revelations published by Justice For Myanmar based on the company’s disclosures to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange before its recent delisting, come as the UK lags behind its allies in sanctioning No. 1 Mining Enterprise (ME 1) and No. 1 Mining Enterprise (ME 2), which are under illegal control of the junta. ME 1 and ME 2 have already been sanctioned by the US, EU and Canada. The junta’s minister for natural resources and environmental conservation, Colonel Khin Maung Yi, has also been sanctioned by the US, EU and Canada, while he has yet to be designated in the UK. Greenway Mining Group operates two mines in Shan State, Myanmar. Since the coup attempt, it has been seeking approval from the junta to expand one of its mines and has organised the shipment of minerals to China, in partnership with ME 1. The company, which is incorporated in the Cayman Islands and also operates in the British Virgin Islands, has earned millions of dollars in revenue during the past decade from its lead and silver mines in Myanmar, according to its financial statements. Justice For Myanmar calls on UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron to immediately sanction all key junta entities and individuals in the mining sector, including ME 1, ME 2 and Khin Maung Yi. Justice For Myanmar calls on Greenway to immediately end all business with the junta, in line with its human rights responsibilities under the UN Guiding Principles on business and human rights. Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung says: “Greenway Mining is using British Overseas Territories for its business with the illegal Myanmar military junta, supporting ongoing war crimes and crimes against humanity committed with total impunity. “Greenway’s business with the junta, conducted via the Cayman Islands and British Virgin Islands, has been enabled by the UK’s slow pace of sanctions on the mining sector, which is a key source of funds for the junta. “As the junta continues to lose ground, it is increasingly relying on indiscriminate air strikes and is desperate for revenue to sustain its war of terror. “The UK and its allies must urgently coordinate to block all of the junta’s sources of arms and revenue, including from the mining sector, and support the people of Myanmar’s struggle for federal democracy.”..."
Source/publisher: Justice For Myanmar
2023-12-11
Date of entry/update: 2023-12-11
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "The illegal Myanmar military junta is set to host the 26th Ministerial Conference of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) program, on December 15 in Naypyidaw, according to Justice For Myanmar sources. In a welcome move, the Asian Development Bank, which acts as the GMS Secretariat, has told Justice For Myanmar that it will not attend the Ministerial Conference and will not provide any support. In response to an email, an ADB spokesperson told Justice For Myanmar, “The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will not attend the 26th GMS Ministerial Conference. In addition, ADB will not provide any funding for the event, nor provide logistical or advisory support. ADB also will not finance the costs of any developing member countries’ attendees.” Justice For Myanmar calls on GMS countries to cancel the conference and ban the junta from the GMS program. The ADB should reconsider its support for the GMS program while it continues to engage with the junta. The conference is planned to take place as the junta continues to lose control of Myanmar, is rapidly losing territory and is waging a campaign of terror against the people, committing mass killings, carrying out indiscriminate air strikes and shelling, arbitrary arrests, torture and mass displacement that has surged to more than 2.5 million. The conference host is Kan Zaw, the junta’s minister for investment and foreign economic relations, who is sanctioned by the US and EU. The EU noted that Kan Zaw “takes an active role in supporting the military’s efforts to attract foreign investment, thereby contributing to securing the financial needs of the military regime. Therefore, he is responsible for undermining democracy and the rule of law in Myanmar/Burma as well as for engaging in actions that threaten the peace, security and stability of Myanmar.” According to Justice For Myanmar sources, Kan Zaw has invited China’s finance minister, Lan Fo’an, Cambodia’s deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs and international cooperation, Sok Chenda Sophea, Lao’s planning and investment minister, Khamjane Vongphosy, Vietnam’s planning and investment minister, Nguyen Chi Dung, and Thailand’s deputy finance minister, Julapun Amornvivat to the conference. The conference is being organised by a steering committee headed by the junta’s deputy minister for investment and foreign economic relations. The committee also includes a member of the military conglomerate Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC) as the sole private sector representative, according to Justice For Myanmar sources. MEC is sanctioned by the US, UK, EU, Canada and Australia. The junta-controlled Myanmar Police Force is providing security for the conference, overseen by the deputy police chief who is also a member of the steering committee. The junta’s police force is directly responsible for killings, torture and arbitrary arrest, which amount to crimes against humanity. The junta is preparing to maximise propaganda from the conference, having formed a committee to manage the release of information to control journalists. The conference is being held at the Grand Amara Hotel, which is part of the junta-linked crony conglomerate International Group of Entrepreneur (IGE) owned by Ne Aung, the brother of the junta’s navy chief. The junta is covering the accommodation of delegates, their flights between Yangon and Naypyidaw and hosting a gala lunch. The upcoming conference comes after Min Aung Hlaing participated in the 7th GMS Leaders’ Summit hosted by Cambodia in 2021. The ADB told Justice For Myanmar that they had provided Cambodia with advisory support to prepare documentation for the summit, which was held virtually. The Leaders’ Summit, which is the program’s highest body, was featured prominently in junta propaganda. In a speech at the summit, Min Aung Hlaing defended his illegal coup attempt and falsely stated that the 2020 election was rigged and that the coup attempt was constitutional. At the 2021 Leader’s Summit, Min Aung Hlaing illegitimately endorsed the GMS Strategic Framework 2030, which aims to promote investment and tourism that would help generate revenue for the junta, which it needs to finance its terror campaign. In 2022, Laos hosted the 25th GMS Ministerial Conference, in which the junta was also wrongly allowed to participate. In the conference, the junta illegitimately endorsed the GMS Regional Investment Framework for 2023-2025, in which the junta has proposed US$208.3 million in projects in sectors that include energy, information and communications technology, tourism and agriculture, mostly to be funded by unspecified “development partners”. The GMS program was established in 1992 under Myanmar’s previous dictatorship, and has focussed on promoting trade and the development of economic corridors and infrastructure, including in ethnic areas of Myanmar. As part of the Myanmar junta’s chairing of the GMS, the junta linked Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI) is leading the GMS Business Council, a grouping of chambers of commerce from GMS countries. The GMS Business Council is currently chaired by Zaw Min Win, a former UMFCCI president and the chair of the Myanmar Industries Alliance, which invests in the mobile operator Mytel with the military conglomerate MEC. Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung says: “It is unfathomable that the GMS program and its members are not only inviting the illegal junta to participate but are even appointing it as host of a ministerial conference. “The junta is a terrorist organisation that is committing war crimes and crimes against humanity with total impunity. The military's coup attempt is failing and the GMS program and its members are making a serious moral and strategic error in legitimising it and attempting to facilitate investment that will help it generate revenue and further fuel atrocities. “GMS members should immediately cancel the planned conference or, failing that, refuse to attend. The junta must be barred from the GMS program, which should instead recognise and support the National Unity Government, which is the legitimate government of Myanmar. “We welcome the decision of the ADB to withdraw support for the Ministerial Conference and to refuse to attend. The ADB should now reconsider its institutional support for the GMS program as long as its members continue to legitimise the illegal junta. “The involvement of UMFCCI and the junta-linked crony Zaw Min Win in the GMS Business Council is alarming and is a further sign that the junta and its cronies are using the program to promote investment that can strengthen the junta and worsen the crisis in Myanmar caused by the military’s illegal coup attempt.”..."
Source/publisher: Justice For Myanmar
2023-12-05
Date of entry/update: 2023-12-05
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Myanmar’s current political and economic environment presents major challenges for local businesses, particularly those in need of lending. Reduced GDP growth, rising inflation, and currency fluctuations have made operating a business more difficult throughout the country. Microenterprises and households that have been traditionally under-served by conventional financial institutions will today face even greater difficulty accessing the resources they need to survive or grow. At the same time, ongoing armed conflict and the lingering economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have made it harder for microfinance institutions to serve businesses and households. Throughout Myanmar, these complex and interlinked factors continue to impact borrowers and their businesses in different ways. This study aimed to better understand the experiences and challenges of borrowers and their businesses or livelihood activity by surveying 2372 Vision Fund Myanmar clients about their borrowing activity, business performance, and outlook. The study included separate analyses of farmers and non-farmers as well as borrowers in areas with varying degrees of conflict-exposure. Key findings of the study include the following: One-third of MFI clients had borrowed from multiple sources. Farmers were more likely than non-farmers to have debt from multiple sources. Forty-three percent of farmers took on multiple loans compared to 29% of non-farmers. Non-farmers were more likely than farmers to take on informal debt. Among MFI clients with multiple loans, 62% percent of non-farmers borrowed from informal lenders compared to just 40% of farmers. Informal borrowing was more common in high-conflict townships than elsewhere. Among borrowers who took on additional debt, 62% of borrowers in high-conflict townships looked to informal lenders, compared to just 50% of borrowers in other townships. Borrowers with informal debt were threetimes as likely as others to fall behind on debt payments. Although only 16% of borrowers had informal debt, these borrowers were much more likely to fall behind on payments. Borrowers in areas with more conflict-exposure were 80% more likely to fall behind on interest payments. Twenty-four percent of borrowers in high-conflict townships had pastdue principle compared to 16% of borrowers elsewhere. Borrowers in areas with more conflict-exposure were less likely to have savings. Borrowers in high-conflict townships were less likely to use mobile apps to hold savings. Eighty-percent of businesses said their business was profitable, but profits were slim. Among businesses that were profitable, 92% said profits were “small” and just 8% said profits were “large.” Non-farmers reported thinner profit margins than farmers. Many businesses still hoped to expand, and few expected to have to close their business in the near future.Just 2% of borrowers planned to discontinue or reduce the size of their business in the next two years; by contrast, half of all businesses hoped to expand their business. Borrowers in areas with more conflict-exposure were 40% less likely to expand their business. Just 31% of borrowers in high-conflict townships said they planned to expand their business in the next two years, compared to 51% of borrowers elsewhere. Three-quarters of borrowers said supply and demand were major challenges for their business. Challenges related to supply and demand were more than twice as common as challenges related to cash, credit, labor recruitment, transportation, or security. Farmers and non-farmers adapted differently to the challenges they faced. Farmers more often adapted to challenges by reducing input costs, while non-farmers more often adapted by reducing the price of their goods or services. Challenges related to security and transportation were far more common in areas with more conflict-exposure. In high-conflict townships 39-47% of borrowers with business challenges said this included security and transportation problems, compared to just 10-14% of borrowers elsewhere. The above findings point to several possible recommendations for lenders, development partners, and humanitarian organizations: Borrowers in areas with more conflict-exposure likely require additional support and services. More borrowers in areas with high conflict-exposure struggle with debt repayment and business operations. Although these businesses may be harder-to-reach, their needs are often greater. Borrowers in these areas may require more resources to achieve similar outcomes to those elsewhere. Borrowers in areas with more conflict-exposure require lending and savings solutions tailored to their unique circumstances. Conflict-affected businesses face different challenges and exhibit different business and financial behavior, suggesting the need for uniquely-tailored solutions. A one-size-fits-all approach to lending and/or aid may not have the same impact on borrowers in different areas. Alternatives to mobile-based financial solutions may be necesary. Fewer businesses in areas with more conflict-exposure used mobile platforms for saving. Although the reasons for this were unclear, it may suggest the need for a variety of savings solutions in order to service businesses and households in different settings. Non-farmers and borrowers in areas with more conflict-exposure may need more avenues to access formal lending. The prevalence of informal borrowing in high-conflict areas and among non-farmers suggests that barriers to formal lending for these groups may need special attention. Loans intended specifically for business growth may be effective if well-targeted. While businesses in the most conflict-affected areas may be unlikely to plan for expansion, many other businesses with conflict-exposure may nonetheless seek to grow and therefore benefit from such loans. In-kind support to farmers in the form of agricultural inputs may help them address the financial challenges they face. Farmers reported adapting to challenges by reducing inputs, which hurts yields in the long-run. Lending to these businesses may be most effective if paired with additional aid which targets such adaptation measures..."
Source/publisher: Myanmar Information Management Unit (Myanmar) via "Reliefweb" (New York)
2023-12-04
Date of entry/update: 2023-12-04
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "Myanmar Campaign Network (MCN), Justice For Myanmar (JFM), the Australian Coalition for Democracy in Burma (ACDB), and Global Myanmar Spring Revolution (GMSR) commend the decision by the Australian Government to deny visas to the Myanmar football club Shan United. The decision comes after a strong push from the organisations, which cited grave concerns over the club’s associations with individuals and entities connected to the Myanmar military and human rights violations. This action prompted Australia to bar Shan United's entry for their Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup match against Sydney team the Macarthur Bulls, initially slated for November 30 in Australia, leading to the match's relocation to a venue in Bangkok. MCN, JFM, ACDB, and GMSR urged Australian ministers to deny visas to Shan United players and officials, raising concerns about the club's owner, Wa Minn Group of Companies, and its sponsor, Kanbawza Group of Companies (KBZ Group). Myanmar Investment Commission data released by Distributed Denial of Secrets shows Wa Minn Group of Companies and its owner, Kun Naung Myint Wai, hold permits for two property development projects in partnership with the Myanmar military: one with Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC), a military conglomerate sanctioned by Australia, and one with the Office of the Quartermaster General of the Myanmar Army, which has been sanctioned by the US, UK, EU, and Canada. KBZ Group is a crony conglomerate that donated a total of US$4.7 million to the Myanmar military and the Union Enterprise for Humanitarian Assistance, Resettlement and Development in Rakhine State (UEHRD) during the Rohingya genocide, according to the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar. The Fact-Finding Mission recommended a criminal investigation against officials of KBZ Group as a result of the donations, stating that they made ‘a substantial and direct contribution to the commission of the crime against humanity of “other inhumane acts”’. MCN and JFM have pressed for sanctions against these companies and related individuals. Myanmar Campaign Network Campaign Manager Tasneem Roc, said, “Australia's denial of visas sends a powerful message that those implicated in human rights violations will not be granted a platform or support. Further sanctions action is needed to show support for the pro-democracy movement in Myanmar.” Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung said, “Australia’s denial of visas to Shan United is welcome but more needs to be done. Australia should urgently impose more targeted sanctions against the illegal junta’s sources of funds, arms, equipment and jet fuel, and catch up with the sanctions already imposed by its allies.” Australian Coalition for Democracy in Burma spokesperson Peter Murphy said, “While we welcome Australia’s decision to ban visas for Shan United players and officials, Football Australia and ultimately FIFA bear a crucial responsibility to uphold human rights within international football. States, entities or individuals found guilty of human rights abuses should be banned.” Global Myanmar Spring Revolution Spokesperson Mon Zin said, “This visa ban marks progress towards justice, but it stirs mixed emotions for us, the youth. We long for a Myanmar free from the junta's oppression, with opportunities for all. We imagined celebrating our soccer stars in Sydney, a moment of pride. However until the world opposes the junta's cruelty, our hopes remain unfulfilled. Let this ban resound as a call for justice, fuelling our unwavering struggle for a liberated Myanmar!”..."
Source/publisher: Justice For Myanmar
2023-12-01
Date of entry/update: 2023-12-01
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "H.E. Fumio Kishida, Prime Minister H.E. Yoko Kamikawa, Minister for Foreign Affairs H.E. Shunichi Suzuki, Minister of Finance H.E. Tetsuo Saito, Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism ‍ Statement calling on the Japanese government to stop ODA and publicly-funded projects benefiting the Myanmar military ‍ ayus:Network of Buddhists Volunteers on International Cooperation Friends of the Earth Japan Japan International Volunteer Center (JVC) Network Against Japan Arms Trade (NAJAT) Mekong Watch Progressive Voice ‍ More than two years and ten months have passed since the failed coup by the Myanmar military. The military continues to commit serious human rights abuses amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity. At least 4,192 people including pro-democracy activists and civilians have been confirmed killed by the military as of November 21, 2023. Among those protesting the attempted seizure of power by force by the military, a total of 25,425 people have been arrested. Across Myanmar, 2 million people are estimated to be internally displaced as of November 10, including 1.7 million currently displaced by clashes and insecurity since the coup. By 2020, the Japanese government provided JPY 356.518 billion in total in grant aid as well as JPY 109.94 billion in total in technical assistance to Myanmar, and promised JPY 1,378.47 billion in loan aid (figure based on loan agreements). After the failed coup, then Foreign Minister Motegi made the following statement regarding these Official Development Assistance (ODA) to Myanmar on May 21, 2021: “If the situation continues in this way, it is possible that we will be compelled to review ODA and that companies may become unable to provide investment even if they want to.” However, since then, despite the worsening human rights crisis in Myanmar, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Foreign Affairs have simply repeated that it would “comprehensively consider what measures may be effective while viewing the situation of the efforts made by Japan and the international community”. No contract has been signed on new ODA, but no official announcement has been made as to whether any review or assessment has been conducted regarding the existing ODA. A large part of ODA to Myanmar is loan aid (yen loans) for development of a special economic zone and surrounding infrastructure, construction of roads, and repairing railroads. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has stated in the Diet that 34 loan aid projects totaling JPY 739.6 billion based on figures in loan agreements are being implemented currently, making it clear that these projects have continued even after the failed coup. Besides ODA, the Japanese government provides public funds for private projects in Myanmar. Redevelopment of the Defense Services Museum Project (commonly known as the “Y Complex Project”) involves building and operating a large-scale real estate complex at the army-owned site of the former military museum in Yangon, the largest city in Myanmar. Japan Overseas Infrastructure Investment Corporation for Transport and Urban Development (JOIN), a government-funded infrastructure investment corporation under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, and Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) which is Japan’s public export credit agency, invests or lends to the Y Complex Project. Tokyo Tatemono, Fujita Corporation (a subsidiary of Daiwa House Industry), and JOIN set up a Joint Special Purpose Company (J-SPC) in Singapore. JBIC along with Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and Mizuho Bank co-financed a loan to this J-SPC, and the J-SPC in turn is co-investing in Y Complex Company Ltd., a Myanmar corporation set up jointly by the J-SPC and Yangon Technical and Trading Company Limited (YTT), a Myanmar crony company. The land lease agreement is between YTT and "Colonel Aung Min Thein (Officer No. Army 17642), Vice Quarter Master General, Office of the Quarter Master General, Commander-in-Chief (Army).” Land lease payments are to be made to "Defence Account no. MD 010424,” an account likely to be under control of the Office of the Quartermaster General. The US, UK and Canada imposed sanctions on the Office of the Quartermaster General on December 10, 2021. Further, on June 21, 2023, the US designated Myanmar's Ministry of Defence as a “Specially Designated National” subject to financial sanctions, noting that the Ministry was “responsible for the command and control of the armed forces, which has conducted decades of repressive military rule that was violently resumed following the coup in 2021.” Following are some of the issues that that the continuation of the provision of public funds and ODA could entail: First, by continuing ODA which requires bilateral agreements even though one of the parties to those agreements has ceased to exist due to the coup in February 2021, and by providing public funds to the Y Complex Project, a venture that allows funds to flow to the Office of the Quartermaster General, it appears that the Japanese government is giving implicit support to the military junta. We share the concern of Myanmar citizens regarding this point. Second, ODA projects and projects receiving public funds in fact benefit the Myanmar military. It has been made clear by the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar that in Myanmar, revenues from business operations conducted by companies owned or controlled by the military are a source of funds for the military, supporting their atrocities. The UK government has pointed out that the Office of the Quartermaster General which is involved in the Y Complex Project "plays a crucial role in procuring equipment for the Myanmar Armed Forces, including ammunition, bombs and jet fuel.” It has been revealed that the Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC), one of the military enterprises that the Fact-Finding Mission recommended to the international community not to "enter into or remain in a business relationship” with, is involved in the construction of Bago Bridge, a yen loan project. It has been pointed out that Yokogawa Bridge Corporation made payments to MEC from July to November 2022. Further, in the Thilawa Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Development Project, the Japanese government along with major trade companies and banks is investing in the Myanmar Japan Thilawa Development Ltd. (MJTD) which operates the industrial area using “Private Sector Investment Finance,” a type of ODA. Myanmar established the Thilawa SEZ Management Committee and holds 10% of MJTD. Soon after the coup, the military detained the chairperson of the Management Committee and appointed a new chairperson. Dividend payments are to be made if MJTD makes a profit, but under these circumstances, the possibility cannot be denied that such dividend payments will benefit the military. Third, in the type of ODA called “Two-Step Loans” under which ODA funds lent by the Japanese government are held and managed by financial institutions in Myanmar, there is concern that the funds may come to be managed by the military through its control over the financial institutions. Projects in question include the Housing Finance Development Project, Project for the Development of Finance for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, and the Agriculture and Rural Development Two Step Loan Project. Fourth, funds provided through yen loans are money lent at interest that Myanmar needs to repay, which will increase the debt owed by the people of Myanmar. Japan had already lent a cumulative total of USD 2761.8 million to Myanmar by 2020,but Myanmar will owe an additional JPY 739.6 billion (USD 4.93 billion as of November 10, 2023). This means that the people of Myanmar who are suffering from serious human rights abuses and atrocities by the Myanmar military will be made to bear the burden of repaying ODA for the next decades that is or may well be a source of funds for the military. As we expressed in our statement in December 2022, we believe that the Japanese government should respect the National Unity Government (NUG), Ethnic Revolutionary Organizations (EROs) and civil society organizations in Myanmar and effectively support the will of the people of Myanmar. We express deep concern that Japan may be complicit in the atrocity crimes by the military by providing ODA and public funds to the benefit of the military. We strongly demand that the Japanese government suspend all yen loan projects currently being implemented. Regarding the Y Complex Project, we strongly demand that the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism immediately withdraw the investment made by JOIN, and that the Ministry of Finance immediately cancel the loan made by JBIC. Statement has been endorsed by the following organizations: 1 Action Committee for Democracy Development (Coalition of 14 Grassroots Networks) 2 Active Youths Kalaymyo 3 Africa Japan Forum 4 Ah Nah Podcast - Conversations with Myanmar 5 All Arakan Students' & Youths' Congress – AASYC 6 All Burma Indigenous People Alliance (ABIPA) 7 Alternative People's Linkage in Asia 8 ALTSEAN-Burma 9 ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights 10 Asian Community Center 21 11 Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) 12 Asian Health Institute, AHI 13 Assistance Association for Political Prisoners 14 Association of Human Rights Defenders and Promoters 15 Association Suisse-Birmanie (ASB) 16 Associazione per l'Amicizia Italia Birmania "Giuseppe Malpeli" 17 Athan – Freedom of Expression Activist Organization 18 Burma Action Ireland 19 Burma Campaign UK 20 Burma Human Rights Network 21 Burmese Relief Center Japan 22 Burmese Women’s Union 23 CRPH & NUG Supporters Ireland 24 CRPH Funding Ireland 25 CRPH, NUG Support Team Germany-Deutschland 26 Democracy, Peace and Women’s Organization 27 Earth Tree 28 Educational Initiatives Prague 29 Equality Myanmar 30 Federation of Workers’ Union of the Burmese Citizen in Japan (FWUBC) 31 Freedom and Labor Action Group (FLAG) 32 Fukuoka NGO forum on ADB 33 Future Light Center 34 Future Thanlwin 35 General Incorporation Association WORKSPACE ASIA 36 Generation Wave 37 Grass-root People 38 HANDS(Health and Development Service) 39 Human Rights Educators Network 40 Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) 41 Human Rights Now 42 Info Birmanie 43 Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID) 44 International Association, Myanmar-Switzerland (IAMS) 45 International Karen Organisation 46 Japan Campaign to Ban Landmines (JCBL) 47 Japan Catholic Council for Justice and Peace 48 Japan Center for a Sustainable Environment and Society (JACSES) 49 Japan Overseas Christian Medical Cooperative Service 50 Japan Tropical Forest Action Network (JATAN) 51 Justice For Myanmar 52 Karen Human Rights Group 53 Karen Peace Support Network 54 Karen Swedish Community (KSC) 55 Karenni Human Rights Group 56 Karenni National Women's Organization 57 Keng Tung Youth 58 Mandalay Regional Youth Association Revolution Core Group 59 Metta Campaign 60 Myanmar Campaign Network 61 Myanmar Diaspora Group Finland 62 Myanmar International Assistance Organization 63 Myanmar News Now 64 Myanmar People Alliance (Shan State) 65 Myanmar Refugee Policy Group 66 Network for Human Rights Documentation - Burma (ND-Burma) 67 Nway Oo Guru Lay Myar 68 Padauk Finland-Myanmar Association 69 Pakokku Youth Development Council 70 Peace Boat 71 Peace Village United 72 Political Prisoners Network 73 Progressive Voice 74 Save and Care Organization for Women at Border Areas 75 Services for the Health in Asian and African Regions 76 Shan MATA 77 Southern Youth Development Organization 78 Ta'ang Legal Aid 79 Ta’ang Women’s Organization 80 Tanintharyi MATA 81 The Ladies 82 U.S. Campaign for Burma 83 Women's Democratic Club, Femin 84 Yokohama NGO Network and one other organization..."
Source/publisher: Justice For Myanmar
2023-12-01
Date of entry/update: 2023-12-01
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Size: 99.27 KB 426.78 KB 196.18 KB
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Description: "Justice For Myanmar has released a spoof Crazy Rich Asians sequel trailer, ‘Crazy Rich Asians 2: The Blood Behind the Money’, spotlighting the real Tay Za, founder of Htoo Group of Companies, and one of the richest men in Myanmar. Tay Za’s business empire funnels foreign currency and military equipment to the Myanmar military, supporting the junta’s campaign of terror against the people. The US, UK, Canada and EU have imposed sanctions on Tay Za and his companies, but Singapore continues to act as a haven for his and other military crony business dealings, undermining international efforts to resolve the crisis in Myanmar. The ‘unofficial’ movie trailer and poster circulating online include actual footage sourced from YouTube of Tay Za and his family celebrating at the lavish wedding of one of his sons. It promises the “True story of Tay Za, one of the richest men in Myanmar, and the dirty deals that pay for his beautiful life”. Featured in the trailer are Tay Za and some of his family members who have a stake in a blood-stained network of more than 60 businesses in Myanmar and Singapore. Tay Za heads Htoo Group of Companies as chair, with his brother Thi Ha as vice chair and his son Pyae Phyo Tay Za as managing director. His other two children, Htoo Htet Tay Za and Htoo Htwe Tay Za (also known as Rachel Tayza), are directors and shareholders of numerous Htoo subsidiaries and associated companies, while his wife Thida Zaw is involved in Htoo’s business in Singapore. This ‘Crazy Rich Asians 2: The Blood Behind the Money’ trailer is the latest addition to the campaign calling on the Singapore government to block the junta’s access to funds, arms, equipment and jet fuel. Other spoof actions include ‘Dirty Over 30’, a parody of the Forbes 30 Under 30 list, profiling Tay Za and eight other businesspeople who’ve amassed sizable fortunes funding brutality, mass-murder and war crimes in Myanmar, yet continue to freely do business in Singapore. The public campaign is mounting pressure on Singapore, which is currently the third-largest supplier of arms and equipment to the Myanmar military, to stop all arms trading to the military from its jurisdiction. In October, 430 civil society organisations sent an open letter to the Singapore government, and more than 29,000 people have signed a petition initiated by the Blood Money Campaign. The #DoMoreSingapore and #NoMoreDirtyDeals online movement is continuing amidst substantial gains being made on the ground against the Myanmar military across the country..."
Source/publisher: Justice For Myanmar
2023-11-30
Date of entry/update: 2023-11-30
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Format : pdf pdf
Size: 116.51 KB 109.93 KB
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Description: "29 November 2023: The Special Advisory Council for Myanmar (SAC-M) congratulates the Australian Government for its decision to deny entry visas to the players and officials of Shan United football team, owned by Kun Naung Myint Wai – a crony with deep ties to the illegal Myanmar military junta. Kun Naung Myint Wai is also the chairman of Wa Minn Corporation, which has business links with the Myanmar military’s “ministry of defence.” Kun Naung Myint Wai has alleged connections with Myanmar military-controlled conglomerate, Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC), which generates vast revenues for the Myanmar military that it uses to fund grave human rights violations against civilians. In February, Australia imposed financial sanctions on MEC. The decision to bar entry to Shan United football club, which came ahead of its scheduled football match against Sydney-based Macarthur FC in Australia, is a modest but welcome step by the Australian Government to hold accountable those who benefit from their association with Myanmar’s criminal military. SAC-M urges the Australian Government to build on this positive step by taking more meaningful action to hold the Myanmar military accountable. Australia must now follow like-minded democracies, including the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and the European Union, by imposing further targeted financial sanctions on the Myanmar military, its generals, affiliated entities and cronies..."
Source/publisher: Special Advisory Council for Myanmar
2023-11-29
Date of entry/update: 2023-11-29
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "REDRESS, Justice For Myanmar and the Australian Centre for International Justice have submitted a dossier of evidence to the Governor of the British Virgin Islands and the UK’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation, requesting that they open investigations into the formerly British Virgin Islands-incorporated entity Cornerstone Resources (Myanmar) Limited alleged violations of UK sanctions. The dossier contains research and evidence from Justice For Myanmar into Cornerstone Resources (Myanmar) Limited’s business, including leaked financial statements that show transactions with the military conglomerate, Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC). The transactions, which consist of the sale of zinc to MEC and the purchase of coal from MEC, total 1,971,236,483 Myanmar kyat (more than £770,000 or AU$1.33m) between October 2021 and August 2022, and follow the UK’s sanctioning of MEC on April 1, 2021, under the UK’s Global Human Rights Sanctions Regulations 2020, which are in force in the British Virgin Islands. The dossier urges that, should penalties be imposed through enforcement action, the funds are re-directed to victims as reparations for the abuses they suffered from the Myanmar military. Such financial compensation could serve to provide interim relief to victims, allowing them to rebuild their lives and gain access to healthcare and other social services. Cornerstone Resources (Myanmar) Limited’s main business is zinc mining and processing in Myanmar’s Shan State. It began operating in Myanmar in 1999, under the previous military junta, and has a production sharing contract with Mining Enterprise No. 1 (ME 1), a state-owned enterprise that is illegally under junta control. ME 1 has not been sanctioned by the UK or Australia, despite calls in Australia and the UK for sanctions. The company’s Myanmar business was owned by its British Virgin Islands’ parent company until it was struck off its Register of Companies in November 2022. Due to restrictions on accessing information on this and Myanmar corporate registries, it has not been possible to confirm the identity of the current directors and shareholders of Cornerstone Resources (Myanmar). The company has had an Australian director, Australian shareholders and used an Australian address for its business. Rupert Skilbeck, Director of REDRESS, said: "The UK’s enforcement agencies can impose significant financial penalties for violations of UK sanctions, which could be used to provide reparations to victims of the crimes sanctions seek to prevent. Yet, to date, the UK has been extremely slow at enforcing sanctions and any fines imposed have been directed to the Treasury for other uses. “It is crucial that the UK government rigorously enforces its sanctions, both in the UK and in its overseas territories, to ensure they effectively deter serious human rights violations, and are used to make funds available to victims." Yadanar Maung, Justice for Myanmar’s spokesperson, said: “Cornerstone Resources’ substantial business with Myanmar Economic Corporation, in apparent breach of UK sanctions, supports a corrupt conglomerate that enriches a murderous military and its war criminal leadership. Cornerstone’s ongoing business in Myanmar have been enabled by Australia’s failure to sanction mining enterprises that are illegally controlled by the junta, and which help finance its ongoing atrocities against the people. Australia needs to stop making excuses and sanction the junta’s sources of funds and arms, including state-owned enterprises. “The UK should urgently sanction junta-controlled mining enterprises to prevent companies registered in the UK and its overseas territories from financing the junta’s international crimes.” Melissa Chen, Senior Lawyer, Australian Centre for International Justice, said: "The imposition of sanctions against individuals and entities who support Myanmar’s illegal military junta is only one step towards accountability. “To have real impact, these sanctions must be effectively enforced in order to cut off the junta’s financing and deter those responsible for the devastating human rights violations and atrocity crimes that continue to be perpetrated in Myanmar.”..."
Source/publisher: Justice For Myanmar
2023-11-20
Date of entry/update: 2023-11-20
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Format : pdf
Size: 179.59 KB
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Description: "Justice For Myanmar welcomes the latest round of targeted sanctions imposed against the illegal Myanmar military junta, its cronies and arms brokers, coordinated between Canada, the UK and USA. The sanctions, announced on October 31, 2023, were significant in targeting the junta’s sources of funds, arms, equipment, and jet fuel, but more sanctions and better coordination are needed to disrupt the junta’s ability to continue its campaign of terror against the people of Myanmar. Priorities include full sanctions on Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), sanctions on junta-controlled mining enterprises, a ban on the sale of jet fuel to Myanmar, action against banks that the junta uses to channel funds and purchase arms, and coordinated sanctions against whole networks of junta cronies and arms dealers. Details of sanctions targets are on the Justice For Myanmar website. We remain dismayed at the lack of action by Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore and South Korea to impose sanctions in response to the military’s coup attempt and ongoing war crimes and crimes against humanity, and urge these countries to act now. Many of the latest sanctions targets maintain business links to Singapore. We call on the Singaporean government to do more to block the junta’s access to funds, arms, equipment and jet fuel. Since the military’s illegal coup attempt, more than 4,100 people have been killed by the junta and over 25,000 arrested. In the face of mass, nationwide resistance to its coup attempt by the people of Myanmar, the junta has intensified indiscriminate aerial attacks, shelling, mass arbitrary arrests, torture, rape, the destruction of whole communities and forced displacement. International action needs to be ramped up urgently to stop the junta’s atrocities and support the Myanmar people’s struggle for federal democracy. Sanctions imposed this week that target the junta’s sources of funds, arms, equipment and jet fuel, along with previous designations that remain in force, include: Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE): A state-owned enterprise illegally controlled by the junta and targeted by the USA for the first time with a directive against the direct and indirect provision of financial services, which will go into force on December 15. This follows a sustained campaign by Myanmar people, civil society and allies. The financial services directive is an important step to disrupt the flow of funds to the junta but falls short of full sanctions that would freeze MOGE’s assets and block all trade with the junta-controlled state-owned enterprise. MOGE was previously sanctioned by the EU. Mining Enterprise No. 1 (ME1) and Mining Enterprise No. 2 (ME2): State-owned enterprises illegally controlled by the junta and sanctioned by Canada. ME1 and ME2 monopolise the mining sector, receive a share of revenue from private mining companies, and funnel large amounts of revenue to the junta. ME1 and ME2 were previously sanctioned by the USA and EU. International Group of Entrepreneur Services Company Limited (IGE): A crony company sanctioned by the UK for its business with the Myanmar military, which is a subsidiary of International Group of Entrepreneur Company Limited. IGE Group is a crony conglomerate led by Ne Aung, the son of former junta minister Aung Thaung and brother of junta navy chief Moe Aung. IGE has deep business links with the military, including through the Lotte Hotel, developed on land leased from the Office of the Quartermaster General of the Myanmar Army, as reported by Justice For Myanmar. IGE Group has at least three companies that remain registered in Singapore: IGE Pte Ltd, UNOG Pte Ltd and IPL Pte Ltd. International Group of Entrepreneur Company Limited was previously sanctioned by the EU. Shwe Byain Phyu Group and Thein Win Zaw: Shwe Byain Phyu Group is a crony conglomerate founded by Thein Win Zaw, who is the group’s chairperson. Both were sanctioned by Canada. Shwe Byain Phyu bought Telenor Myanmar, renamed ATOM Myanmar, providing the junta with enhanced surveillance capabilities and access to personal data. Justice For Myanmar has exposed the business interests of Shwe Byain Phyu Group and Thein Win Zaw. Shwe Byain Phyu has a company in Singapore, Investcom Pte Ltd, which remains registered. Shwe Byain Phyu Group and Thein Win Zaw have been sanctioned for the first time. Star Sapphire Group of Companies, Star Sapphire Trading Company Limited, Tun Min Latt and Win Min Soe: All sanctioned by Canada, the group has multiple businesses that generate funds for the Myanmar military, including a casino, a hotel and mining. Star Sapphire Group of Companies and its subsidiary, Star Sapphire Trading, has been a key supplier of arms and equipment to the Myanmar military from Israel and China in particular. The group is owned by Tun Min Latt and Win Min Soe, who are a married couple and are close associates of junta head Min Aung Hlaing and his children. Tun Min Latt is in custody in Thailand on drug trafficking and money laundering charges. Star Sapphire Group’s business with the Myanmar military and links with Min Aung Hlaing’s family have been exposed by Justice For Myanmar. Star Sapphire group has a company in Singapore, Star Sapphire Group Pte Ltd, which remains registered. Star Sapphire Group of Companies and Tun Min Latt were previously sanctioned by the UK and USA. The USA also previously sanctioned Star Sapphire Trading Company Limited and Win Min Soe. Cargo Link Petroleum Logistics Company Limited and Khin Phyu Win: Cargo Link Petroleum Logistics (formerly Cargo Link Pongrawe Logistics Company Limited), sanctioned by Canada, is part of the Shoon group of companies (formerly Asia Sun). Shoon group is the junta’s main partner in the import, storage and distribution of jet fuel. The group is led by Khin Phyu Win, also sanctioned by Canada. Cargo Link Petroleum Logistics is the junta’s main transporter of jet fuel to military bases and airports across Myanmar. The role of Cargo Link Petroleum Logistics and Khin Phyu Win in supply jet fuel to the Myanmar military has been exposed by Amnesty International and Justice For Myanmar. Shoon group has three companies that remain registered in Singapore: Shoon Energy Pte Ltd, P.E.I. Energy Pte Ltd and PEIA Pte Ltd. Cargo Link Petroleum Logistics was previously sanctioned by the US, and its parent company, Cargo Link Company Limited, was previously sanctioned by the UK. Khin Phyu Win was previously sanctioned by the USA and UK. Canada continues to lead in measures to stop the junta’s access to jet fuel, which it needs to continue to carry out indiscriminate airstrikes. On October 31, Canada expanded its ban on the sale of jet fuel to include a prohibition on shipping insurance for the transport of jet fuel to Myanmar. Sky Aviator Company Limited, Heli Eagle Company Limited, Sky Royal Hero Limited, Kyaw Min Oo and Myo Min Oo: Major suppliers of aviation equipment to the Myanmar military and all sanctioned by Canada, Sky Aviator is owned by Kyaw Min Oo and the linked company, Heli Eagle, is owned by Myo Min Oo, who is his brother, according to Justice For Myanmar sources. Kyaw Min Oo was also sanctioned by the UK. Since the illegal coup attempt, Sky Aviator has procured equipment from Russia and Ukraine, including YAK-130 support equipment, engines and parts. The Yak-130 is increasingly deployed by the military within populated areas, including in the catastrophic indiscriminate bombing of Pazigyi village, Kantabulu township, Sagaing Region, killing at least 168 people, including children, in the deadliest airstrike since the military’s attempted coup. Sky Aviator’s business with the Myanmar military has been exposed by Justice For Myanmar and the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar. Heli Eagle and Sky Royal Hero have supplied equipment to the Myanmar military following the coup attempt, according to the UN Special Rapporteur on Myanmar. Sky Aviator and Heli Eagle are both registered suppliers of the Myanmar military’s Directorate of Procurement and share phone numbers and an email address. According to the UN Special Rapporteur, Sky Royal Hero has a trading relationship with Sky Aviator. Sky Aviator was previously sanctioned by the EU, UK and USA. Kyaw Min Oo was previously sanctioned by the USA and EU. Heli Eagle, Sky Royal Hero and Myo Min Oo have been sanctioned for the first time. Myanmar New Era Trading Company Limited and Naing Htut Aung: Myanmar New Era Trading is a significant supplier of aircraft parts for the Myanmar military from Russia that was sanctioned by Canada. Import data confirms the company’s procurement for the military of parts for Mi-17 (Mi-8M) helicopters from Russia between 2017 and 2020. The Mi- 17 helicopter is frequently used by the junta in its commission of war crimes, including in the 16 September 2022 attack on Let Yet Kone village when the junta indiscriminately bombed a school and a monastery. Myanmar New Era Trading Company Limited is part of the network of International Gateways Group, a major arms broker led by Naing Htut Aung, who was also sanctioned by Canada. Myanmar New Era Trading and the International Gateways Group network has been exposed by Justice For Myanmar and the UN Special Rapporteur on Myanmar. There are at least two companies in Naing Htut Aung’s network that remain registered in Singapore: Global Polytech Resources Pte Ltd and Xinshidai Company Pte. Ltd. Myanmar New Era Trading was previously sanctioned by the UK. Naing Htut Aung was previously sanctioned by the USA and EU. Miya Win International: A private arms broker and sanctioned by Canada, Miya Win International has procured unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and parts from Austria’s Schiebel Corporation, including after the military’s coup attempt. In addition, Miya Win International has played a key role in the military’s deal with the Austrian company Diamond Aircraft Industries, a Chinese-owned company with a facility in Canada, to set up local assembly and production of DART-450 aerial reconnaissance aircraft in Myanmar. Evidence of Miya Win International’s business with Schiebel Corporation and Diamond Aircraft Industries has been exposed by Justice For Myanmar has been exposed by Justice For Myanmar. Miya Win International was previously sanctioned by the UK. Creative Exploration Limited: An arms broker sanctioned by Canada that has imported fuses from India to the Myanmar military, including since the attempted coup, which has been exposed by Justice For Myanmar. Creative Exploration was formerly known as My Space or mySpace. The company has also imported digital forensics technology from the USA. Creative Exploration Limited has been sanctioned for the first time. ‍ Life and Challenge Company Limited: A supplier of technology, equipment and training to the Myanmar military and its police that was sanctioned by Canada. In 2018, Life and Challenge was awarded a contract to design and deliver a radar capability development program for the Myanmar military. Life and Challenge’s business with the military has been exposed by Justice For Myanmar. Life and Challenge has a company in Singapore, LANC Pte Ltd, which remains registered. Life and Challenge has been sanctioned for the first time. Synpex Shwe Company Limited: An arms broker sanctioned by Canada, the company has procured material from Russia for the Myanmar Air Force following the military’s coup attempt, and is also a supplier of raw materials for the military’s domestic arms manufacturing industry. Synpex Shwe’s involvement in the supply of arms to the Myanmar military has been exposed by Justice For Myanmar and the UN Special Rapporteur on Myanmar. Synpex Shwe has a company in Singapore, Synergy Tripexin Pte Lte, which remains registered. Synpex Shwe was previously sanctioned by the UK. Suntac Group of Companies, Suntac Technologies Company Limited, Suntac International Trading Company Limited and Sit Taing Aung: Suntac Group of Companies was sanctioned by Canada, while Suntac Technologies Company Limited and Suntac International Trading Company Limited were sanctioned by the USA for supplying equipment to the Myanmar military. Suntac Group of Companies is owned by Sit Taing Aung, who was also sanctioned by the UK. Sit Taing Aung is Mexico’s Honorary Consul to Myanmar. Sit Taing Aung and Suntac’s involvement in the procurement of aircraft parts has been exposed by Justice For Myanmar and the UN Special Rapporteur on Myanmar, and Suntac’s involvement in the military’s arms manufacturing industry has been exposed by the Special Advisory Council for Myanmar. Sit Taing Aung was previously sanctioned by the USA, Canada and EU. Mottama Holdings Limited and Min Dhama Steel Structures Limited: Mottama Holdings is a crony conglomerate and, together with its subsidiary, Min Dhama Steel Structures, was sanctioned by Canada. The companies supply the Myanmar military’s domestic arms industry with raw materials and machinery, as exposed by the Special Advisory Council for Myanmar and the UN Special Rapporteur on Myanmar. Evidence received by Justice For Myanmar reveals the involvement of Min Dhama Steel Structures in importing steel for the construction of the so-called Honorary Hall of the Residence of the State Administration Council. Mottama Holdings and Min Dhama Steel Structures have been sanctioned for the first time. Bhone Min Myat Company Limited and Ever Meter Company Limited: The two companies sanctioned by Canada are used by the military conglomerate Myanma Economic Holdings Limited (MEHL) to evade international sanctions, according to reporting by Myanmar Now. Bhone Min Myat was established after the military’s coup attempt, reportedly as a front for the MEHL subsidiary, Myawaddy Trading, and has been used to import fuel and palm oil. Ever Meter Company Limited, part of Same Sky Group of Companies, is an MEHL partner that it has used as a front for payments, according to the UN Special Rapporteur on Myanmar. Ever Meter has been a long-time supplier of electricity meters for MEHL. Bhone Min Myat and Ever Meter have been sanctioned for the first time. Pye Phyo Tay Za and Htoo Htet Tay Za: The two sons of Tay Za were sanctioned by the UK for their involvement in Htoo Group of Companies, which has multiple businesses with the Myanmar military and its conglomerates. Htoo Htet Tay Za was also sanctioned by Canada, which had previously sanctioned Pye Phyo Tay Za. Htoo Group’s business with the Myanmar military and the role of Pye Phyo Tay Za and Htoo Htet Tay Za have been detailed by Justice For Myanmar. The two brothers were also previously sanctioned by the USA. Myo Thitsar: A director of the Myanmar military arms broker, Dynasty International Company Limited, who has been sanctioned by the UK. Dynasty International is a major arms broker of the Myanmar military from Belarus in particular. Among other dirty deals, the company has imported spare parts for Mi-17 helicopters. The company is led by Aung Moe Myint, who is the Honorary Consul of Belarus to Myanmar. Dynasty International’s business with the Myanmar military has been exposed by Justice For Myanmar. Dynasty International has a company in Singapore, Dynasty Excellency Pte Ltd, which remains registered. Myo Thitsar was previously sanctioned by the USA and Canada..."
Source/publisher: Justice For Myanmar
2023-11-03
Date of entry/update: 2023-11-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Sub-title: Stronger Enforcement Needed to Stem Funding of Abusive Military
Description: "The United States government has imposed a ban on financial transactions involving the Myanmar state-owned oil company, the Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), in a long overdue move aimed at stanching the junta’s atrocities. MOGE’s natural gas projects generate over US$1 billion annually for the Myanmar junta, its single largest source of foreign revenue. Since the February 2021 coup, that flow of funding has underwritten crimes against humanity and war crimes carried out by the junta across the country. Unlike other junta-controlled entities that the US has sanctioned since the coup, MOGE wasn’t added to the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list, which blocks trade, assets, and access to the US banking system. Instead, the US Treasury Department issued a directive prohibiting persons and companies under the jurisdiction of the US from directly or indirectly providing financial services to MOGE, including deposits, transfers, loans, insurance, investments, foreign exchange, and other services. The ban goes into effect on December 15. “Through the issuance of a financial services directive against MOGE, the United States seeks to disrupt the regime’s access to the US financial system and curtail its ability to perpetrate atrocities,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in an October 31 statement. This sanctions action belatedly follows the European Union’s sanctioning of MOGE in February 2022, which led the Bank of China to advise operators of the Shwe gas field in the Bay of Bengal that it would no longer handle payments in euros to MOGE, reportedly moving the funds to escrow accounts. Chevron, MOGE’s only US partner, announced in February it was selling its 41.1 percent stake in the country’s Yadana gas project to the Canadian firm MTI Energy. Lax enforcement of the existing sanctions regime has sustained the junta’s flow of weapons and funds, enabling its escalating brutality against Myanmar’s civilian population. Airstrikes in some regions have increased more than 300 percent in the past year. The US also announced additional sanctions on five individuals and three entities involved in the junta’s abuses, in coordination with Canada and the United Kingdom, a positive step. Broad coordination and rigorous enforcement of sanctions are crucial for raising economic costs that the junta can’t ignore..."
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Source/publisher: Human Rights Watch (USA)
2023-11-01
Date of entry/update: 2023-11-01
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "In a coordinated action yesterday, the United States, UK, and Canada each announced an array of new Myanmar sanctions. The sanctions include restrictions by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on transactions with the state-owned Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), as well as designations on entities and individuals connected to Myanmar’s military junta. Oliver Windridge, Director of Illicit Finance Policy at The Sentry, said: “We welcome the adoption by the US Treasury Department of additional sanctions that restrict the Myanmar military's access to funds and equipment it uses to conduct a brutal war against its people. The MOGE Financial Services Directive is especially significant as it will hinder substantial flows of foreign exchange earnings from reaching the military's coffers. Coordinated sanctions on networks of arms dealers that enable the military's war effort are also a positive development. We call on the US to continue its efforts in coordination with like-minded partners to use financial tools of pressure to weaken the military and ensure that the Myanmar people prevail." Yadanar Maung, Justice For Myanmar spokesperson, said: "The US Financial Services directive against MOGE is a welcome step to disrupt the single biggest source of foreign revenue to the junta. This comes after a sustained campaign from Myanmar people and allies for action against MOGE. The US should continue to target the junta’s sources of funds through full sanctions on MOGE that would freeze its assets and block all trade with it, including from the international oilfield service companies that are supporting the maintenance and expansion of gas fields which finance atrocities. Moreover, it is positive to see increased coordination between Canada, the UK and US targeting the junta, its cronies and arms brokers. As the junta continues to wage a campaign of terror against the people of Myanmar, it is crucial that governments ratchet up sanctions to block the junta’s access to funds, arms, and jet fuel.” For media inquiries or interview requests for The Sentry, please contact: Greg Hittelman, Director of Communications, [email protected] For media inquiries for Justice For Myanmar, please contact: Yadanar Maung, Spokesperson, [email protected] About Justice For Myanmar Justice For Myanmar is a covert group of activists using research, data visualisation, and reporting to expose and dismantle the business networks that fuel brutality, corruption and mass-scale suffering. ‍‍One report at a time, Justice For Myanmar is going after the military’s sources of funds and arms. As a result of its work and the work of many others across Myanmar and the world, multinational corporations have already divested hundreds of millions of dollars from business with the military, and targeted sanctions are beginning to disrupt the Myanmar military cartel’s global network. About The Sentry (Short descriptor for press use: “The Sentry, an investigative organization that tracks corruption”) The Sentry is an investigative and policy organization that seeks to disable multinational predatory networks that benefit from violent conflict, repression, and kleptocracy. Pull back the curtain on wars, mass atrocities, and other human rights abuses, and you’ll find grand corruption and unchecked greed. These tragedies persist because the perpetrators rarely face meaningful consequences. The Sentry aims to alter the warped incentive structures that continually undermine peace and good governance. Our investigations follow the money as it is laundered from war zones to financial centers around the world. We provide evidence and strategies for governments, banks, and law enforcement to hold the perpetrators and enablers of violence and corruption to account. These efforts provide new leverage for human rights, peace, and anti-corruption efforts..."
Source/publisher: Justice For Myanmar
2023-11-01
Date of entry/update: 2023-11-01
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "News release October 31, 2023 - Ottawa, Canada - Global Affairs Canada The Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today announced that Canada, in coordination with the United Kingdom and the United States, is imposing sanctions against 39 individuals and 22 entities under the Special Economic Measures (Burma) Regulations in response to the February 1, 2021, military coup d’état that saw Myanmar’s democratically elected government overthrown by a military regime. These additional measures come as part of a broader strategy seeking to exert coordinated, sequenced and targeted pressure on the Myanmar military regime while mitigating adverse impacts on civilians. Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States unequivocally condemn the military coup d’état against the democratically elected government of Myanmar and support the aspirations of the Myanmar people to a peaceful, inclusive and democratic future. Today’s announcement builds on previous sanctions and diplomatic efforts to end the sale and transfer of arms to the military regime. It comes in response to the regime’s ongoing and worsening aerial attacks, including against civilians and civilian infrastructure, as well as mass arson, the razing of villages, arbitrary detentions, executions, torture, mutilations, and mass killings of civilians, all of which have deepened the interlinked humanitarian, political and economic crises in Myanmar. The collective actions taken by Canada and its allies aim to maximize concerted pressure on the regime to reverse course and limit its access to key resources and revenue to fuel its violence. The sanctioned individuals and entities have been identified as performing key functions on behalf of the military regime, supplying weapons, resources and revenue, and those that are responsible for democratic reversals. Canada is also expanding its prohibition on the sale of aviation fuel to include a ban on the provision of shipping insurance for the transportation of aviation fuel to Myanmar. Canada remains committed to ending impunity and to holding the Myanmar regime accountable for serious violations of international law, including against the Rohingya people. Canada reiterates its support for the people of Myanmar and their aspirations to an inclusive and democratic society and continues to call for the immediate end of violence, the release of detainees and immediate and unrestricted humanitarian access to the region. Collectively, the international community must continue to employ all diplomatic tools at its disposal to address the worsening situation in Myanmar, as well as its regional implications..."
Source/publisher: Government of Canada
2023-10-31
Date of entry/update: 2023-10-31
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "U.S. Takes Coordinated Action with Canada and the United Kingdom WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) published a new directive that prohibits certain financial services by U.S. persons to or for the benefit of Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE). This sanctions action against MOGE seeks to degrade the regime’s ability to purchase weapons to carry out atrocities against the people of Burma. Additionally, OFAC designated three entities and five individuals connected to Burma’s military regime pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 14014. These actions are occurring in alignment with designations by both the United Kingdom and Canada. Since the military coup in 2021, Burma’s military regime has repeatedly harmed civilians in air strikes, suppressed pro-democracy movements, destroyed homes and infrastructure, and displaced millions of people, among other appalling acts. The sanctions announced today target companies and individuals, including government officials and military cronies, who perpetuate or facilitate the brutal violence in Burma. The military regime officials and supporters that Treasury is designating today have also been, designated by at least the United Kingdom, Canada, or the European Union. These actions are a part of the ongoing, unified strategy of the United States and our partners to combat the Burma military regime’s atrocities. “Today’s action, taken in coordination with Canada and the United Kingdom, maintains our collective pressure on Burma’s military and denies the regime access to arms and supplies necessary to commit its violent acts,” said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson. “Collectively, we remain committed to degrading the regime’s evasion tactics and continuing to hold the regime accountable for its violence.” FINANCIAL SERVICES DIRECTIVE Today, OFAC is issuing Directive 1 under E.O. 14014, “Prohibitions Related to Financial Services to or for the Benefit of Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise” (the “MOGE Financial Services Directive”), which prohibits U.S. persons from the provision, exportation, or re-exportation, directly or indirectly, of financial services to or for the benefit of MOGE or its property or interests in property. These prohibitions will take effect on December 15, 2023. MOGE is a Burmese state-owned enterprise involved in the extraction, production, and distribution of oil and gas in Burma and administers large offshore oil and gas fields through lucrative joint ventures with foreign entities. MOGE was previously designated by the European Union on February 21, 2022, and remains the largest single source of foreign revenue for Burma’s military regime, providing hundreds of millions of dollars each year. OFAC’s action today builds on previous designation actions against MOGE leadership and seeks to further restrict the regime’s access to U.S. dollars, which it uses to procure weapons and other equipment from abroad. This action will limit the regime’s ability to carry out violent attacks against its own citizens. For more information about the MOGE Financial Services Directive, click here. SUPPORTERS OF BURMA’S MILITARY REGIME Today’s action targets three entities who have assisted the military regime in its continued importation of arms, dual-use goods, and other materials, including from sanctioned entities in Russia and other countries. Since the coup, the total value of imports by the Burmese military is estimated to exceed $1 billion. These imports have facilitated the military regime’s ongoing brutality against on the people of Burma. OFAC’s actions today further align our measures with partners and allies to disrupt the regime’s military supply chain, complicate its ability to maintain and repair its weapons, and reduce the regime’s access to imported arms and materiel. Sky Royal Hero Company Limited is a Burmese entity which contracted repair work from sanctioned Russian entities and has a known relationship with the Burmese defense procurement company, Sky Aviator Company Limited. Sky Aviator Company Limited was designated by OFAC on November 8, 2022 for operating in the defense sector of the Burmese economy. Sky Royal Hero Company Limited is being designated pursuant to E.O. 14014 for operating in the defense sector of the Burmese economy. Suntac Technologies Company Limited and Suntac International Trading Company Limited are both part of Sit Taing Aung’s Suntac Group of Companies. Sit Taing Aung, who has close ties to the Burmese military, uses his companies to supply equipment and material to the army, and was designated by OFAC on March 25, 2022, for operating in the defense sector of the Burmese economy. Suntac Technologies Company Limited and Suntac International Trading Company Limitedare being designated pursuant to E.O. 14014 for being owned or controlled by, or acting for or purporting to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, Sit Taing Aung. Sky Royal Hero Company Limited, Suntac Technologies Company Limited and Suntac International Trading Company Limited are also concurrently being designated by Canada today. BURMA REGIME OFFICIALS Following the February 2021 coup, the Burma military regime appointed new officials and officers throughout the government. In their roles, these individuals and others constitute part of the military regime that seized power and overthrew democratically elected leaders in Burma. Today’s action targets five such military regime appointed officials and officers. Charlie Than was appointed as the Union Minister of the Ministry of Industry in May 2021. Kan Zaw has been the Union Minister of the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Economic Relations since August 2022. Swe Swe Aung was appointed as the Director General of the Prosecution of Department, Ministry of Legal affairs on March 31, 2022. Zaw Min was appointed as the Director General of the Prison Department, Ministry of Home affairs on February 4, 2021. Under his leadership, detainees in Burma’s prisons have been subject to torture, beating, and other inhumane treatment. All four of these individuals were appointed directly by Min Aung Hlaing’s State Administration Council and have been sanctioned by the European Union. Charlie Than, Kan Zaw, Swe Swe Aung, and Zaw Min are being designated pursuant to E.O. 14014 for being leaders or officials of the Government of Burma on or after February 2, 2021. Additionally, Maung Maung Aye has been the Chief of General Staff for the Burmese Army, Navy, and Air Force since February 2021. In this role, he holds the third most senior position in the Burmese military. Maung Maung Aye is being sanctioned by Canada today and has been sanctioned by the European Union. Maung Maung Aye is being designated pursuant to E.O. 14014 for being a leader or official of the military or security forces of Burma, or successor entity to any of the foregoing. SANCTIONS IMPLICATIONS As a result of today’s designations pursuant to E.O. 14014, all property and interests in property of the three entities and five individuals named above that are in the United States, or in the possession or control of U.S. persons, are blocked and must be reported to OFAC. In addition, any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked. Separately, on or after December 15, U.S. persons are prohibited from providing, exporting, or reexporting, directly or indirectly, financial services to or for the benefit of MOGE or its property or interests in property. Unless authorized by a general or specific license issued by OFAC, or otherwise exempt, OFAC’s regulations generally prohibit all transactions by U.S. persons or within (or transiting) the United States that involve any property or interests in property of designated or otherwise blocked persons. The prohibitions include the making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of any blocked person or the receipt of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services from any such person. The power and integrity of OFAC sanctions derive not only from OFAC’s ability to designate and add persons to the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) List but also from its willingness to remove persons from the SDN List consistent with the law. The ultimate goal of sanctions is not to punish but to bring about a positive change in behavior..."
Source/publisher: U.S. Department of the Treasury
2023-10-31
Date of entry/update: 2023-10-31
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Sub-title: The UK, US and Canada have coordinated new sanctions on Myanmar military financiers and arms dealers.
Description: "UK, US and Canada announce further round of sanctions to maximise pressure on the Myanmar military regime sanctions target arms dealers responsible for the supply of restricted goods to the security forces, as well as financiers of the military UK reiterates calls for accountability and a return to democracy and freedom in Myanmar The UK, US and Canada are today (31 October) announcing further sanctions on arms dealers and financiers of the Myanmar military responsible for the repression of the civilian population in Myanmar. The latest round of UK sanctions are against 5 individuals and one entity involved either in providing financial services to the regime or the supply of restricted goods including aircraft parts. Today’s sanctions package comes as part of the UK’s concerted efforts with international partners to restrict the sale and transfer of arms and finance in response to ongoing and worsening aerial attacks, including against civilians in Myanmar. In 2022, alone there were over 600 reported airstrikes perpetrated by the Myanmar military. Since the coup in February 2021, at least 3,857 have been killed by the military, and at least 1.2 million have had to flee their homes due to violence, according to the United Nations Human Rights Office. The announcement follows a report from UN Special Rapporteur Tom Andrews, which called for further coordinated sanctions to prevent arms dealers bypassing restrictions. Minister for the Indo-Pacific, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, said: The UK unequivocally condemns the regime’s brutal campaign against the Myanmar people. Together with our international partners, we are closing the net on Myanmar arms dealers and the Myanmar military’s financiers with new sanctions that will aim to limit their access to key resources and revenue to prevent further such attacks. The UK will continue to call for accountability, justice and an end to the violence. We remain steadfast in our support for the Myanmar people and their aspirations for a peaceful and democratic future. On 1 February 2021, the Myanmar military overthrew the democratically elected government, led by Aung San Suu Kyi, and installed a military regime. Since then, they have used violence and atrocities to maintain power and suppress any opposition voices. The UK, US and Canada have taken coordinated and targeted action to hold the military regime to account for their brutal suppression of opposition voices. The sanctions designations announced today will maximise concerted pressure on the Myanmar military regime to engage with calls for a return to democracy and aim to limit regime access to key resources while minimising consequences for the civilian population. Since the coup, the UK has designated 25 individuals and 29 entities under the Myanmar Sanctions Regime and designated the military’s 2 key conglomerates and their 111 subsidiaries under the Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime. The UK continues to lead international efforts to undermine the regime’s credibility and constrain their access to revenue and arms. Background Those sanctioned today are: Myo Thitsar: has been involved in the repression of the civilian population in Myanmar through the supply to Myanmar of restricted goods. Namely, through her role as having been Head of Department, Procurement & Supply of Dynasty International Htoo Htet Tay Za: has been involved in the repression of the civilian population in Myanmar through the supply to Myanmar of restricted goods and/or restricted technology, and/or of material related to such goods or technology, and through making available funds or economic resources to the Myanmar security forces. Namely, through his role as having been a director of Htoo Group of Companies Pye Phyo Tay Za: has been involved in the repression of the civilian population in Myanmar through the supply to Myanmar of restricted goods and/or restricted technology, and/or of material related to such goods or technology, and through making available funds or other economic resources to the Myanmar security forces. Namely, through his role in Myanmar Avia Services, Yangon Aircraft Engineering Company Limited and Htoo Group of Companies Kyaw Min Oo: has been involved in the repression of the civilian population in Myanmar through the supply to Myanmar of restricted goods and/or restricted technology, and/or of material related to such goods or technology. Namely, through his role as director of Sky Aviator Company Limited Sit Taing Aung: has been involved in the repression of the civilian population in Myanmar through the supply to Myanmar of restricted goods and/or restricted technology, and/or of material related to such goods or technology. Namely, through his role as having been director of Yatanarpon Aviation Services and work with Mottama Holdings International Group of Entrepreneur Services Company Limited (IGE): has been involved in the repression of the civilian population in Myanmar through making available funds or other economic resources to the Myanmar security forces Asset freeze An asset freeze prevents any UK citizen, or any business in the UK, from dealing with any funds or economic resources which are owned, held or controlled by the designated person. It also prevents funds or economic resources being provided to or for the benefit of the designated person. UK financial sanctions apply to all persons within the territory and territorial sea of the UK and to all UK persons, wherever they are in the world. Travel ban A travel ban means that the designated person must be refused leave to enter or to remain in the United Kingdom, providing the individual is an excluded person under section 8B of the Immigration Act 1971..."
Source/publisher: Govt. UK (London)
2023-10-31
Date of entry/update: 2023-10-31
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Description: "Dear Government of Singapore, The signatories of people of Myanmar[1], signed by over 27,700 (included from ground 1,314) individuals and endorsed by (430) local and international organizations from across the world, are writing to the government of Singapore. The brutal and illegal Myanmar military junta has been relying on Singapore for funds and the supply of arms, equipment, technology, and jet fuel, enabling its ongoing attacks against the people. Since February 1, 2021, the junta has been waging a campaign of terror with indiscriminate airstrikes and shelling, murder, torture, arbitrary detention, rape and the destruction of homes and food supplies. The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar recently revealed[2] that Singapore is the third biggest supplier of arms and equipment[3] to the Myanmar military since its coup attempt, in a trade valued at $254 million from at least 138 Singaporean companies. Singapore also remains a major business center for the military’s cronies. Some, like Tay Za[4] and Naing Htut Aung[5], enjoy lavish lifestyles in the city state while profiting from the destruction of Myanmar lives. Despite UK and US sanctions, Shoon Group of Companies are continuing to operate in Singapore, supplying the junta with jet fuel[6] that it needs to wage aerial warfare against the people. It is clear that from Singapore, businesses are transacting with the Myanmar military and conglomerates, enriching war criminals and supporting their international crimes[7]. But this can and must be stopped. Singapore has committed to investigate companies supplying arms and dual use goods, and United Overseas Bank (UOB) has recently imposed restrictions[8] on transactions involving Myanmar. Singapore needs to now do more to help stop the junta’s campaign of terror. We call on Singapore to: 1) Introduce sanctions to stop the direct and indirect transfer of arms, dual-use goods, technology, jet fuel, and related transactions, to the Myanmar military, 2) Utilise money laundering provisions and impose sanctions to ensure the illegal junta cannot access the Singapore financial system, including the USD 4.6 billion of funds that belong to the Government of Myanmar, 3) Expedite and make public ongoing investigations into Singaporean companies that have supplied arms, dual-use goods and technology to the Myanmar military. #DoMoreSingapore Respectfully, Signed by the people of Myanmar, (430 orgs) local and international organizations, including (10) local organizations that have chosen not to disclose their names because the junta continues violence in Myanmar..."
Source/publisher: 430 local and international organizations via Justice For Myanmar
2023-10-29
Date of entry/update: 2023-10-29
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "The German state prosecutor’s office in Ravensburg has launched a criminal investigation into ND SatCom GmbH for supplying communications equipment to the Myanmar military, including after its illegal coup attempt. The criminal investigation follows a complaint filed by German Solidarity with Myanmar Democracy e. V. with the attorney Holger Rothbauer, based on evidence and research provided by Justice For Myanmar. The opening of the investigation was first reported by ZDF frontal and Spiegel. ND SatCom is a German satellite communications corporation based in Immenstaad that, according to its website, “provides all the core competencies necessary for the design, turnkey delivery and logistic support of military satcom systems”. The company is owned by Steffen Görig, a German entrepreneur who acquired it from Airbus in 2014. ND SatCom has subsidiaries in China and Dubai. Since at least 2016, ND SatCom has provided significant support for the Myanmar Army’s satellite communications system, including 5G satellite communications hardware and software for use in the army’s Meiktila hub, fixed station and manpack systems. In 2017, as the Myanmar military was committing genocide against the Rohingya, ND SatCom listed a SKYWAN Communications on the Move (COTM) system for Myanmar in the defence section of a webpage titled, “Why ND SatCom was so successful in 2017”. The page has since been taken offline. ND SatCom equipment has been sent from Vietnam to the Myanmar military as recently as October 2021, following the military’s illegal coup attempt, when satellite modems were shipped to the army’s Directorate of Procurement. Leaked and open-source evidence shows that equipment was brokered by the private Myanmar company Terabit Wave Company Limited, a subsidiary of the crony A1 Group of Companies, in partnership with the Vietnamese company, OSB Investment and Technology JSC (“OSB”). OSB claims to be a leader in defence communications and has its own research and development program. Terabit Wave and OSB operate a joint venture in Myanmar, Com & Com Company Limited, which provides military and civilian satellite services, including the maintenance of ND SatCom equipment for the Myanmar Army’s Directorate of Signals. In 2019, ND SatCom appointed Terabit Wave as its dealer to sell satellite communications equipment in Myanmar, and to negotiate and sign contracts. The authorisation was part of a 2019 contract between Terabit Wave and the Myanmar Army’s Directorate of Procurement that also involved Com & Com, which was leaked to Justice For Myanmar. ND Satcom equipment has been supplied to the Myanmar military via the Singapore companies Bright Sky Pte. Ltd. and Interspace Engineering Service Pte. Ltd. Bright Sky Group, a subsidiary of A1 Group of Companies, was struck off in 2023, after it was named as an arms broker by Justice For Myanmar. Interspace Engineering Service is owned by Nguyen Hong Son, who is the co-founder, chairperson and chief executive officer of OSB and a director of Com & Com. Justice For Myanmar calls for sanctions against A1 Group of Companies, OSB Investment and Technology JSC, and their directors and owners for their support to the Myanmar military and complicity in its international crimes. Vietnam and Singapore, which are both ASEAN members and voted in favour of a UN General Assembly resolution calling on “all Member States to prevent the flow of arms to Myanmar”, should immediately end all transfers of arms, equipment, technology and funds to the junta. Singapore should investigate Bright Sky Group and Interspace Engineering Service for supplying dual use goods to Myanmar through its territory. Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung says: “We welcome the opening of a criminal investigation into ND SatCom by the German public prosecutor’s office in Ravensburg. “We urge German authorities to take swift action against ND SatCom and to cut off the Myanmar junta’s access to German equipment and technology. “The Myanmar military is responsible for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, committed with total impunity, aided by ND SatCom communications technology. “Satellite communications is essential for military command and control. In Myanmar, improved satellite communications capabilities from ND SatCom support the military’s indiscriminate killings, torture, rape, the razing of whole villages, the destruction of food and forced mass displacement. “Prosecution is an important step towards accountability for the transfer of arms and dual use goods to the Myanmar military, and to prevent future arms transfers from Germany and the European Union, but they need to be widened to all companies involved in the illegal supply of arms and dual use goods to the Myanmar military. “Both Germany and the EU have laws in place to prevent the transfer of arms and dual use goods to the genocidal Myanmar military, but governments have repeatedly failed to enforce them, enabling the military to gain access to equipment and technology that supports ongoing war crimes and crimes against humanity. “Germany must show that breaches of the law will not be tolerated, and we call on other EU member states whose companies have illegally transferred arms, equipment and technology to investigate and hold them accountable.”..."
Source/publisher: Justice For Myanmar
2023-10-18
Date of entry/update: 2023-10-18
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Sub-title: With sanctions on the rise, Myanmar’s military is increasingly under pressure and is turning to its few partners for additional support
Description: "Myanmar’s military may finally be starting to feel the strain of international sanctions, with foreign banks freezing the accounts of Myanmar’s state-owned banks, limiting the junta’s ability to access critical foreign currency reserves. More than two and a half years on from the 2021 coup, the junta continues to rely on the political, military, and diplomatic support of authoritarian partners in Beijing and Moscow who have remained loyal to the generals despite ongoing international outcry and recent gains by Myanmar’s resistance. However, their patronage may not be sufficient for the generals to hold onto power as momentum on the battlefield shifts and overseas banks restrict the regime’s access to critical funds. Sanctions Start to Bite At a press conference in late August, the Myanmar military junta’s deputy finance minister Maung Maung Win blamed recent financial instability on U.S. sanctions, which he said were “hurting our government’s programs such as education, health, and infrastructure building…importers and exporters, any person or organizations using foreign banking services.” The sanctions, announced by the U.S. in June, targeted Myanma Foreign Trade Bank (MFTB) and Myanma Investment and Commercial Bank (MICB), state-owned entities which essentially “function as foreign currency exchanges” for the military junta, allowing it to import arms and other military equipment. Analysts say that the sanctions are aimed at blocking the junta’s ability to conduct purchases in foreign currencies as well as receive incoming foreign currency transactions. Two recent developments signal that the sanctions are beginning to have their desired effect of constraining the junta’s ability to generate and use cash. Firstly, Myanmar military-linked cronies are blatantly creating new entities to get around existing sanctions. A recently leaked letter from Myanmar’s energy ministry instructed the Central Bank of Myanmar to open new accounts to handle foreign currencies in place of Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), which is under European sanctions and whose top leaders are sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department. On August 10, Shwe Byain Phyu Oil and Gas Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of Shwe Byain Phyu (SBP) conglomerate and a top supplier of fuel to Myanmar’s military, dissolved, presumably to evade sanctions. Its owner Thein Win Zaw holds shares in a number of companies already impacted by targeted sanctions imposed by the European Union, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Secondly, foreign banks have begun to cut Myanmar state-owned banks’ access, depriving the junta of much-needed foreign currency reserves. In early August, Singapore’s United Overseas Bank (UOB) notified Myanmar banks that it would limit their access to funds and would only allow transactions between UOB accounts. The following week, a state-owned bank in Bangladesh announced it was freezing MFTB and MICB accounts comprising more than US $1 billion in assets. These moves have triggered further financial instability in Myanmar as the kyat continues to depreciate, with the Central Bank of Myanmar trading it well below the market value. Restricting the generals’ ability to use reserves in foreign bank accounts to acquire weapons will hurt their capacity to wage endless war and could give resistance forces the upper hand. The Junta’s Strategy The junta, or State Administration Council (SAC), has failed to restore investor confidence, and has been unable to quell resistance to its rule. It is now spread thin on the battlefield, and anecdotal evidence suggests that the junta is heavily reliant on aging Russian fighter jets to sustain its asymmetric advantage over resistance forces to mask its lack of control over territory on the ground. Recent moves by Singapore and Bangladesh to cut the junta’s access to reserves may test its ability to outlast the nationwide grassroots uprising which seeks to oust the generals once and for all. Forced onto the defensive, the junta now relies on a limited network of supporters, most notably China, Russia, and India (as well as several authoritarian Southeast Asian states such as Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam), to prevent international consensus from forming which could threaten its hold on power. This overarching strategy, born of a pragmatic acceptance of isolation, was captured in Deputy Senior General Soe Win’s response to a warning from UN Special Envoy Christine Schraner Burgener the month after the coup: “We have to learn to walk with only a few friends.” The sit-tat, as Myanmar’s military is known, likes to signal its cool-headed preparedness and project its confidence to weather international condemnation and relative isolation. This strategy helps sustain the pretense in international diplomatic circles that the military will win in the long run and foreign governments will have to re-engage eventually. It simultaneously erodes resistance morale and undercuts the likelihood of further defections. However, the regime’s confidence is in part based on a bluff which downplays the reality of its vulnerability. Concerted efforts by the international community to deprive the junta of access to financial assets have alarmed the military and underscore the extent to which it depends on a few authoritarian friends to avert regime collapse. China’s Central Role in the Conflict Beijing appears to have come around to fully backing Myanmar’s armed forces in the civil war, unable to envision a future scenario without them. China continues to provide the junta with the arms it requires to prolong the war. Despite a non-binding UN Resolution prohibiting the flow of weapons to the Myanmar military, a recent UN report found that Beijing in fact sold US $267 million worth of military equipment to Myanmar’s armed forces in 2022–2023. China remains the country’s largest trading partner and second largest source of foreign investment after Singapore. Bilateral trade exceeded US $2 billion between April 2022 and January 2023. More than half of China’s investments in Myanmar are in the power sector, while it also has major interests in oil and gas (18 percent of China’s overall investment in Myanmar) as well as the mining sector (17 percent). Beijing’s political support is also essential to deflect pressure at the United Nations. While China abstained from a UN resolution in December 2022 that expressed “deep concern” with the situation in Myanmar and called for an “immediate end to” violence, Chinese diplomats have stepped up public engagement with the junta since the end of last year. Beginning with special envoy Deng Xijun’s meeting with Senior General Min Aung Hlaing in Naypyidaw in December 2022, there have been monthly high-level meetings between the two sides. Deng also hosted a delegation of ethnic armed groups in Yunnan in December. Beijing has applied pressure on several armed groups with whom it has influence not to support the National Unity Government (NUG), thus prolonging the junta’s ability to wage war on armed groups in other parts of the country. In May 2023, then Foreign Minister Qin Gang met Min Aung Hlaing in Naypyidaw, becoming the most senior Chinese official to meet the junta leader since the coup. During the visit, the two sides pledged to “further promote comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.” How Russia Helps the Junta to Hedge Against China As part of its strategy of pragmatic isolation, Min Aung Hlaing’s regime has also relied on Russia as an important partner. In particular, the junta leader looks to Moscow as a trusted friend and important source of leverage to offset overreliance on Beijing. Deepening the Russia-Myanmar partnership is part of Min Aung Hlaing’s hedging policy to avoid falling too much into China’s orbit. The Myanmar military has traditionally feared and distrusted China’s intentions dating back to many of the senior generals’ experience as young combatants fighting against ethnic armed groups with ties to the Communist Party of Burma in the country’s north who had Beijing’s support during the Cold War. Therefore, Min Aung Hlaing has gone to great personal lengths to cultivate the relationship with Moscow, visiting nine times since becoming commander-in-chief in 2011. He has met Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu roughly half a dozen times, and in September 2022, Min Aung Hlaing met with Putin for the first time at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok. During a visit by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to Naypyidaw in February 2023, the two sides signed an agreement on nuclear energy cooperation involving Russia’s State Atomic Energy Corporation ROSATOM. Russia has also been a major source of defense technology for Myanmar, providing more arms than China from 2018–2022 (42 percent of total imports compared to 29 percent from China). According to the UN report mentioned above, Russia sold US $406 million worth of military equipment to the Myanmar military in 2022–2023. Other players: Thailand and India Unlike Russia and China, whose direct military assistance sustains the junta’s grip on power, Thailand and India play more indirect roles in propping up the SAC. Bangkok’s recent Track 1.5 diplomacy has threatened to overtake Indonesia’s “quiet diplomacy” via ASEAN. In March, Thailand hosted talks with the junta and several autocratic regional partners, including Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam, as well as China, India, Bangladesh, and Japan. The following month, India hosted a second Track 1.5 dialogue that included Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Bangladesh, and China. Thailand and India’s rogue initiatives threaten to derail progress under Indonesia’s chairmanship of ASEAN by normalizing SAC participation in international diplomacy. Jakarta has been holding regular closed-door talks with all stakeholders (including representatives of the junta as well as the NUG) in hopes of bringing about inclusive diplomatic negotiations between the military and ousted civilian leaders. India has also maintained high-level engagement with the Myanmar military since the coup and continues to cooperate in joint counterinsurgency operations along its shared border. Furthermore, the two sides recently heralded the opening of the Kaladan Multimodal Transit Transport Project, a decades-long shipping route to increase commerce between the two neighboring countries. Beyond shared border concerns and interest in eradicating ethnic armed insurgents, Indian policymakers also fear that Myanmar is gravitating deeper into China’s orbit. Therefore, New Delhi has refrained from condemning the military’s brutal crackdown on civilians, instead limiting itself to expressions of concern about the spiraling conflict. Given close security cooperation and senior-level military engagement, India offers the SAC another pole in its hedging strategy vis-à-vis China. However, there are important developments in Myanmar’s regional environs. Recent elections in Thailand and Cambodia have significant implications for the junta’s foreign relations. While carefully managed elections in both authoritarian countries are unlikely to bring about significant change to either’s foreign policy, the junta will no doubt be anxious to shore up its standing with new leaders in both Bangkok and Phnom Penh lest they adopt a new approach to Myanmar’s conflict. In Thailand, the recent brokered election of Pheu Thai candidate Srettha Thavisin as Prime Minister could introduce modest change to Thai foreign policy, though the Thai military still retains control through the 2017 constitution. The outcome represented a compromise between the military-dominated senate and a coalition of opposition parties, including Pheu Thai and the Move Forward Party, the latter of which won the majority of the vote but whose candidate for Prime Minister, Pita Limjaroenrat, was prevented from forming a government. Therefore, Srettha’s leadership is unlikely to radically alter Thailand’s generally supportive relations with the Myanmar military junta. Nevertheless, Bangkok’s delicate balancing act as a U.S. ally and friend of the junta suggest that the SAC will want to retain channels of communication with the new government to avoid becoming a pawn in larger powers’ diplomatic games. The junta relies on lucrative cashflows from Thailand’s gas imports (US $2.4 billion in 2022, roughly 20 percent of Myanmar’s exports), giving Bangkok—and U.S. sanctions—inordinate leverage over the military regime’s economic survival. Cambodia’s August elections, which paved the way for Hun Sen to transfer political power to his son Hun Manet, also added to the mix of uncertainty within ASEAN. The 45-year-old leader is a relatively unknown entity for the region and external powers. While he was recently invited to meet top leaders in Tokyo, there are few clues as to whether his leadership might bring about real change in Phnom Penh’s foreign policy. As he received his education in the United States at West Point and New York University and holds a PhD in economics from Bristol University in the United Kingdom, there are some hopes that the young Hun may be more progressive than his authoritarian father and even introduce a diplomatic realignment away from Beijing’s orbit. Looking Ahead Regardless of how these regional chess pieces move on the board, the junta has made clear it will not be deterred by international condemnation and that its foreign policy remains an afterthought to its core mission: regime survival. Therefore, internal battlefield dynamics are the most likely variables to determine the senior generals’ calculations of whether and when to seek off-ramps. The regime is prepared to weather international isolation. Yet as long as the international community remains divided, the junta’s few close friends ensure it is not totally alone. Cutting off the junta’s economic lifelines and its ability to access reserves held in overseas banks will be vital to restricting its ability to wage endless war against the people of Myanmar. There are finally indications that the military may be beginning to feel the pinch of targeted sanctions making life more difficult, but there is still a long way to go in terms of bringing the junta down or forcing it to negotiate with the resistance. For now, the NUG and People’s Defense Forces are settling into a protracted, years-long conflict to wipe out the military once and for all. If that eventuality materializes, the junta’s external patrons—namely China, Russia, and India—might come to regret their no-strings-attached support for the ruthless dictatorship..."
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Source/publisher: Stimson Center
2023-10-11
Date of entry/update: 2023-10-11
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "A Myanmar regime military court has handed life imprisonment terms to the junta’s former trade chief, ex-Lieutenant General Moe Myint Tun, and his assistant, ex-Brigadier General Yan Naung Soe, for corruption, according to junta media. The life imprisonment terms are equivalent to 20 years behind bars. The two were also removed from their military positions. The court martial verdicts follow the regime’s investigations into the activities of the duo, other high-ranking officials and hundreds of businesspeople last month. Moe Myint Tun, who has also been purged from the junta’s top administrative body, the State Administration Council, abused his position for personal benefit in violation of economic policies, and committed high treason by going against the roadmap and objectives of the regime, junta media said Tuesday, adding that he took bribes from companies and illegally held foreign currencies. He was the chairman of the Myanmar Investment Commission, the Foreign Exchange Supervisory Committee, and the Central Committee for Ensuring Smooth Flow of Trade and Goods. The regime announcement said he was found guilty of failing to take action against persons who raised the price of palm oil rather than selling it at the reference price set by the government. The Central Bank of Myanmar sold US dollars in order to import palm oil to be sold at the reference price, it said. “Moreover he … [took] bribes from companies, applying his rank and authority, illegally keeping foreign exchange currencies in hand, and participating in civilian businesses by breaking directives related to military discipline,” the statement reads. Prior to the investigation, The Irrawaddy reported that Moe Myint Tun had squirreled away millions of US dollars in bribes from businessmen over the past two years. Some of the businessmen told The Irrawaddy they had to pay him at least US$20,000 or the equivalent in gold and gifts—Louis XIII cognac, with a list price of more than $4,000 for a 750ml bottle, was highly preferred—just to meet him. Yan Naung Soe, joint secretary of the Central Committee for Ensuring Smooth Flow of Trade and Goods, personally benefited from violating the economic policies of the state and committed betrayal of the state and treason together with Moe Myint Tun, the regime said. “He also exchanged foreign currency for Myanmar kyats for businesspersons by applying his rank and authority, accepted foreign currency and Myanmar kyats from businesspersons, created connections between businesspersons with ex-Lt-Gen Moe Myint Tun, illegally kept foreign currencies in hand, and participated in civilian businesses in violation of directives related to the military discipline,” the regime said. The corruption scandal involving Moe Myint Tun and Yan Naung Soe embarrassed regime chief Min Aung Hlaing. He issued a warning late last month that senior military officers and ministers caught abusing their power for personal benefit would face heavy penalties in addition to dismissal. However, despite Min Aung Hlaing’s highly publicized anti-graft campaign against his subordinates, it is common knowledge that he leads the regime in terms of corruption and that his son Aung Pyae Sone and daughter Khin Thiri Thet Mon have abused their father’s power to amass great wealth..."
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
2023-10-11
Date of entry/update: 2023-10-11
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "A new report by the Kachin Women’s Association Thailand (KWAT) links escalating abuses by SAC troops in Kachin and northern Shan State to the regime’s attempts to secure transport routes for expansion of China’s Belt and Road Initiative. The report documents a sharp increase since mid-2022 in the number of casualties of aerial bombardment, up to nearly 200, and in the number of villagers forced to be human shields, up to 221, compared to the previous fifteen months. Other widespread SAC abuses documented by KWAT include thirty incidents of shelling into populated areas, inflicting 61 civilian casualties, and arbitrary arrest of 441 people, including Kachin religious leader Dr. Hka Lam Samson. Dozens of those arrested have disappeared. Mapping shows most SAC abuses clustered along the main transport routes in northern Burma, vital gateways for development of BRI infrastructure. KWAT analyzes this as a deliberate strategy of collective punishment to secure control of key transport arteries. “With conventional warfare failing against resistance forces, the regime is increasingly resorting to attacks against civilians,” said KWAT spokesperson Ja Ing KWAT exposes that the devastating airstrike on the concert in Hpakant last October, which inflicted over 170 casualties, was direct retaliation for heavy SAC losses suffered a day earlier during a failed attempt to seize KIA positions on Lung Ja mountain – the highest vantage point in southeast Kachin State, overlooking key transport corridors to China. The attacks and abuses have fueled fresh displacement of nearly 14,000 villagers during the past fifteen months, even as the regime has been pushing ahead with plans to close down existing camps in northern Burma housing over 107,000 IDPs. KWAT is calling urgently for increased diplomatic and economic pressure on the SAC regime to stop their attacks on civilians throughout Burma, and for donor countries to step up aid to existing and newly displaced IDPs, prioritizing cross-border channels. KWAT also calls on China to halt its planned acceleration of BRI projects in Burma. “China is taking a huge risk by pushing ahead with BRI projects in partnership with the military regime,” said Ja Ing “There are no guarantees of security, and China will find itself complicit in the mounting atrocities associated with the planned projects.”.....ကချင်အမျိုးသမီးများအစည်းအရုံး-ထိုင်းနိုင်ငံ (KWAT) ၏ ဤအစီရင်ခံစာသစ်တွင် ကချင်ပြည်နယ်နှင့် ရှမ်းပြည်နယ် မြောက်ပိုင်းရှိ စစ်ကောင်စီတပ်ဖွဲ့ဝင်များ၏ အခွင့်အရေးချိုးဖောက်မှုများ ပြင်းထန်လာမှု အခြေအနေ များသည် တရုတ်နိုင်ငံ BRI-ပိုးလမ်းမ စီမံကိန်း တိုးချဲ့ရေးအတွက် သယ်ယူပို့ဆောင်ရေးလမ်းကြောင်းများကို လုံခြုံရေး ပေးရန် စစ်ကောင်စီ၏ ကြိုးပမ်းမှုနှင့် ဆက်စပ်ပုံကို ချိတ်ဆက်ဖော်ပြထားသည်။ လွန်ခဲ့သည့် ၁၅ လနှင့် နှိုင်းယှဉ်လျှင် ၂၀၂၂ ခုနှစ် နှစ်လည်ပိုင်းမှစ၍ လေကြောင်းတိုက်ခိုက်မှုကြောင့် ထိခိုက်သူ ၂၀၀ နီးပါးနှင့် လူသားဒိုင်းအဖြစ် အတင်းအဓမ္မ ခိုင်းစေခံရသူ ရွာသူရွာသားဦးရေမှာ ၂၂၁ ဦးထိ သိသိသာသာ တိုးမြင့်လာကြောင်းကို အစီရင်ခံစာမှ မှတ်တမ်းတင်ထားသည်။ KWAT မှ မှတ်တမ်းတင်ထားသော စစ်ကောင်စီမှ ကျယ်ကျယ်ပြန့်ပြန့် ကျူးလွန်နေသော အခြားချိုးဖောက်မှုများ ထဲတွင် အရပ်သား ၆၁ ကို ထိခိုက်သေဆုံးစေခဲ့သော လူနေထူထပ်သော ဒေသများသို့ လက်နက်ကြီးပစ်ခတ်မှု အကြိမ် ၃၀ နှင့် ကချင်ဘာသာရေးအကြီးအကဲ ဒေါက်တာ ခလမ်ဆမ်ဆွန် အပါအဝင် လူပေါင်း ၄၄၁ ဦးအား မတရားဖမ်းဆီးခြင်းတို့လည်း ပါဝင်သည်။ ဖမ်းဆီးခံရသူများထဲမှာ ဒါဇင်ပေါင်းများစွာသည် ယနေ့ချိန်ထိ ပျောက်ဆုံး နေဆဲဖြစ်သည်။ မြေပုံများအရ စစ်ကောင်စီကျူးလွန်သော ချိုးဖောက်မှု အများစုသည် BRI-ပိုးလမ်းမ စီမံကိန်းအောက်ရှိ အခြေခံအဆောက်အအုံများ၏ အရေးကြီးသော တံခါးပေါက်များဖြစ်သော မြန်မာနိုင်ငံမြောက်ပိုင်းရှိ အဓိက သယ်ယူပို့ဆောင်ရေးလမ်းကြောင်းများတစ်လျှောက်တွင် ဖြစ်ပွားသည်ကို ပြသနေသည်။ ၎င်းအခြေအနေသည် အဓိက သယ်ယူပို့ဆောင်ရေးသွေးကြောများထိန်းချုပ်မှုကို ကာကွယ်ရန် စုပေါင်းပြစ်ဒဏ်ပေးခြင်းကို ဗျူဟာတစ်ခုအနေဖြင့် စစ်ကောင်စီမှ ရည်ရွယ်ချက်ရှိရှိ လုပ်ဆောင်နေခြင်းဖြစ်သည်ဟု KWAT မှ လေ့လာသုံးသပ်သည်။ “ခုခံတော်လှန်ရေးတပ်တွေကို သမားရိုးကျ စစ်ဆင်ရေးရှုံးနိမ့်လာတော့ စစ်တပ်က အရပ်သားတွေကို ပစ်မှတ်ထားတိုက်ခိုက်တဲ့ နည်းလမ်းကို ပိုပြီးသုံးလာကြတယ်ဟု KWAT ၏ ပြောရေးဆိုခွင့်ရှိသူ” ဂျာအိန်က ပြောသည်။ ပြီးခဲ့သည့် အောက်တိုဘာလအတွင်းက ဖားကန့်မြို့ ဖျော်ဖြေပွဲတွင် ဖြစ်ပွားခဲ့သော လူပေါင်း ၁၇၀ ကျော် ထိခိုက်ခဲ့သည့် ပြင်းထန်သည့် လေကြောင်းတိုက်ခိုက်မှုသည် ထိုတိုက်ခိုက်မှုမတိုင်မီ တစ်ရက်အကြိုတွင် ဖြစ်ပွားခဲ့သော စစ်ကောင်စီ၏ ကချင်ပြည်နယ်အရှေ့တောင်ဘက် တရုတ်နိုင်ငံသို့ အဓိက ကုန်သွယ်ရေး လမ်းစင်္ကြန်များကို အပေါ်စီးမှမြင်ရသည့် အမြင့်ဆုံးနေရာဖြစ်သော လုံဂျာတောင်ပေါ်ရှိ KIA စခန်းများကို သိမ်းယူ ရန်ကြိုးပမ်းမှုတွင် အကြီးအကျယ် အထိနာခဲ့မှုအတွက် တိုက်ရိုက်လက်တုံ့ပြန်မှုဖြစ်သည်ဟု KWAT မှ ဖော်ထုတ် ထားသည်။ စစ်ကောင်စီသည် မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ မြောက်ပိုင်းရှိ IDP ၁၀၇,၀၀၀ ကျော်နေထိုင်သော ရှိရင်းစွဲ စစ်ဘေးရှောင် စခန်းများကို ပိတ်သိမ်းရန် အစီအစဉ်များ ဆက်လက် တွန်းအားပေးလုပ်ဆောင်နေသော်လည်း လွန်ခဲ့သော ၁၅ လ အတွင်း တိုက်ခိုက်မှုများနှင့် အခွင့်အရေးချိုးဖောက်မှုများကြောင့် နောက်ထပ် ရွာသူရွာသားပေါင်း ၁၄,၀၀၀ နီးပါးကို နေရပ်စွှန့်ခွာ ထွက်ပြေးစေခဲ့သည်။ KWAT အနေဖြင့် စစ်ကောင်စီ၏ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံတဝှမ်းရှိ အရပ်သားများအပေါ် ပစ်မှတ်ထားသော ပြင်းထန်သည့် တိုက်ခိုက်မှုများကို ရပ်တန့်ရန် ၎င်းတို့အပေါ် သံတမန်ရေးနှင့် စီးပွားရေးဆိုင်ရာ ဖိအားများ တိုးမြှင့်ပေးရန်နှင့် အလှူရှင် နိုင်ငံအနေများဖြင့် နယ်စပ်ဖြတ်ကျော်လမ်းကြောင်းများကို ဦးစားပေးကာ ရှိရင်းစွဲနှင့် နောက်ထပ် တိုးပွားလာသော IDP များအတွက် အကူအညီများ တိုးမြှင့်ပေးရန် အရေးပေါ် တောင်းဆိုလိုက်သည်။ တရုတ်နိုင်ငံ အနေဖြင့် မြန်မာနိုင်ငံရှိ ၎င်းတို့၏ BRI-ပိုးလမ်းမ စီမံကိန်းတိုးမြှင့်လုပ်ဆောင်မည့် အစီအစဉ်များကို လည်း ရပ်တန့်ရန် KWAT မှ တောင်းဆိုထားသည်။ “တရုတ်နိုင်ငံဟာ စစ်တပ်နဲ့ ပူးပေါင်းပြီး BRI-ပိုးလမ်းမ စီမံကိန်းတွေကို ရှေ့တိုးလုပ်ဆောင်ခြင်းအားဖြင့် ကြီးမားတဲ့ အန္တရာယ်တွေကို ယူနေတယ်”ဟု ဂျာအိန် ကပြောသည်။ “စီမံကိန်းတွေအတွက် ဘာလုံခြုံရေးအာမခံချက်မှလည်း မရှိဘူး။ ပြီးတော့ စီစဉ်ထားတဲ့ စီမံကိန်းတွေနဲ့ ဆက်နွယ်နေတဲ့ တိုးမြင့်လာတဲ့ ရက်စက်ကြမ်းကြုတ်မှုတွေထဲမှာပဲ တရုတ်နိုင်ငံကပါ ကြံရာပါ ဖြစ်လာလိမ့်မယ်”..."
Source/publisher: Kachin Women’s Association Thailand
2023-10-09
Date of entry/update: 2023-10-09
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Sub-title: In new book, Australian economist Sean Turnell talks about his prison experience.
Description: "Australian economist Sean Turnell was an economic policy advisor to Myanmar’s State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021 when the country’s military ousted the democratically elected government in a coup and installed the State Administration Council or SAC, led by Sen. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing. Five days later he was arrested on charges of espionage and he spent the next 650 days – or about one year and nine months – in detention, mostly in horrible conditions in Yangon’s Insein Prison. In his soon-to-be released book ‘An Unlikely Prisoner: How an eternal optimist found hope in Myanmar's most notorious jail,’ Turnell tells the story of his time behind bars. He told RFA Burmese that although it is a story of great sadness, it is also one of courage for other prisoners jailed by the junta, especially Aung San Suu Kyi, who he calls ‘Daw Suu,’ a term of respect for women. The interview has been edited for length and clarity. RFA: What was your motivation for writing this book? Turnell: Well, it was something that I always intended to do. In fact, I wrote most of the book in my head during the time I was in prison. On many days, of course, I didn't really have much to do, so part of my pacing up and down the cells, I'd be trying to think of things to think about. And part of it was writing this book. So probably about one third of it was written inside my head before I even got out. As soon as I got back, it was a relatively easy process of then converting all the thoughts up here [in my head] onto paper. RFA: Can you discuss how much of the book deals with your time in prison, and before and after the coup? Turnell: About two thirds of the book is all about the experience post-coup. So I detailed my experiences on the day of the coup itself and then my subsequent arrest five days later, and then the next 650 days in Yangon’s Insein Prison, and then up in Napyitaw and then back to Insein and the court and meeting Daw Suu in the court and all of that. So that's the bulk of the book. But I have a section there on … background … Why was I there? And how was I involved at all in the NLD government? The basic background to the reforms, things like that, how those reforms increasingly ran up against the military and the difficulties, things like that. But most of it is a memoir about post-coup, but I've got a section there about Myanmar before the coup and some of the reforms that we were trying to do. RFA: Is there any subject that you avoid in the book? Was there at any time that you had to pledge to the junta not to write about as a condition of your release? Was there anything like that in your release agreement? Turnell: Oh, no. I made no pledge at all. None at all. I wondered whether they would ask me to do something like that. But they never, ever did. I never signed anything. In fact, I was very, very careful about that. On the very last day, as I was being released, we were wondering about exactly that. So, yeah. So I made no pledges, no promises to them whatsoever and wouldn't have done so. I hasten to add, I would not have signed anything if it was put in front of me. But since coming out, you know, I exercised my right as an Australian citizen, of course, back in Australia, which has complete freedom of speech. I was very vocal in talking about my situation and all that. I don't think – I mean, obviously I'm subjective in this issue – but I don't think I've been at all unfair or unreasonable in my comments about the regime or the conditions under which they held me and the nature of the trial and all the rest of it. I think any sort of objective account on any of those things would be identical to mine, would be my view. But obviously Myanmar now under the SAC regime is not a place where freedom of speech is welcome. So I’m to some extent not surprised that they've had a negative reaction to it. But it certainly didn't involve any pledge or anything like that. RFA: What are some of the most powerful memories from your time in prison that you talk about in this book? Turnell: Many memorable times. I think some really bad stuff. I think, hearing about the death of my friend Khin Maung Shwe or Yacob, as he was always to me, a wonderful man who protected me, was just a dear friend. I met him in the first six months when I was in Insein Prison, where again, he sort of held me and looked after me. I then went up to Naypyitaw Prison for a whole year as the trial went on, and I never found out about him at all until I was sent back to Insein after the trial. And I heard that he'd been murdered in the prison and that that was a real low moment. But certainly, you know, as I say, it's one that is very much in my head. Other than that, you know, I remember all the horrible stuff, the terrible cell, the terrible food, the awfulness of prison transfers. And I noticed reading some of the reporting on Myanmar, the internal media, that people like your organization have taken up the issue of transporting prisoners. And just to add my voice to that, it really is terrible. Some of the worst moments I experienced were being transported between the prison and the court and between different prisons, et. cetera. So I certainly remember all that. But I remember again, some of the good things, the incredible conversations that I had with some wonderful Burmese colleagues and so on. I remember the compassion that they showed me. I remember, you know, some funny issues. And yes, It’s a real mixed bag and a mixture of horror, but a mixture of really good things that not only gladdened my heart whenever I think about Myanmar and its people, but even about human nature. One of the things that struck me is that while some people behave badly under pressure, a great many more people and certainly many Myanmar people behave superbly under pressure. And I was the beneficiary of that. RFA: Is there any person or individual that you would like to dedicate this book to? Turnell: I'm dedicating it to my wife, who just championed me from the get go. You know, she knew what was happening on the first day, she was there the last day. And she just ran a massive campaign from here in Sydney. And she reached out to everyone to not only all the political leadership here in Australia, but even to people like Hun Sen in Cambodia. She wrote letters to Min Aung Hlaing’s wife. She tried to rope in the U.S. president. She got the king of England, Charles III, involved. She got everyone involved. It was the most incredible thing. So it was a no-brainer as to who I dedicate it to. But beyond her were my father, Peter, my sister Lisa, my nephews, my daughter, all of them were just, you know, just superb and then, you know, to the Myanmar people as well as other development friends and people from Australian foreign affairs and so on. But my Myanmar friends were very much in my thoughts beyond my sort of immediate family. In terms of the structure of the book, I begin with the sort of drama of the arrest, the early interrogation, a terrible two months I experienced in something that I just called “the box,” which was just a room that I was locked into for two months in complete isolation. And the worst treatment that I had was at that period. Then I have another chapter on being released into Insein Prison and spent a lot of time just talking about that, the conditions, describing it, because it's a most extraordinary place, particularly, I think, for people outside Myanmar. It would be very hard, I think, to visualize just just what inside is like. And a lot there obviously, again, about some great Myanmar friends. Then, a big section once we go up to Naypyitaw, the awful conditions there in the Naypyitaw detention center was in many ways even worse than Insein. Then the trial, the absurdity of the trial and the absurdity of the charges against me and against my friends. Notes about Daw Suu, of course, who it was a great honor to work alongside before the coup. It was a great honor just to see how fantastic she was in the court in the prison. She remains as far as I know, but certainly to my experience, which was only a year ago, undaunted, full of courage, compassion, again, just raw intelligence, the way that it just shows out, the very courteous way that she treated the people who were persecuting her. She was just an inspiration. And so I spend a lot of time talking about that, just how she kept the spirits of myself up, and everyone else up. I never saw her waver or weaken anyway. So, you know, I certainly deal with that. And then, the absurdity of the trial, the darkest moments immediately after that, transporting back to Insein is then the final thing where I was put amongst the death row prisoners, which was terribly depressing and inspiring as well, because again, even those people in a desperate, desperate situation, they were also incredibly generous and great friends to me. So that's sort of the second last section. And then I have finally the day in which I was told I was going home and the drama of going home and the incredible feeling and lift of going home. And then finally, just some of the events that I detail a little bit, how the regime became upset when I had the temerity just to say that I wasn't treated that well by them and a little bit on that as well. But overall, it's an uplifting story in many ways, even though along the way, unfortunately, I have to tell the terribly sad story for so many people in Myanmar. RFA: What kind of impact do you expect to make with this book? Turnell: Above all, I would like the world to pay attention to what's going on in Myanmar. As we who are interested in Myanmar know, the situation is desperate, and it doesn't give it enough attention. The world's eyes, very rightly, are on Ukraine, but Myanmar deserves attention as well. It's a terrible situation. The people need help. They deserve help. And so if the book can do anything at all, it would be to help draw attention to that. RFA: Do you have any messages for Aung San Suu Kyi and your other friends in Myanmar? Turnell: My message to both Daw Suu and my specific friends in Myanmar, but also people just generally is a big thank you. I love the place and still do. I was asked and I spoke to the media about this when I got released. A leading immigration official told me just as I was getting on the plane, he said, “Sean, please don't hate Myanmar.” And it was an odd moment because he just spent minutes beforehand giving me a lecture about how I would never be allowed back, et cetera. But then he sort of changed his whole demeanor and again just said, “Please don't hate Myanmar.” And I said back to him, “I could never hate Myanmar.” And again, for all the reasons that I've described here about just the love and compassion, the courage … that I witnessed all around me. So, yes, I have a very soft spot for Myanmar. I desperately hope to get back there one day, but that's not going to happen until we get dramatic political change. That, of course, is a very minor thing compared to the overall story of what the people in Myanmar are going through. Just to get that message and a big thank you across to them and to say to them that even though Myanmar is not getting the attention it deserves, and that's part of the book, but nonetheless, there are millions of people around the world who do follow events in Myanmar and who do care about what's happening. RFA: What about the regime? Do you have anything to say to Min Aung Hlaing and other regime leaders? Well, I would say to them to put their country first. To put the people of Myanmar first. Stop being so defensive, selfish. I mean, I could go on and I won't bother doing that, but I mean that very clearly. These are people who don't have the country's interests at heart. Perhaps some of them might have second thoughts. I like to think that probably not at the very top, but that there must be people, smart people, and for whatever reason, might be caught up in that regime who might just think, “This is terrible, we've got to stop this. This is enough.” I'm hopeful that that's the case. It's obviously very hard to know, but you just can't help but feel there must be people who look at the economy, look at the dreadful state of the country and just think, “We can't do this. We've got to stop.” And so to those people, I would encourage them to do so..."
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Source/publisher: "Radio Free Asia" (USA)
2023-09-18
Date of entry/update: 2023-09-18
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "Dissolving Myanmar Gems and Jewellery Entrepreneurs Association Reference:​(1) National Unity Government, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation. Announcement 7/2021, dated 23/08/2021 ​(2) National Unity Government, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation. Announcement 2/2021, dated 29/06/2021 ​(3) Unity Government, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation. Announcement 1/2021, dated 27/04/2021 ​(4) Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, Ministry of Planning, Finance and Industry. Announcement 4/2021, dated 22/03/2021 1.​In light of the imperative duty of business organisations to prioritise the public interest, and in consideration of their established affiliations and actions in support of the terrorist military council, which thereby aim to lend said council legitimacy and derive revenue and profits to their benefit, and further noting their consistent failure to comply with the warnings issued by the National Unity Government in above announcements; it is hereby decreed that the Myanmar Gems and Jewellery Entrepreneurs Association, along with its subsidiary entities, be and is hereby dissolved. 2. ​Effective from the date of promulgation of this order, the withdrawal or expenditure of any assets and funds associated with the aforementioned association and its subsidiary entities is strictly prohibited. 3. ​This order shall not infringe upon the proprietary rights of individual entrepreneurs, nor shall it impede their business activities, provided such undertakings remain detached from any affiliations or connections to the terrorist military council. 4.​Any individual entrepreneur or employee found to continue their involvement in activities related to the now-dissolved entities, or who offers cooperation, disperses assets and funds, or acts under the guise of said entities, will be construed as acting in support of the terrorist military council, and so be liable to prosecution under existing laws and regulations, as stipulated in Cabinet Meeting No. 14/2013 of the National Unity Government and the approval of the Office of the President..."
Source/publisher: Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation - NUG
2023-09-17
Date of entry/update: 2023-09-17
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Description: "Dissolving Myanmar Gems and Jewellery Entrepreneurs Association Notification (2/2023)..."
Source/publisher: Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation - NUG
2023-09-17
Date of entry/update: 2023-09-17
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "Australian economist Sean Turnell served as a policy adviser to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy government during its first term. He was detained by the military shortly after the February 2021 coup and later imprisoned on charges—widely dismissed as trumped up—of violating state secrets and immigration laws. After nearly two years behind bars he was released in November 2022 as part of a general amnesty and has continued to speak out against the military junta from his home country, prompting the regime to revoke its pardon. In the following interview with The Irrawaddy’s Justin Higginbottom, Turnell discusses in detail the economic fallout of the military’s disastrous ‘mismanagement’ of the economy—and whether or not that is in fact the correct term to describe its actions—the post-COVID economic recovery plans the NLD was preparing to implement in its stolen second term, as well as the regime’s access to foreign reserves and what actions foreign governments can take to limit it. He also discusses his forthcoming book describing his experiences as a political prisoner in Myanmar. THE IRRAWADDY: Can you talk about the general economic situation in Myanmar? What’s going on since the coup? What’s the general situation? Where do they find themselves right now? TURNELL: I mean it’s just awful.… “Catastrophe” is the word that I generally like to employ. And I don’t think that’s even hyperbole. No matter what you look at, it’s negative essentially. I mean if you begin with growth, economic growth in Myanmar took a bit of a knock with COVID, so we’d been expecting for 2020 a growth rate of about 7 percent, and similar for 2021, but then COVID arrived and growth went down to about 1.8 percent for [2020], and no one was clear about 2021. And it went [to] negative 18 percent [-18 percent] in 2021 [and has] recovered a bit since, but.. If you’d said, OK, where can you reasonably apply the trend line? So in other words you get the knock from COVID but then good policy sort of gets you back on track—which is exactly what’s happened all around the world and all around the region—so it’s not an unreasonable expectation [that] we’d have been back to those sort of growth levels – 6, 7, 8 percent—hopefully, because there actually had been a very aggressive reform program to come into place with that second term of the government; you know, many of the things that weren’t done in the first term were geared up and ready to go in the second term. So, anyway, just to say that growth rates of 6, 7 percent—we’d have been disappointed if we weren’t hitting those. But irrespective of that, even on the worst assumption of where we’d be at, the economy is now 30 percent below any sort of modest trend; the economy’s about 30 percent down. It’s about 20-odd percent down anyway, but by trend it’s nearly a third. Which is just catastrophic for a country like Myanmar, that is poor to begin with, one of the poorest countries in the world, and people are now one-third poorer than where they should have been. There’s no fat in the system; people are desperately poor now, and they can’t take a knock of one third of their income. But anyway that’s just growth numbers. No matter what the metric is: the budget deficit is now dramatically blown out. Taxation revenue has now shrunk dramatically along with it. The bond sales are not really proceeding as they could be. The banks are not really in a position to take up the bonds on offer; so all of that means the government is just printing money hand over fist. As a consequence of that we’ve got monetary instability, whether it be measured in terms of high inflation rates, particularly relative to peers in Southeast Asia. [And] a collapsing exchange rate, so the exchange rate is less than half of what it was before the coup. The trade situation’s dire: There’s a bit of holding up in terms of gas revenues, because hydrocarbon prices were quite high, but other than that even other energy prices and income are down; agriculture is down. There’s been a bit of a recovery from the really deep lows immediately after the coup in terms of textiles, but overall the trade situation is terrible. Debt levels have more than doubled. Unemployment, to the extent that it’s measured properly, a lot of the measures are not really there anyway, but we do know that there’s been a wholesale shift from the formal economy to the informal economy—and you don’t get a growing, transforming economy out of one that is based in informality. Informality is really just a coping mechanism and that is where most people are. On top of that, just the opportunities lost. Back in 2020, young educated Myanmar people had real prospects and had choices about where to get employment, and now people are scattered to the winds outside the country, within the country. People with expensive degrees that they thought would yield them a good income in a growing economy are now on the front lines or in prison. It’s just a catastrophe. I get depressed over so many things in Myanmar; obviously the loss of life and the violence above all, but if you look at the economy, compared to the hopes that people reasonably had for it, it just makes you want to cry. THE IRRAWADDY: So how much can we chalk this economic ruin up to mismanagement by the junta, or is a lot of it caused by sanctions, or just the general conflict, just the country being in a state of war right now? TURNELL: I’m probably a little bit biased in this obviously, but to me it comes from… In fact [it’s an] interesting word “economic mismanagement”. I wonder if that is the expression? It’s an expression I’ve used, I hasten to add… The more I think about it, it isn’t really economic mismanagement because in terms of policy—and that’s where a lot of the damage is being done—there is the damage of course being done by violence and so on as well, of course, perpetrated by the regime and instigated by them—but I’m just wondering about that term “mismanagement”, because in some ways what they’re doing is gearing the economy to a war economy and neglecting or abusing everything else, so to some extent it’s management for a purpose. It’s just that that purpose is greatly destructive. But in some ways, if you think about it, what they’ve essentially done is created a war economy, [so] the management that has yielded terrible economic outcomes is in once sense quite deliberate in terms of transferring resources into the military state. But anyway, it’s only “mismanagement” from an economist’s perspective, and what you’d think would be the objective of any sort of sovereign government. I think we’d have to locate it there, but I think it’s mainly because if we just go to the counterexamples around the world—you don’t have to go to the developed world or rich or even fast-growing economies. You just go to the region and you see the bounce-back [from COVID], and Myanmar is such an extraordinary outlier in terms of economies that just haven’t bounced back, so I think the blame for it is really there. COVID had damaged things but there were some very comprehensive plans to deal with that. Nothing too radical—it was more just the [same] playbook of just about anywhere else, about protecting incomes. And all of that was dismantled after the coup and of course the response to COVID itself was greatly mismanaged and the rest, and repression of medical workers, etc., so even though clearly there were external events, if we look at comparable countries around Myanmar you’d really have to slate most of the economic damage home to the regime and, again, it’s mismanagement, is the word we use for it. THE IRRAWADDY: We had a story recently that reported that the regime-controlled Central Bank of Myanmar had about US$6.8 billion in foreign reserves as of March 2023. More than half of that’s in Singaporean banks. Do you know how much of that is actually accessible to the regime? If the international community wanted to block access to those reserves what might they want to do? TURNELL: It’s an interesting one. In terms of “accessible”, it’s hard not to get technical here, because reserves by definition are financial assets that are either issued by other countries like US dollars, euros, Singapore dollars, Australian dollars or whatever, or commodities of some form—valuable commodities such as gold—so in a sense they’re accessible to the point that they still have value. By which I mean, if you have US dollars in a US bank account, those dollars only have value if you can access them at the US bank. So in some ways the question of accessibility is really the critical issue when we think of a country having assets because if they’re not accessible those assets in a sense don’t exist. That’s the first thing to say. That is nothing unusual in a way… It’s not like the regime could access them and bring them home. It could if it was gold. You could just store it at the central bank. But the only way for foreign currency-denominated assets to have value is to have them in foreign currency accounts and usually it’s the case that they’re going to be in foreign banks, so the question of accessibility is caught up with the value of those reserves. It’s a big thing to constrain access to foreign assets of governments. This is why you’ll notice that even with the suspension of access to funds at the [US] Federal Reserve, that that [suspension] is what we’re talking about, rather than the transfer of those assets to anywhere else. This gets into areas of untouchablity or…. a lack of precedent, I would say, for that. So measures to transfer those reserves to anyone else become quite problematic. Which doesn’t mean you still can’t do things. For instance, the NUG [Myanmar’s shadow, civilian National Unity Government] could come up with some quite creative measures to use the value of reserves in ways that they could … essentially financially engineer other financial assets out of reserves that are not accessible to the regime. I know that’s getting complex because we’re getting into the area of financial engineering and the extent to which [denying the regime] access to reserves—does that create value for anyone else, like an alternative government such as the NUG? And there I think you get into some interesting gray areas. But denial of access is one thing and transferring those assets somewhere else is a different thing, so it’s hard to imagine other countries doing that, apart from the US. The US would be the only one to move in that sort of direction and obviously they have to a certain extent in terms of blocking the regime’s access to the funds at the Federal Reserve, but the others, it’s hard to imagine blocking that. THE IRRAWADDY: So it’s not realistic to think that Singapore might just one day say, “All those assets you have with us – those aren’t accessible. You can’t take those out.”? TURNELL: It would be a big leap. Where I was going before with this whole issue of access, this is where this becomes important as well, you would probably have degrees of freedom of movement. So for instance, it’s hard to imagine a country actually blocking another country accessing its reserves. On the other hand, if a country decided that it was going to transfer all of its reserves, it’s hard to imagine that being an easy process either. And in the case of Myanmar, a process that wouldn’t involve extraordinary complications. So the degree to which those reserves are fully accessible to the regime would have to be questionable I think. THE IRRAWADDY: You’re writing a book about your experience in prison, I believe? Did you want to say anything about that? TURNELL: Sure. We’ll probably go on a big publicity thing in a few weeks. It’s finished. Just a few technical things with the publisher, which is Penguin. It starts with my arrest back on Feb. 6, 2021. I’ve got a couple of chapters that deal with what we were trying to do in Myanmar, just a broad outline of the reform process, things like that. But for the most part it’s all about the prison experience—arrest, Insein [Prison in Yangon], up to Naypyitaw, the trial, the incredible support I got from my fellow political prisoners and then from the Burmese people more broadly. It doesn’t hold back from detailing the horrors all around me but it’s still a little bit of a “love letter” to the Burmese people, because even though there were these terrible people who were keeping me in the prison, it was the case that 99 percent of the people I dealt with even in the prisons and so on were incredibly compassionate, and incredibly courageous in demonstrating that compassion. I’m very, very blunt in saying how awful the prison was and saying how absurd the trial was and what a terrible injustice was meted out not just to me but more importantly to my Burmese colleagues and people who weren’t even connected with my case, but whose cases I got to know about. I met people who were being tortured and so on, and ill-treated. They even ill-treated me—you know, one would have surely thought that I would have told the story once I got out and of course I did so, which caused the SAC regime [the State Administration Council, as the junta calls itself] to get extremely upset anew. So I think they’re going to get upset again in a few weeks when the book’s out. (Turnell concluded the interview by offering to add to his earlier reply to the question regarding the junta’s access to foreign reserves.) If you hold US dollars in a bank, obviously they’re not physical, all they are is on the balance sheet of a bank, and they’re just a promise from the bank to pay US dollars. So you open an account, let’s say it’s 1 billion US dollars, and that account is really just a liability of that bank to pay you. So you give them a billion dollars and they then open up a liability, which is just a deposit account, which says that they will repay that billion at some point in time. But it’s only an asset that sits on the balance sheet of that bank. I guess what I was trying to get at is that access to reserves depends on that relationship between you and the financial institution. Again, it’s so different to gold, etc. It’s not a physical commodity that can just be moved about. It depends on the decision [of the bank] and so if a bank grants access then those assets have value. If that access is in any way compromised, those assets no longer have value, and I think that was the nuance I was trying to get at with respect to even places like Singapore—that the extent to which there’s any doubt of you being able to access quickly and in full your reserves puts a shadow over those reserves, even if there’s no sanctions and so on.
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
2023-09-11
Date of entry/update: 2023-09-11
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "As world leaders gather for the G20 summit in New Delhi this weekend, Burma Campaign UK is calling on G20 members to put pressure on Prime Minister Modi over India arming, financing, and providing diplomatic support for the Myanmar/Burmese military. A report earlier this year by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation in Myanmar revealed that India-based entities have supplied $51 million worth of arms and related materials to the military since February 2021. Indian companies have entered into business relationships with the military or are working for the Burmese military, helping to finance the military and providing it with technology enabling it to arrest human rights and democracy activists. Diplomatically, India has been working regionally to undermine ASEAN’s five-point consensus and assist the military in gaining the international legitimacy it craves, while also attempting to protect the military at a global level, including at the UN Security Council, negotiating to weaken a resolution on Burma and then refusing to vote in favour of it. The Burmese military were already facing charges of genocide and crimes against humanity even before their attempted coup began in 2021, and India continued to arm them despite this. Since the coup, United Nations investigators have said the military is committing an increasing number of human rights violations which could be classified as war crimes and crimes against humanity. Numerous Burmese civil society organisations have documented daily atrocities by the Burmese military. More than 2 million people have been forced to flee their homes, thousands killed and almost 25,000 arrested. Airstrikes and long-range artillery are used to target schools, hospitals, homes and religious buildings. India has been mistreating refugees from Burma, refusing to give them legal sanctuary and arresting, beating and detaining refugees, and threatening them with deportation. “We have seen a succession of world leaders visiting India and failing to challenge Modi on his support for the Burmese military,” said Anna Roberts, Executive Director of Burma Campaign UK. “The G20 is an opportunity for world leaders to come together and collectively pressure Modi to stop arming the Burmese military. Modi must not be allowed to use the summit to promote himself while at the same time arming a military which bombs schools and hospitals.”..."
Source/publisher: "Burma Campaign UK" (London)
2023-09-04
Date of entry/update: 2023-09-04
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Sub-title: Junta leaders are blaming saboteurs and speculators for inflation and devaluation caused by their mismanagement.
Description: "Amid the news of escalating violence, it’s easy to lose sight of two events in August 2023 that exposed the Myanmar military regime’s vulnerability. First, in a video message to the Moscow International Security Conference, coup leader Min Aung Hlaing complained about the weaponization of the dollar. Second, the August appointment of Lt Gen Nyo Saw to two special commissions on trade and foreign exchange that report directly to junta chief Min Aung Hlaing. Saw is a close confidant, but as the chairman of military-owned conglomerate Myanma Economic Corporation (MEC) and a director of military’s other holding company, Myanma Economic Holdings Ltd (MEHL), he’s also the military’s most experienced economic and business expert. It’s hard to overstate just how bad Myanmar’s economy is. Although the World Bank predicts GDP to grow at 2 to 3% this year, the economy has contracted by 12% since January 2021. A decade’s worth of economic growth was eviscerated. Nearly 60% of the population is now living beneath the poverty line, and the World Bank is warning about food insecurity across the country. Between war, climate change, and currency controls that limited the amount of the imports of fertilizer and pesticides, agricultural production is down. Although 2022-23 saw $1.6 billion in pledged foreign investment – almost all of which was from China or boomerang Myanmar investment via Singapore and Hong Kong – far less was actually realized. Other foreign investors are pulling out, citing poor market conditions, pressure from activists, and reputational costs. This has diminished the corporate tax base. With the exception of gas and oil sales to Thailand and China, exports have been hard hit. According to the military government’s Ministry of Commerce, in the first eight months of 2022, total exports reached $6.57 billion, giving the country a $172 million trade surplus. In the same period in 2023, total exports dropped by 9.8% to $5.93 billion, with a $500 million trade deficit. But if one disaggregates border trade, it’s even worse. Currency control confusion Exports to overseas markets fell by 21%. And it will worsen as key manufacturers, such as clothing makers H&M, Primark, and Inditex,- have left. Some retailers are now shunning Myanmar gemstones. Trade has been hard hit by a series of hastily implemented currency controls that change regularly, upsetting businesses. Some of the more recent currency controls have forced any individual or business with more than $10,000, without a permit, to purchase the kyat currency at the official exchange rate of 2,100 to the U.S. dollar. The black market rate for the greenback is 3,900 kyat , a 300% decline in the value of the currency since the Feb. 1, 2021 coup. Myanmar’s banks are increasingly isolated. U.S. sanctions on Myanma Foreign Trade Bank and Myanma Investment and Commercial Bank, which were responsible for the clearing of most U.S. dollar transactions, have forced costly workarounds, such as establishing new shell companies and bank accounts. Singapore’s United Overseas Bank Limited (UOB) announced that they would close the accounts of Myanmar, and had already stopped providing banking services for Myanmar Airways International. Other Singapore banks are expected to follow suit, following signaling from the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the additional reporting requirements due to the Financial Action Task Force blacklist. A Bangladesh bank froze the accounts of the two sanctioned banks. Government revenue is flat or declining. While officially a secret, projections built into the annual Union Taxation Law paint a grim picture. The Internal Revenue Department has warned that revenue from lotteries, income tax, corporate taxes, natural resource rents, and customs duties have all stayed flat or contracted since the coup; only rents from oil and gas exports have gone up. Tax authorities are now specifically hitting medical professionals with preemptive taxes. According to data compiled by the opposition National Unity Government (NUG), the Central Bank of Myanmar has compelled banks, state-owned enterprises and insurance companies to buy an estimated 26.5 trillion kyat in bonds, $3.1 billion at the black market rate, since the coup. With an inability to repay, and an NUG pledge that the bonds will not be honored, these are additional liabilities for banks that are already saddled with non-performing loans. The regime is broke and may have turned on the printing presses. The NUG estimates that the military government has printed up to 20 trillion kyat, roughly $5.1 billion at black market rates, since the coup, partially explaining the high inflation. Sanctions take a bite In July 2023, the junta issued a K20,000 note, the highest denomination, creating an inflationary spike and a further decline in the currency’s value. It’s supposed to be a limited issue currency, but with 14% inflation, a higher denominated note may be required. While international sanctions have not resulted in a massive seizure of funds, they’ve not been insignificant either. The U.S.immediately froze $1.1 billion of Central Bank of Myanmar assets following the coup. The European Union froze $503 million when it sanctioned the Ministry of Oil and Gas Enterprise. More importantly, the sanctions have made everything harder for the junta. The NUG has identified 13 other banks around the world that are holding some $5.5 billion in Central Bank of Myanmar assets, 67% of which are in nine banks in Singapore. Should the NUG ever convince the Singapore government to freeze those assets, it would deliver the coup de grâce. This degree of economic mismanagement is a crime in itself, right up there with the military’s daily war crimes. The economy is the regime’s Achilles heel and they don’t have the competence to fix it. Their penchant for control has brought banking to a standstill. An August meeting of the central bank and other top ministries tapped an intelligence agency to lead an investigation into the high rates of inflation and depreciating kyat. Meanwhile, the regime has revoked the licenses of 30 foreign exchange traders. This says so much about the junta’s way of thinking. They are oblivious to the fact that it’s their mismanagement that has caused both depreciation and inflation, yet the benighted and paranoid military is convinced that it’s the work of saboteurs and speculators. All the while, the generals are doing everything they can to enrich themselves and move assets overseas, before it all comes crumbling down..."
Source/publisher: "Radio Free Asia" (USA)
2023-09-02
Date of entry/update: 2023-09-02
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "Justice For Myanmar spoofs Forbes 30 Under 30 to profile tycoons funnelling funds, arms and related equipment from Singapore to illegitimate junta Justice For Myanmar today launched a new effort to draw attention to tycoons supporting the illegal Myanmar military junta. The inaugural Dirty Over 30 list features nine tycoons who continue to funnel funds, arms and related equipment to the junta through the “business-friendly” haven of Singapore, which is currently the third-largest supplier of arms and equipment to the Myanmar military. Future editions will feature tycoons in other regions who are enabling and profiting from the crisis in Myanmar. The campaign is launching ahead of the 2023 ASEAN Summit in Indonesia to pressure Singapore and other ASEAN member countries to more effectively block the movement of funds and arms to the Myanmar junta. Meet nine paragons of dirty business The Dirty Over 30 Singapore edition includes nine businesspeople who’ve amassed sizable fortunes funding brutality, mass-murder and war crimes in Myanmar and who continue to do business in Singapore. They include: Tay Za, Founder and Chairperson, Htoo Group of Companies Naing Htut Aung, Founder and Managing Director, International Gateways Group of Companies Aung Hlaing Oo, Founder and Managing Director, Myanmar Chemical & Machinery Group Aung Moe Myint, Founder and Director, Dynasty Group of Companies Tun Min Latt, Founder and Managing Director, Star Sapphire Group of Companies Khin Phyu Win, Founder and Director, Asia Sun Group of Companies Jonathan Myo Kyaw Thaung, CEO, KT Group Thein Win Zaw, Founder and Chairperson, Shwe Byain Phyu Group of Companies George Yin Soon, Investor The Dirty Over 30 list parodies the Forbes 30 Under 30 list. Portraits of the Dirty Over 30 “dishonourees” were created using real photos and sophisticated AI facial composites. The profiles include factual details about their lives and dirty business dealings. Notably, in what has been called the “30 Under 30 pipeline to prison,” the pattern of unethical and illegal behaviour amongst “honourees” of the Forbes 30 Under 30 list suggests that the profiteers on the Dirty Over 30 list may not be outliers in the business world. Putting pressure on the Singaporean government The Singaporean government has already committed publicly to stopping the movement of arms to Myanmar, but so far their efforts have fallen short. A recent report from the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation in Myanmar identifies 138 unique suppliers in Singapore doing $247 million worth of trade with the Myanmar military. The report concludes that if the Singaporean government successfully stopped all arms trading to the Myanmar military from its jurisdiction, it would “significantly disrupt” the junta’s ability to commit war crimes. Since the coup attempt in 2021, the Myanmar military has killed at least 4,023 people, including children, committed widespread torture and has arbitrarily arrested over 24,000 people. Many have been killed through indiscriminate airstrikes that require a continued supply of aircraft parts, jet fuel and raw materials that the military needs to manufacture bombs and bullets. It has jailed and tortured countless others. With the Dirty Over 30 project, Justice For Myanmar calls on Singapore to: Introduce sanctions to stop the direct and indirect transfer of arms, dual-use goods and technology to the Myanmar military. Block the junta’s access to Singapore’s financial system through targeted sanctions, including on junta banks. Expedite and make public ongoing investigations into Singaporean companies that have supplied arms, dual-use goods and technology to the Myanmar military. Push for more sanctions from other ASEAN countries on the Myanmar military and entities that transact business with it..."
Source/publisher: Justice For Myanmar
2023-09-01
Date of entry/update: 2023-09-01
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "Justice For Myanmar and The Sentry welcome the recent adoption of sanctions by the United States on two Myanmar state-owned banks, the issuance of a determination on the jet fuel sector, and sanctions targeting a supplier of jet fuel to the Myanmar military. These measures are designed to further weaken the Myanmar junta's ability to access the weapons that it uses in the brutal war it is waging against the country’s population, including through indiscriminate airstrikes. As global leaders are about to meet in Myanmar’s region, first for meetings with ASEAN in Indonesia from September 2-7 and then for the G20 summit in India from September 9-10, The Sentry and Justice For Myanmar reiterate their call for the US and likeminded partners to take the gloves off and adopt much stronger sanctions on the Myanmar junta and its enablers. The US’s show of resolve would be significantly strengthened by joining the European Union in sanctioning the Myanma Oil & Gas Enterprise (MOGE), the junta’s single largest source of foreign currency earnings. The US and its partners have already improved coordination to more effectively target military-owned businesses, state-owned enterprises, and networks of individuals and corporate entities that enable the junta’s access to international trade and finance. However, this coordination is far from comprehensive, creating loopholes for the junta and its networks of enablers. For instance, while the US has sanctioned the Star Sapphire Group of Companies’ co-owners, Tun Min Latt and his wife Win Min Soe, for their firms’ involvement with the import of military equipment, the United Kingdom has not sanctioned Win Min Soe to date, and other US partners including the EU, Canada, and Australia have yet to adopt sanctions on the Star Sapphire companies and their co-owners. At the time of his arrest by the Thai police in Bangkok in September 2022 on charges of drug trafficking and money laundering, Tun Min Latt held assets in the names of the two adult children of Min Aung Hlaing, the head of the Myanmar junta, according to Justice For Myanmar and Reuters. These assets included the property deed for a luxury condominium and bankbooks for Thai bank accounts. The US should urge the newly elected leader of its longtime ally Thailand to effectively enforce sanctions targeting the junta’s sources of funds, equipment, and jet fuel, and to more broadly ramp up the fight against illicit financial flows, as the crisis in Myanmar and other regional trends lead to the rise of transnational crime in the Mekong region. Enhanced collaboration between regulatory authorities, law enforcement agencies, and banks—the latter acting as gatekeepers to the international financial system—is essential in that regard. Singaporean banks have reportedly strengthened their compliance and risk management measures toward Myanmar since the coup. It was stated during parliamentary questions in July 2023 that, “as Myanmar is on the blacklist of the Financial Action Task Force [FATF], financial institutions in Singapore have also been applying enhanced due diligence for Myanmar-linked customers and transactions that present higher risks.” A media report in August 2023 revealed that United Overseas Bank (UOB), a key offshore bank for “Myanmar’s generals, big corporations and wealthy individuals,” would be restricting transactions and correspondent banking relationships, partly to avoid falling foul of mounting US sanctions on the country. Justice For Myanmar and The Sentry welcome these positive steps, and the US should continue to support Singapore, which currently chairs the FATF, in its efforts to prevent illicit financial flows, including as related to Myanmar. Other Singaporean banks, while avoiding de-risking that could potentially impact on humanitarian aid as well as on trade and business activities that do not benefit the junta, should follow UOB in restricting transactions and correspondent banking relationships, and Singapore authorities should adopt further restrictive measures to prevent the junta’s access to funds and equipment. Finally, the US needs to encourage its partners in the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue to step up their responses to the crisis in Myanmar. Quad member Australia has only targeted a small number of entities and individuals in February 2023; in coordination with the US and other partners, it should do more to catch up. The US should encourage Japan, which chairs the G7 in 2023, to coordinate with ASEAN to ensure that no junta representatives are invited to the December 2023 summit in Tokyo that celebrates the 50-year anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and the regional organization. As for India, the US must call for the sale of military equipment to the Myanmar junta to be fully suspended, as research by Justice For Myanmar has found that several Indian firms, including ones controlled by New Delhi, have supplied the junta after the coup. The Quad can and must do more to tackle the crisis in Myanmar. Yadanar Maung, spokesperson, stated for Justice For Myanmar: “The international community is failing the people of Myanmar. Statements of concern and condemnation have had no impact on the illegitimate junta and the daily atrocities it is committing against the people of Myanmar. Instead, governments and international organizations need to take concrete steps to block the junta’s access to the resources it needs to continue its campaign of terror and ensure that there is international accountability for the military’s genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.” Oliver Windridge, Director of Illicit Finance Policy at The Sentry, said: “The recent adoption of sanctions by the United States on two Myanmar state-owned banks, the issuance of a determination on the jet fuel sector, and sanctions targeting a supplier of jet fuel supplier to the Myanmar military are positive steps forward, but more must be done. As global leaders meet in Myanmar’s region for meetings with ASEAN and then for the G20 summit, The Sentry and Justice For Myanmar reiterate their call for the US and likeminded partner to take the gloves off and adopt much stronger sanctions targeted at the Myanmar junta and its enablers.” For media inquiries or interview requests for The Sentry, please contact: Greg Hittelman, Director of Communications, [email protected] For media inquiries for Justice For Myanmar, please contact: Yadanar Maung, Spokesperson, [email protected] About Justice For Myanmar Justice For Myanmar is a covert group of activists using research, data visualisation, and reporting to expose and dismantle the business networks that fuel brutality, corruption and mass-scale suffering. ‍‍One report at a time, Justice For Myanmar is going after the military’s sources of funds and arms. As a result of its work and the work of many others across Myanmar and the world, multinational corporations have already divested hundreds of millions of dollars from business with the military, and targeted sanctions are beginning to disrupt the Myanmar military cartel's global network. About The Sentry (Short descriptor for press use: “The Sentry, an investigative organization that tracks corruption”) The Sentry is an investigative and policy organization that seeks to disable multinational predatory networks that benefit from violent conflict, repression, and kleptocracy. Pull back the curtain on wars, mass atrocities, and "other human rights abuses, and you’ll find grand corruption and unchecked greed. These tragedies persist because the perpetrators rarely face meaningful consequences. The Sentry aims to alter the warped incentive structures that continually undermine peace and good governance. Our investigations follow the money as it is laundered from war zones to financial centers around the world. We provide evidence and strategies for governments, banks, and law enforcement to hold the perpetrators and enablers of violence and corruption to account. These efforts provide new leverage for human rights, peace, and anti-corruption efforts..."
Source/publisher: Justice For Myanmar
2023-09-01
Date of entry/update: 2023-09-01
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Description: "Myanmar’s civilian National Unity Government (NUG) aims to bankrupt the junta through tougher sanctions and diplomatic pressure, foreign minister Daw Zin Mar Aung told the media on Tuesday. “We aim to increase our efforts to lobby the international community to impose more economic sanctions and more diplomatic pressure upon the military council, which is oppressing the people and committing violence,” said Daw Zin Mar Aung. She said the NUG will engage with any country that supports efforts to end military rule in Myanmar. The US expanded its sanctions on August 23 to aviation fuel, adding two Burmese business owners and three companies that supply jet fuel to the regime to its Specially Designated Nationals List. The US was the first country to impose sanctions after the February 1, 2021, coup with measures taken against Myanmar’s top 10 generals by February 11. The UK and Canada also imposed sanctions on the generals by February 18. Further sanctions against the regime’s leaders, advisers, the children of junta leader Min Aung Hlaing and military-owned conglomerates followed from the US, UK and European Union in March and April. In May 2021, the US issued further sanctions on more junta members and its ruling body. The EU sanctioned junta cabinet ministers and the attorney general in June 2021 and in July the US sanctioned more junta members, their relatives and Chinese firms. In September 2021 the UK sanctioned Tay Za, a notorious junta crony, and his businesses for providing financial support and arms to the military. To mark a year since the coup, the US, UK and Canada sanctioned three junta appointees while Washington also targeted four businessmen who were supporting the regime and two organizations providing arms and equipment. The EU sanctioned more companies, including the junta-controlled Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise. In June 2022 the UK sanctioned three firms from Russia and three from Myanmar for supplying aircraft parts to the junta. The UK expanded these measures a month later to other junta-linked companies. In October the US placed arms dealers in Myanmar on its sanctions blacklist and in November the US and EU extended sanctions, targeting the Sky Aviator aviation company and its owner and 19 other individuals, including a minister and the chief justice. To mark two years since the coup, the EU imposed further sanctions on junta members, its arms brokers and jet fuel suppliers. In June this year, the US sanctioned the junta’s defense ministry and the regime-run Myanma Foreign Trade Bank and Myanma Investment and Commercial Bank, which handle the junta’s foreign currency exchanges. Last month the EU sanctioned six more junta members. The NUG’s foreign ministry thanked the countries imposing sanctions upon junta assets, individuals and allied businesses. Daw Zin Mar Aung said the NUG is also working with regional neighbors, although only East Timor has officially recognized the civilian government. “No neighboring countries have officially recognized us yet but they are communicating with us. We need to maintain these relations through engagement, proceeding silently,” she said. Daw Zin Mar Aung praised Indonesia, the current Association of Southeast Asian Nations chair, for its active role in Myanmar’s crisis. She called for the progress to be continued next year when Laos is chair. “The military council has not respected ASEAN’s five-point consensus and it does not listen to anyone or anybody,” she said. “We urge ASEAN to keep up its progress and maintain institutional relations with the NUG as well.”..."
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Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
2023-08-30
Date of entry/update: 2023-08-30
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "Justice For Myanmar welcomes the US determination authorising sanctions against any company or individual that operates in the jet fuel sector of the Myanmar economy, including through “activities related to the importation, exportation, reexportation, sale, supply, or transport, directly or indirectly, of jet fuel”. This follows the US determination ordering sanctions against companies and individuals operating in the defence sector of the Myanmar economy under Executive Order 14014 on February 10, 2021. The new determination is an important step to dismantle the junta’s access to jet fuel, and sends a clear message that companies involved in all stages of the junta’s jet fuel supply chain can face US sanctions. This comes after a campaign from Myanmar and international civil society calling for countries to block the junta’s access to jet fuel, and is a response to the junta’s reliance on air strikes to wage its campaign of terror against the people. We urge the US to follow up its determination with sanctions against companies enabling the junta’s access to jet fuel, including those in the shipping and insurance industries. We further welcome sanctions against Khin Phyu Win, Zaw Min Tun, and three Singapore companies: Shoon Energy Pte Ltd and two of its subsidiaries: PEIA Pte Ltd (formerly Puma Energy Irrawaddy Aviation) and P.E.I Energy Pte Ltd (formerly Puma Energy Irrawaddy). Shoon group of companies, formerly Asia Sun, is a key local partner of the Myanmar military junta and is involved in importing, storing, selling and delivering jet fuel to the military. Asia Sun’s role in the Myanmar military’s jet fuel supply chain was detailed in the Amnesty International report, Deadly Cargo, with research contributed by Justice For Myanmar. We note that the Big Four accounting firm Ernst & Young LLP is currently the listed auditor of two of the newly sanctioned Singapore businesses: PEIA Pte Ltd and P.E.I Energy Pte Ltd. We call on Ernst & Young to immediately cut ties with these businesses and any other companies involved in the supply of jet fuel to Myanmar. The sanctioning of more companies in Singapore highlights the failure of the Singapore government to block the use of its territory to support the Myanmar military junta. This week, 200 civil society organisations including Justice For Myanmar sent an open letter to Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Singapore’s Foreign Minister, urging him to introduce sanctions to prevent the direct and indirect transfer of arms, dual-use goods and technology to the Myanmar military, and to block the junta’s access to Singapore’s financial system through targeted sanctions, which it has imposed on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. Singapore should listen to the voices of Myanmar civil society and the recent recommendations of the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar by taking concrete action to help end the crisis in Myanmar. We reiterate our call for coordinated sanctions on the junta controlled Myanma Petrochemical Enterprise (MPE) and the complete Shoon network. MPE controls the jet fuel supply chain, operates the Mann Refinery which produces jet fuel, and jointly owns National Energy Puma Aviation Services (NEPAS) with Shoon. NEPAS imports, stores and distributes jet fuel. Shoon Energy Thilawa Terminal Company Limited (formerly Puma Energy Asia Sun) operates a major fuel terminal and storage tanks. MPE, NEPAS and Shoon Energy Thilawa Terminal have not yet been sanctioned in any jurisdiction. The illegal junta relies on its air force to wage a war of terror against the people of Myanmar. In the first two months of 2023 alone, Chin Human Rights Organization documented one airstrike per day in Chin State townships under martial law. A recent New York Times investigation details how the junta’s use of airstrikes against the people of Myanmar is worsening. The junta’s ability to carry out its indiscriminate airstrikes depends on its access to jet fuel. By supporting the supply of jet fuel to the Myanmar military, businesses are complicit in the junta’s airstrikes, which amount to atrocity crimes, and all those responsible should be held accountable under international law. Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung says: “We welcome the latest significant steps the US has taken in issuing a sanctions determination against the jet fuel sector and in sanctioning key companies and individuals that supply jet fuel to the Myanmar military, and are complicit in its indiscriminate airstrikes. “We urge the US to swiftly follow the determination by sanctioning international businesses in the junta’s jet fuel supply chain to help stop its ongoing airstrikes against the people of Myanmar. “We urge the US, UK, EU, Canada and Australia to coordinate sanctions against companies and individuals in the junta’s jet fuel supply chain, along with arms brokers and entities that provide the junta with sources of revenue, including Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE). “It is concerning that Shoon group has continued to operate in Singapore, along with many other companiessupporting the junta’s international crimes. “Recent US and UK sanctions against Singapore companies should be a wake-up call to the Singaporen government to act in accordance with its international responsibilities and stop allowing Singaporean companies to provide the junta with access to arms, equipment, technology, jet fuel and funds. “We note Singapore Foreign Minister Dr Vivian Balakrishnan's recent statement committing to a prohibition on the transfer of arms and dual use goods to Myanmar, but comprehensive action needs to be seen.”..."
Source/publisher: Justice For Myanmar
2023-08-24
Date of entry/update: 2023-08-24
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Sub-title: Sanctions this year cover 10 people and 15 entities, all tied to the forces that seized power from the elected government of civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021.
Description: "WASHINGTON (CN) — The Biden administration expanded its sanctions Wednesday on Myanmar's military junta to include foreign companies or people helping the regime acquire jet fuel used in airstrikes on its own people. Among those newly designated by the State and Treasury departments are two people and three entities accused of supplying the military. “The United States will continue to seek to deprive the military regime of the resources that enable its oppression of the people of Burma,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement, adhering to a U.S. policy by which the country is still called by the name that it shed over 30 years ago after the ruling junta brutally suppressed a pro-democracy uprising. War crimes from on the ground in Myanmar are recounted in the statement, which highlights in particular fighter jet and helicopter attacks that killed up to 90 civilians in April and June. “The United States remains committed to supporting the people of Burma in their pursuit of freedom and democracy,” Brian Nelson, under secretary of Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in the press release. Myanmar's military, called the Tatmadaw, has been in power since 1962. Though the country started a transition to democracy in 2011, military leaders tightened their grip in response to recent elections that brought overwhelming victories for the opposition party, National League for Democracy. The influence of NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi brought improved relations with Washington. The Obama administration lifted longstanding sanctions in 2016, but Myanmar's worsening treatment of Rohingya Muslims led the Trump administration to reimpose sanctions a year later. After the NLD made more gains in the November 2020 elections, the military disputed the results. It seized control of the government in February 2021, arresting Suu Kyi, President U Win Myint and chief regional political leaders. The coup kicked off a civil war, with opposition leaders who weren’t arrested forming a National Unity Government in exile and launching an armed resistance against the Tatmadaw. Myanmar's military has claimed it will hold elections again in 2023, but the State Department is skeptical that any vote under the existing political landscape would hold legitimacy. The regime has also not set a firm date, originally floating August, but now saying it could be sometime in November. The Biden administration appears to be ramping up sanctions, with 10 people and 15 entities designated so far this year, compared with 16 people and nine entities in all of 2022. In the civil war that has broken out in response to Myanmar's 2021 coup, an estimated 6,000 civilians have been killed, with tens of thousands detained and more than 1.5 million displaced. Meanwhile, widespread food and fuel shortages have occurred as part of an economic collapse. The White House has responded with sanctions on 85 people and 55 business entities tied to the military regime..."
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Source/publisher: "Courthouse News Service" (California)
2023-08-23
Date of entry/update: 2023-08-23
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Sub-title: The sanctions are in response to the military regime’s “violent airstrikes” against civilians.
Description: "The U.S. Treasury Department has expanded sanctions aimed at Myanmar’s military junta so that any “foreign individual or entity” linked to procuring jet fuel for the military government can be targeted. More than 3,900 civilians have been killed by the regime since it seized power in February 2021, the Treasury Department said, with the junta increasingly reliant on “violent airstrikes” against civilians, including “women and schoolchildren,” to maintain its hold on power. A press release from the Treasury Department singled out two recent air strikes on civilians in the Sagaing region – one in April and one in June – as the impetus for the expansion of the sanctions. The announcement Wednesday was accompanied by the designation of two Burmese individuals – Khin Phyu Win and Zaw Min Tun – and a company – Shoon Energy Pte. Ltd – that the Treasury Department said were involved in procuring jet fuel for use by Myanmar’s military. The sanctions mean that American citizens and firms, including banks, cannot have any business relationship with those sanctioned. “By expanding the use of our sanctions authority to target an additional sector critical to the military regime, we are able to further deprive the regime of the resources that enable it to oppress its citizens,” Brian Nelson, under secretary of the Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence, was quoted as saying in Wednesday’s statement. U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement that the sanctions were intended to put pressure on the junta. "The United States will continue to seek to deprive the military regime of the resources that enable its oppression of the people of Burma," he said. Sagaing has been a hotbed of clashes between the military junta and the People’s Defense Forces since the February 2021 coup. Almost 800,000 residents of the region have been forced to flee due to the conflict since the junta seized power, the United Nations says..."
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Source/publisher: "Radio Free Asia" (USA)
2023-08-23
Date of entry/update: 2023-08-23
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "To: H.E. Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister of Foreign Affairs Singapore Open letter regarding Singapore’s response to business linked to Myanmar junta Your Excellency, We, the undersigned organizations, urge you to take meaningful and concrete action to block the Myanmar military junta’s access to arms, dual-use goods, technology and funds, which are used in its ongoing campaign of terror against the people. We specifically ask you: to expedite and make public investigations into Singapore-based companies involved in and enabling the transfer of arms and dual-use goods and technology transferred, transited, shipped or brokered through Singapore to the Myanmar military; introduce sanctions to prevent the direct and indirect transfer of arms, dual-use goods and technology to the Myanmar military; block the Myanmar junta’s access to Singapore’s financial system through targeted sanctions. Since its attempted coup on 1 February 2021, the Myanmar military has killed more than 3,800 people, detained more than 23,000 and displaced more than 1.6 million. The Myanmar military has scorched at least 70,000 homes and razed villages to the ground. They have weaponized and blocked humanitarian aid, depriving the people of food, water and basic needs. They have even attacked schools and hospitals. Compared to last year, there is a 33 percent increase in indiscriminate airstrikes in the first half of 2023, according to the UN. The Myanmar military can continue to commit these atrocities because countries including Singapore continue to allow—or fail to prevent—the transfer of arms, dual-use goods and technology to the military junta and continued access to their banking systems. In our view, the best way to hinder the Myanmar junta from continued access to funds, arms, dual-use goods and technology is through an autonomous sanctions regime on Myanmar by Singapore that goes beyond a principled oral expression of commitment in response to investigations by the UN and human rights organizations. As Your Excellency is aware, in 2023, several reports have raised concerns over the fact that Singapore is a major jurisdiction for the transfer of various items—in particular dual-use goods and technology—intended for use by the Myanmar armed forces. A May 2023 report by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar identified at least 138 Singapore-based firms that had acted as intermediaries for the Myanmar military, and highlighted how these firms had shipped arms and related goods worth $254 million USD to Myanmar between February 2021 and December 2022. This follows a report by the activist group Justice For Myanmar which named 38 Singapore companies and their directors and shareholders that have brokered arms and equipment to the Myanmar military and a report by the Special Advisory Council for Myanmar (SAC-M), that highlighted how Singapore continues to function as a strategic transit point for potentially significant volumes of items—including certain raw materials—that feed the Myanmar military’s weapons production industry. We understand that since the release of these reports, investigations into the conduct of the companies have been initiated by your Government. We welcome these investigations and ask you to expedite them and make public the results. The May 2023 report by the UN Special Rapporteur also noted that arms dealers move hundreds of millions of dollars through Singaporean banks to supply the Myanmar military. Many Myanmar companies—including companies directly associated with the junta—have offices in Singapore. It is routine practice for companies with direct ties to the Myanmar military to place funds in Singaporean banks. Despite some Western sanctions imposed, most of these companies continue to operate freely, providing a conduit of weapons, munitions and spare parts as well as dual-use items and technology to the junta and through the banking system. We note, in particular, the serious allegations that substantial foreign reserves of Myanmar are suspected to be held in Singapore, providing a financial lifeline for the junta. The long-standing and well-documented reliance by military-linked companies on the Singaporean banking sector gives Singapore more influence on Myanmar than most other ASEAN member states. It is our view that the degree of cooperation from Singaporean banks will have a major impact on the effectiveness of sanctions on the Myanmar junta. A legal memorandum from international barristers Felicity Gerry KC and Daye Gang, published by Justice For Myanmar, also concluded that Singapore has an international legal obligation “to investigate, prevent and cease transactions that amount to wrongful acts”, which are applicable to business transactions with the Myanmar military and its business interests. While we appreciate the circular reportedly issued by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) calling for enhanced due diligence measures to detect and mitigate the risks associated with higher-risk customers and transactions related to Myanmar, and the June 2023 statement by MAS noting that financial institutions should continue to be alert to the heightened risks arising from the situation in Myanmar, much more needs to be done. This includes targeted sanctions against military businesses and an autonomous sanction regime that will stop Singapore-registered companies directly and indirectly procuring arms and dual-use goods and technology for the Myanmar military. On 14 February 2023, during a parliamentary hearing addressing the report by SAC-M, your Excellency confirmed Singapore’s commitment to not authorize the transfer of dual-use items which have been assessed to have potential military application to Myanmar where there is a serious risk that they may be used to inflict violence against unarmed civilians, and that the government of Singapore would not hesitate to take action against those who contravene relevant laws, including Singapore’s Strategic Goods (Control) Act. This commitment is significant as Singapore is the third largest source of arms and dual-use goods for the Myanmar military after Russia and China. However, it is concerning that half a year later, your Excellency’s expressed commitment has only been communicated orally, and we have not yet seen a policy commitment that includes consequences for non-compliance. During the parliamentary hearing, you noted that specifically on military sales, there had been no transfers of arms to Myanmar in recent years. While this is welcome, the problem, as we see it, is not a question of transfers of conventional arms to Myanmar, but the numerous times that dual-use goods and technology that originates from or transits Singapore—whether transferred directly or indirectly to the junta—has ended up in the hands of the Myanmar military. Your Excellency, we therefore ask Singapore to adopt and implement export restrictions on Myanmar. This would follow the recent precedent of restrictive measures applied by your government to Russia, pursuant to which applications to export military items, controlled electronics, controlled computers, and certain telecommunications and encryption items to Myanmar would be rejected. In addition, financial measures targeted at designated military-controlled banks, entities and activities should be put in place to restrict the military’s ability to finance its acts of terror against the people. Recent sanctions imposed by the US on Myanmar’s main portals of foreign currency payments, the state-owned Myanma Foreign Trade Bank (MFTB) and Myanma Investment and Commercial Bank (MICB) should set the example in this regard. A failure by Singapore to act would sustain the current crisis whereby MFTB and MICB facilitate foreign-currency exchange within Myanmar and enable transactions between the military junta and foreign markets to buy arms, dual-use goods, technology and jet fuel, and to undermine the effectiveness of the US sanctions on these entities. While Singapore continues to call for immediate cessation of violence under ASEAN, Singapore-based businesses and the financial system’s involvement in the transfer of weapons and dual-use goods to the Myanmar military directly undermines ASEAN’s credibility. We the undersigned CSOs strongly urge Your Excellency to set a precedent for the region by taking robust and tangible actions to stop Singapore businesses and financial institutions from enabling and being complicit in the Myanmar junta’s ongoing atrocities. As ASEAN is conducting a review of implementation of the failed Five-Point Consensus, these meaningful steps of Singapore will assist ASEAN in reforming the current ineffective approach and replacing the Consensus with concrete actions to address the crisis effectively. Sincerely, A total of 200 organizations, including 4 groups that can't be named because of security reasons, have signed this letter. 1 8888 Generation (New Zealand) 2 ၈၈ငြိမ်ချမ်းရေးနှင့်ပွင့်လင်းလူ့အဖွဲ့အစည်းထားဝယ်ခရိုင် 3 Ah Nah Podcast - conversations with Myanmar 4 All Burma Democratic Face in New Zealand 5 Anti-Junta Mass Movement - AJMM 6 Associations of United Nationalities in Japan 7 Auckland Kachin Community NZ 8 Auckland Zomi Community 9 Aung San Suu Kyi Park Norway 10 Basic Education Students & Youths Association (BESYA) 11 Boycott Military's Pocket 12 Burma Campaign UK 13 Burmese Community Group (Manawatu, NZ) 14 Burmese Rohingya Welfare Organisation New Zealand 15 Burmese American Community Institute 9BACI) 16 Burmese Canadian Network 17 Campaign for a New Myanmar 18 CDM Support Team Mandalay (CSTM) 19 Chin Community of Auckland 20 Chin Community in Norway 21 Citizen of Burma Award - New Zealand 22 Citizens of Burma Award(Buffalo Chapter) 23 COBA UAE 24 CRPH and NUG Supporters Ireland 25 CRPH Funding Ireland 26 CRPH Support Group, Norway 27 CRPH Support Group, Norway and members organizations endorses 28 Democratic Party for a New Society, Norway 29 Democratic Youth Council ( ဒီမိုကရက်တစ်လူငယ်ကောင်စီ ) 30 Doh Atu - Ensemble pour le Myanmar 31 Dream Hope Goals Media Group 32 Dunedin Myanmar Community New Zealand 33 Enemy Air Route Channel 34 Federal Myanmar Benevolence Group (NZ) 35 Federal School 36 Federation of Workers’ Union of the Burmese Citizen in Japan ( FWUBC ) 37 Free Rohingya Coalition 38 General Strike Committee of Nationalities (GSCN) 39 General Strike Coordination Body - GSCB 40 Global Myanmar Spring Revolution ( GMSR ) 41 Hero Behind Bars 42 HTY Scout Channel 43 Human Right Defenders and Promoters(Palaw) 44 Information & Scout News (Hlaing) 45 Insein Scout Channel 46 Integria, z.s. 47 International Association, Myanmar-Switzerland (IAMS) 48 International Campaign for the Rohingya 49 Japan Myanmar Help Network - JMHN (comprising of over 40 youth groups in Japan) 50 Justice For Myanmar 51 K'cho Ethnic Association 52 Kachin Association Norway 53 Kachin State Civilian Movement- KSCM 54 Kamayut Scout Channel 55 Kanbauk Defense Force (KBDF) 56 Karenni Society New Zealand 57 Karenni Association - Norway 58 Karenni Wellington Community 59 Kyauktada Strike Committee 60 Kyimyindaing Scout Channel 61 La Communauté Birmane de France 62 LA2M 63 Lanmadaw,Latha & Pabedan Scout Channel 64 League for Democracy in Burma( Japan ) 65 Legal Aid for Human Rights (Southern Shan State) 66 LGBTIQ (လိင်စိတ်ခံယူမှုကွဲပြားသူများ) သပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်း 67 Mayangone News 68 MIIT ကျောင်းသားကျောင်းသူများ သပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်း 69 Minority Affairs Institute (MAI Myanmar) 70 Muslim Youth Network 71 Myanmar Community Christchurch New Zealand 72 Myanmar Gonye (New Zealand) 73 Myanmar Action Group Denmark 74 Myanmar Catholic Community In Norway 75 Myanmar community in Italy 76 Myanmar Community in Norway 77 Myanmar Democratic Force in Denmark 78 Myanmar Engineers - New Zealand 79 Myanmar Global Support Foundation ( MGSF ) 80 Myanmar Hindu Community - Norway 81 Myanmar Muslim Revolution Force 82 Myanmar Students' Union in New Zealand 83 Nelson Myanmar Community New Zealand 84 New Zealand Doctors for NUG 85 New Zealand Zo Community Inc. 86 New Zealand Karen Association 87 NLD Organization Committee (International) Norway 88 No Business With Genocide 89 NOK Information & Scout Echo 90 North Dagon & East Dagon News 91 Norway Falam Community 92 Norway Matu Community 93 Norway Rvwang Community 94 Overseas Mon Association. New Zealand 95 PDF Support ( Vancouver - Canada ) 96 Peace for Burma ( Vancouver ) Canada 97 Progressive Muslim Youth Association-PMYA 98 Progressive Voice 99 Rangoon Scout Network 100 Rohingya Community in Norway 101 Rvwang Community Association New Zealand 102 Save Myanmar Fundraising Group (New Zealand) 103 Save Myanmar Israel 104 Shan Community (New Zealand) 105 Sitt Nyein Pann Foundation 106 South Dagon Scouting Infos (SDG) 107 Southern Dragon Myanmar 108 Support group for Democracy in Myanmar ( the Netherland ) 109 Tamwe Nway Oo Channel 110 Tenasserim Students Unions Network - TSUN 111 Thaketa & Dawbon Scout Channel 112 Tourism Committee 113 U.S. Campaign for Burma 114 Unitarian Universalist Service Committee 115 United States Chin Coalition (USCC) 116 Universities Kachin Literature and Culture Association- Yangon (Yangon JLH) 117 Volunteers in Myanmar 118 We support NUG-NB 119 Wellington Chin Community ( New Zealand ) 120 Wellington Myanmar community 121 Yangon Revolution Force - YRF (Soft Strike Community) 122 Youth for Democratization of Myanmar (UDM) 123 Youth Scout For Democracy (YSD) 124 YWTC(yangon) 125 Z Fighter News 126 Zomi Christian Fellowship of Norway 127 Zomi Community Norway 128 ကျန်းမာရေးမိသားစု - မန္တလေး (Medical Family – Mandalay) 129 ကွန်ပျူတာတက္ကသိုလ်(မန္တလေး)ကျောင်းသားများသမဂ္ဂ 130 ချမ်းမြသာစည်မြို့နယ် လူထုသပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်း 131 စိန်ပန်း သပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်း 132 ဆေးတက္ကသိုလ်(မန္တလေး)ကျောင်းသားများသမဂ္ဂ 133 ဆေးဘက်ဆိုင်ရာနည်းပညာတက္ကသိုလ်(မန္တလေး)ကျောင်းသားများ သမဂ္ဂ 134 ဆေးဝါးတက္ကသိုလ်(မန္တလေး)ကျောင်းသားများသမဂ္ဂ 135 တမ္ပဝတီ လူထုသပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်း 136 တိုက်ကွမ်ဒို အားကစားအသင်း 137 တိုင်းရင်းဆေးတက္ကသိုလ်(မန္တလေး)ကျောင်းသားများသမဂ္ဂ 138 တိုင်းရင်းသားလူငယ်များ အထွေထွေသပိတ်ကော်မတီ 139 တောင်သာလူထုလှုပ်ရှားမှုကော်မတီ 140 ဒေါင်းစစ်သည် 141 နည်းပညာတက္ကသိုလ်(မန္တလေး)ကျောင်းသားများသမဂ္ဂ 142 နည်းပညာတက္ကသိုလ်(ရတနာပုံဆိုင်ဘာစီးတီး)ကျောင်းသားများ သမဂ္ဂ 143 နွေဦးတော်လှန်ရေးဘာသာပေါင်းစုံကွန်ရက် 144 နားထောင်ရင်းလှူပေးပါ။ 145 ပညာရေးမိသားစု (စစ်အာဏာရှင်ဆန့်ကျင်ရေး ပညာရေးစစ်ကြောင်းများ ချိတ်ဆက်ညှိနှိုင်းရေးကော်မတီ) 146 ပြည်ကြီးတံခွန်သပိတ် 147 ပုဂ္ဂလိက မူကြိုဆရာ၊ ဆရာမများအဖွဲ့ 148 ဘာသာပေါင်းစုံ သပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်း 149 ဘုရားကြီး ငြိမ်းချမ်းရေးသပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်း 150 မကွေးလူထုတိုက်ပွဲကော်မတီ / Magway People's Revolution Committee 151 မန္တလာတက္ကသိုလ် ကျောင်းသားကျောင်းသူများသပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်း 152 မန္တလာတက္ကသိုလ်ကျောင်းသားများသမဂ္ဂ 153 မန္တလေး ကဗျာဆရာများသမဂ္ဂ (Mandalay Poets’ Union) 154 မန္တလေး ကုန်စည်ဒိုင်သပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်း 155 မန္တလေး၊ တက္ကသိုလ် ဒီဂရီ၊ ကောလိပ် ဆရာ၊ ဆရာမများ၊ ဝန်ထမ်းများ သပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်း 156 မန္တလေးကွန်ပျူတာတက္ကသိုလ်ကျောင်းသားများသမဂ္ဂ 157 မန္တလေးတက္ကသိုလ် ကျောင်းသား ကျောင်းသူဟောင်းများ သပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်း 158 မန္တလေးတိုင်းဒေသကြီးလွှတ်တော် ကိုယ်စားပြုကော်မတီ (Committee Representing Mandalay Region Hluttaw) 159 မန္တလေးနည်းပညာတက္ကသိုလ်ကျောင်းသားများသမဂ္ဂ 160 မန္တလေးနိုင်ငံခြားဘာသာတက္ကသိုလ်ကျောင်းသားများသမဂ္ဂ 161 မန္တလေးပုဂ္ဂလိကတက္ကသိုလ် ကျောင်းသားများသမဂ္ဂ (MPUSU) 162 မန္တလေးမြို့အခြေစိုက် လူထုသပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်း 163 မန္တလေးမဟာမိတ် သပိတ်တပ်ပေါင်းစုစစ်ကြောင်း 164 မန္တလေးလူငယ် သပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်း 165 မန္တလေးသပိတ်အင်အားစု 166 မန္တလေးအင်ဂျင်နီယာ တပ်ပေါင်းစု 167 မန္တလေးအင်ဂျင်နီယာများအဖွဲ့ (Mandalay Engineer Group) 168 မန္တလေးအရပ်ဖက်အဖွဲ့အစည်းများ 169 မြင်းခြံလူထုလှုပ်ရှားမှုကော်မတီ 170 မြတောင် သပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်း 171 မြန်မာနိုင်ငံဘဏ်အလုပ်သမားသမဂ္ဂများအဖွဲ့ချုပ် (Bank Trade Unions Federation of Myanmar – BTUFM) 172 မြန်မာ့မီးရထား တိုင်းအမှတ် (၃) CDM ဝန်ထမ်းများ သပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်း 173 မြန်မာသတင်းအချက်အလက်နည်းပညာတက္ကသိုလ်(မန္တလေး) ကျောင်းသားများသမဂ္ဂ 174 မွတ်စ်လင်မ်လူငယ်များအဖွဲ့ 175 မဟာအောင်မြေမြို့နယ် စုပေါင်းလူထုသပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်း 176 မေမြို့ ပင်မအထွေထွေသပိတ်အင်အားစု 177 ရတနာပုံတက္ကသိုလ်ကျောင်းသားများသမဂ္ဂ (ရ.တ.က.သ) 178 ရန်ကုန်အခြေစိုက်တက္ကသိုလ်ကျောင်းသားသမဂ္ဂများ (တကသများ-ရန်ကုန်) | Alliance of Students’ Unions Yangon (ASU-Yangon) 179 ရေဘဝဲ (ပြည်သူ့အကျိုးပြု လူငယ်အဖွဲ့အစည်း) 180 လူငယ်ကဗျာဆရာများသမဂ္ဂ 181 သံဃသမဂ္ဂ (မန္တလေး) 182 သပြေညို သတင်းလွှာ 183 သမဝါယမတက္ကသိုလ် ကျောင်းသူ၊ ကျောင်းသားများ သပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်း 184 သရက်ချောင်းမြို့နယ် ပြည်သူကာကွယ်ရေးပြောက်ကျားတပ်ဖွဲ့ 185 သွားဘက်ဆိုင်ရာဆေးတက္ကသိုလ်(မန္တလေး)ကျောင်းသားများ သမဂ္ဂ 186 သားဖွားသင်တန်းကျောင်း(မန္တလေး)ကျောင်းသားများသမဂ္ဂ 187 သူနာပြုတက္ကသိုလ်(မန္တလေး)ကျောင်းသားများသမဂ္ဂ 188 သူနာပြုသင်တန်းကျောင်း(မန္တလေး)ကျောင်းသားများသမဂ္ဂ 189 အ.ထ.က (၇) ကျောင်းသူ၊ ကျောင်းသားဟောင်းများ သပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်း 190 အ.လ.က (၁၂) ထခွဲ၊ အခြေခံပညာကျောင်းသားများသမဂ္ဂ (အ.က.သ) 191 အဖမ်းဆီးခံပြည်သူများ ကိုယ်စားပြုသပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်း 192 အမျိုးသားဒီမိုကရေစီအဖွဲ့ချုပ် (မန္တလေးတိုင်း) 193 အမျိုးသားယဉ်ကျေးမှုနှင့် အနုပညာတက္ကသိုလ်(မန္တလေး)ကျောင်းသားများသမဂ္ဂ 194 အလုပ်သမားသမဂ္ဂများအဖွဲ့ချုပ် 195 အောင်ပင်လယ် ပင်မသပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်း 196 အောင်မြေသာစံ ပညာရေးကျောင်းပေါင်းစုံ သပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်း..."
Source/publisher: 200 civil society organizations via Justice For Myanmar
2023-08-22
Date of entry/update: 2023-08-22
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Sub-title: Experts say the move will do little to control illegal currency trading.
Description: "Myanmar’s junta is threatening legal action against anyone found to be in possession of foreign currency without authorization in what observers said was a bid to kneecap black market exchangers after the kyat has tumbled to one-third of its value against the U.S. dollar since the coup. On Aug. 18, US$1 spiked to 3,900 kyats, the highest in history and up 300% from 1,300 in January 2021, a month before the military seized power. The Central Bank responded Monday with an announcement in pro-junta media that those in possession of foreign currencies without permission will face charges under the Foreign Currency Management Law. The threat will do little to rein in the illegal currency exchange market, said an authorized foreign currency exchange business owner, who declined to be named citing security concerns. "Based on this announcement, it looks like they are going to [try to] enforce their set exchange rate of 2,920 or even 2,100 in any way possible,” he told RFA Burmese. “But no one is going to sell their foreign currencies ... If they have bought at a price of 3,000, they will never sell at 2,000, as they have invested millions of kyats." Under the Foreign Exchange Management Law, domestic residents are allowed to keep a maximum of US$10,000 or its equivalent in foreign currency for as long as six months from the date of receipt. After six months, the holder must sell the currencies to authorized exchangers or deposit it in a bank. The law also states that exchanging and selling foreign currency without a business license is punishable by up to three years in prison, a fine, and the confiscation of related assets. A domestic banking expert, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said the only way the junta can control the rising dollar in Myanmar is to “regularly meet the demand for U.S. dollars and adjust the exchange rate according to external market conditions.” “The U.S. dollar exchange rate is going to rise as its demand is much higher than its supply,” he said. “There is no way to stop it. You can't stop it by issuing orders, nor by threats of arrest.” He noted that authorities have recently been buying U.S. dollars from people’s foreign currency accounts at the Central Bank’s exchange rate. On Saturday, junta Chairman of the Central Bank Than Than Swe told a meeting between Central Bank officials and local business owners in the capital Naypyidaw that “action will be taken” against illegal money exchangers and “those who write on the internet to inflate the value of the U.S. dollar.” U.S. dollar ‘only safe asset’ An economist monitoring gold and currency markets in Yangon told RFA that the Central Bank is using a “scare tactic” to control the value of the kyat, and warned that even if it works, it would only result in a “short-term solution.” “The real problem is the financial crisis,” he said, referring to junta mismanagement that has sent the economy into a nosedive. “Those who have money buy US dollars, which they consider [one of the only] safe assets … It’s impossible to try to change the situation by issuing orders.” Attempts by RFA to contact the Central Bank's Foreign Exchange Management Department by telephone rang unanswered on Monday. The junta’s store of U.S. dollars has been hit by U.S. Treasury Department sanctions, as well as a decision by Bangladesh's Sonali Bank last week to freeze the accounts of two junta-controlled banks with more than US$1.1 million after the U.S. Embassy in Dhaka sent a letter to the government requesting that Bangladesh comply with such sanctions The U.S. Treasury said the two banks – Myanma Foreign Trade Bank and Myanma Investment and Commercial Bank – “facilitate much of the foreign currency exchange within Burma and enable transactions between the military regime and foreign markets, including for the purchase and import of arms and related material.” Junta Chairman Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing accused “some countries” of “using the dollar as a weapon” during remarks he made on Aug. 15 at the 11th International Security Conference in Russia. The junta’s Central Bank revoked 43 foreign currency exchange licenses this year on the pretext that they did not comply with the Foreign Exchange Management Law..."
Source/publisher: "Radio Free Asia" (USA)
2023-08-21
Date of entry/update: 2023-08-21
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "On June 21, 2023, the United States designated two of Burma’s military regime-controlled banks, Myanma Foreign Trade Bank (MFTB) and Myanma Investment and Commercial Bank (MICB). MFTB and MICB have been instrumental in facilitating the regime’s use of foreign currency to procure arms and jet fuel abroad and to access international markets using offshore accounts. Through these offshore accounts, MFTB and MICB have facilitated the regime’s profiteering from Burma’s extractive industries, including oil and gas, teak, gemstones, and other natural resources. The designations of MFTB and MICB impose a significant impact on the regime’s ability to fund the violence it inflicts on the people of Burma. At the time of the designation of these two banks, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control issued General License 5 (GL 5) to allow entities engaging in transactions with MFTB and MICB to wind these down in an orderly fashion. Following the expiration of GL 5 on August 5 at 12:01 a.m. (EST), the United States will continue to carefully monitor compliance and scrutinize transactions with an MFTB or MICB nexus to counter evasion or other behavior that contravenes the intent of these designations and U.S. policy. We will pursue enforcement actions as appropriate. The United States will not waver in its support for the people of Burma as they seek peace, justice, and an inclusive, democratic future for their country. We will continue to engage with our partners and allies in the broader international community to constrain the regime’s ability to exploit the international financial system..."
Source/publisher: U.S. Department of State
2023-08-04
Date of entry/update: 2023-08-04
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "Myanmar’s military, which seized power in a coup in February 2021, has made repeated promises about a return to civilian rule and limited democracy — so far unkept. The former leader, 78-year-old Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, could spend the rest of her life in jail, despite a partial pardon in August. The military, known as the Tatmadaw, has used increasingly brutal tactics to subdue its enemies, including the first executions in three decades. By its own admission, nearly half the country is facing instability due to armed conflict. Prospects for economic growth are “severely weakened,” according to the World Bank. The US and its allies this year imposed new sanctions aimed at military officials and “affiliated cronies.” But the junta retains control of vast interests, including lucrative natural gas exports, and has found backers outside the West. 1. What’s happened with Aung San Suu Kyi? Get a curated selection of 10 of our best stories in your inbox every weekend. She and Win Myint, who served as president in the last civilian government, were found guilty soon after the coup of inciting dissent against the military and flouting Covid restrictions while campaigning for the November 2020 elections. Since then she’s been convicted in a series of trials on charges including corruptions and violating the colonial-era Official Secrets Act, and sentenced to a total of 33 years in prison. Her legal defense team described all the allegations against her as groundless and politically motivated. On Aug. 1, the junta pardoned both on some charges, including breaking pandemic-era rules, illegal possession of walkie-talkies and incitement. But they remained in prison. 2. Why was there a coup? Aung San Suu Kyi’s pro-democracy party, the National League for Democracy (NLD) won 83% of the parliamentary seats at stake in the 2020 vote — an even better performance than its 2015 landslide. The election commission and international observers called the election fair. But the military alleged that there had been voter fraud. On the day of the coup, the military said it was necessary to act before the new parliament session began later that week. More broadly, the military operates almost as a state within a state in Myanmar, and its allies still control vast swaths of the economy. The scale of Suu Kyi’s victory may have prompted fears among the generals of new efforts to chip away at their privileges, especially after the exceptionally poor electoral performance of a military-backed party. 3. Are new elections planned? Yes, but the NLD said in March it would boycott. The military government then dissolved the party after it failed to register in time under a new law. Back in 2021, the military set an August 2023 deadline for elections and said army chief Min Aung Hlaing would head a caretaker government in the meantime. That deadline was extended on July 31 for another six months, until Jan. 31, 2024, as fighting intensified with ethnic armed groups and supporters of Suu Kyi. The planned election has been dismissed as a “sham” by the United Nations and the US. 4. What is the fighting in Myanmar about? Violence flared after the coup as Aung San Suu Kyi’s supporters demanded her release and the restoration of the elected government. Junta forces have killed 3,857 people as of July 31 and detained many more, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma), a human rights group. According to the UN’s Human Rights Council, ill-treatment and torture have resulted in deaths in detention. Some Aung San Suu Kyi supporters have formed what they call the National Unity Government, with armed units known as the People’s Defence Force. They’ve allied with ethnic insurgent groups that have long battled the military over the right to manage their territories and resources. In extending the state of emergency, the junta leader said 40% of townships are facing instability, an admission of the intensity of the conflict. International experts have said the military has effective control over far less territory than it claims to. 5. What’s the fallout been? The UN Security Council passed a resolution in December demanding an end to violence in Myanmar and the release of political prisoners. Its passage was a milestone, but China, Russia and India abstained, limiting the impact. The US, the UK, Canada and Australia reimposed economic sanctions in 2021, just five years after many had been lifted, although it’s unclear how much impact they will have. The US has since extended its sanctions, including in January. But China, Myanmar’s most important trading partner, has rejected calls at the UN for an arms embargo and has affirmed support for the regime. Japan and India worry that tough measures against the junta only risk increasing China’s influence there. The junta has drawn closer to Russia despite the war in Ukraine — Min Aung Hlaing has praised Russian President Vladimir Putin “as a leader of the world.” Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong of Singapore, Myanmar’s biggest foreign investor, has said sanctions would only hurt Myanmar’s people. The World Bank this year said Myanmar’s potential for inclusive growth has been “severely weakened” and “there is little appetite to invest.” 6. What’s the history? After World War II, Burma, as it was then known, emerged from British colonial rule and plunged directly into civil conflict. Ethnic minorities make up a third of the population of 55 million and occupy half the land, including areas where valuable resources such as jade, gold and teak are found. A deal providing them with greater autonomy fell apart after Aung San Suu Kyi’s father, Aung San, who was slated to become the country’s first leader, was gunned down in 1947. A coup led by army chief Ne Win in 1962 started a half-century of military rule, during which the country descended into desperate poverty. Troops viciously suppressed pro-democracy protests in 1988. Two years later the army annulled an election that Aung San Suu Kyi’s party had won by a landslide. Under house arrest for much of the next 20 years, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. 7. How did she get into government? The junta began a transition to civilian rule with a new constitution in 2008 that reserved 25% of parliamentary seats for the military — enough to block any amendments to it. Still, Aung San Suu Kyi’s party took part in by-elections in 2012 after the government at the time agreed to the release of political prisoners, the freedom to assemble and an opening to foreign investors. Her party then swept to victory in the first full elections in 2015, defeating the ruling party by a margin of nearly 10-to-1. The constitution bars Aung San Suu Kyi from serving as president because her children are UK citizens. Thus, in 2016 she became state counselor, a newly created role akin to prime minister, as well as foreign minister. 8. How did she do? Her administration liberalized banking, insurance and education and curbed inflation. But about a third of the population was living in poverty and businesses remained mired in red tape. The military continued to control the defense, home affairs and border affairs ministries. Its forces have been accused by UN investigators of practicing “ethnic cleansing” and “crimes against humanity” with “genocidal intent” in driving more than 700,000 Rohingya people over the border to Bangladesh since 2017. (Among Myanmar’s Buddhist majority, prejudice against the Rohingya — Muslims castigated as illegal immigrants and stripped of citizenship — remains fierce and widespread.) Amid the opprobrium, foreign direct investment fell to $2.3 billion in 2019 from $4.7 billion in 2017. The military turned on Aung San Suu Kyi even though she defended them in 2019 at the International Court of Justice against the genocide allegations — increasing her popularity at home at the expense of her international reputation.
Source/publisher: "Bloomberg News" (New York) via "The Washington Post"
2023-08-01
Date of entry/update: 2023-08-01
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Description: "The German state prosecutor in Augsburg has launched a criminal investigation into MAN Energy Solutions, which supplied key components to the UMS Moattama warship, allegedly in violation of Germany’s Foreign Trade Law and European Union Dual Use Regulations. This follows a criminal complaint filed by Greenpeace Germany with the attorney Holger Rothbauer, using evidence and research provided by Justice For Myanmar. The opening of the investigation was first reported by Süddeutsche Zeitung. The UMS Moattama is a landing platform dock/amphibious assault ship, boosting the Myanmar Navy’s capabilities to move troops, tanks, armoured personnel carriers and other arms and equipment to support its ongoing campaign of terror against the people. Since the military’s illegal coup attempt, the UMS Moattama has reportedly been used to transport troops, rocket systems and heavy artillery to Rakhine State, where the military continues to commit atrocities. The Moattama is also used in the junta’s Sea Shield military exercises. The UMS Moattama was built in South Korea and transferred to the Myanmar military in 2019, in the aftermath of its genocide against the Rohingya which involved the Myanmar Navy. MAN Energy Solutions SE, a subsidiary of Volkswagen Group, supplied the ship’s main engine, power consumers, propellor and propellor control system, control and propellor equipment, and also gave training to Myanmar Navy personnel in South Korea, apparently involving its subsidiary in Denmark. MAN Energy Solutions is just one of a number of German companies that supplied equipment and technology for the UMS Moattama. Other German companies include: Raytheon Anschütz GmbH, which has recently restructured, supplied radar equipment, a gyro compass system, and the autopilot and steering control system, Reintjes GmbH supplied the gearbox with parts from other German companies including Kracht GmbH, Alfons Haar Maschinenbau GmbH & Co KG supplied the helicopter refuelling system, Cassens & Plath GmbH supplied the magnetic compass system, RHOTHETA Elektronik GmbH supplied the direction finder, GEA Westfalia Separator Group GmbH provided separators with parts from other German companies including Boll & Kirch Filterbau GmbH, DSB Deutsche Schlauchboot GmbH of Survitec Group provided rescue boats. Justice For Myanmar calls on German authorities to also open criminal investigations into the remaining companies that supplied equipment and technology to the Myanmar Navy warship. The action taken by German authorities was based on evidence from the Myanmar Navy Chief Petty Officer Myat Min Thu, a whistle-blower who is part of the Civil Disobedience Movement and who was a recipient of training by MAN in South Korea and served on the ship until 2021. In 2021, South Korean police launched a police investigation into the illegal transfer of the Moattama to the Myanmar military, targeting Daesun Shipbuilding & Engineering, which built the ship; Posco International, which brokered the transfer; and Korea’s Ministry of Defence. The investigation remains ongoing. In November 2020, Justice For Myanmar, Korean Civil Society in Solidarity with Rohingya and Korean Transnational Corporation Watch filed complaints with the OECD National Contact Point in Korea and the National Human Rights Commission of Korea against Daesun Shipbuilding & Engineering, Posco International and other businesses supporting the Myanmar military. The complaint led to scrutiny of the warship export and the police investigation. The police investigation was later supported through the cooperation of Myat Min Thu. Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung says: “We welcome the action taken by the German public prosecutor in Augsburg in response to the criminal complaint by Greenpeace Germany. “The Myanmar Navy is responsible for genocide against the Rohingya and continues to enforce the junta’s policy of apartheid, arbitrarily detaining Rohingya men, women and children who attempt to flee. The military and all those complicit in its international crimes are yet to be held accountable. “The UMS Moattama, equipped with German technology, supports the Myanmar military’s capabilities to move troops and arms across coastal areas as it wages a campaign of terror against the people. “Prosecution is an important step towards accountability for the transfer of arms and dual use goods to the Myanmar military, and to prevent future arms transfers from Germany and the European Union, but they need to be widened to all companies involved in the Moattama project. “Both Germany and the EU have laws in place to prevent the transfer of arms and dual use goods to the genocidal Myanmar military, but governments have repeatedly failed to enforce them, enabling the military to gain access to equipment and technology that supports ongoing war crimes and crimes against humanity. “Germany must show that breaches of the law will not be tolerated, and we call on other EU member states whose companies have illegally transferred arms, equipment and technology to investigate and hold them accountable. “We urge Danish authorities to swiftly investigate and take action against MAN’s Danish subsidiary for its role in the Myanmar Navy’s UMS Moattama project.”..."
Source/publisher: Justice For Myanmar
2023-07-31
Date of entry/update: 2023-07-31
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Sub-title: Growing political instability in Myanmar and financial issues have stymied the progress of the Trilateral Highway project
Description: "On the sidelines of the recently concluded 12th Mekong Ganga Cooperation (MGC) meeting in Bangkok on 16 July, Indian External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar met with his Myanmar counterpart U Than Swe to discuss regional connectivity initiatives, with particular emphasis on expediting the India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway (IMT-TH) project. He emphasised the importance of peace and stability in border areas, expressed concerns about trafficking, reiterated India’s support for Myanmar’s democratic transition, proposed people-centric initiatives to address pressing challenges, and aimed to closely coordinate its policy with ASEAN regarding Myanmar. The IMT-TH presents a significant opportunity for enhanced connectivity and regional integration. It aims to connect India’s Northeast region with Thailand via Myanmar, facilitating trade and commerce, health, education, and tourism between the three nations while providing a more efficient and cost-effective transportation route. India has proposed extending the road network to include Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam, further expanding its reach and potential impact. Bangladesh is also interested in joining the initiative for enhancing trade links and tourism. It aims to connect India’s Northeast region with Thailand via Myanmar, facilitating trade and commerce, health, education, and tourism between the three nations while providing a more efficient and cost-effective transportation route. Since its conception in 2002, the Trilateral Highway project has faced various delays and challenges, including political instability in Myanmar and financial issues. Nonetheless, recent years have seen progress, with several stretches of the highway being completed or nearing completion. The project aims to establish an essential strategic route, but earlier targets for its operationalisation have been delayed. Initially, the government sought to make the highway operational by 2015 and then extended the timeline till 2019. Now, the new deadline is set for 2027. It is, thus, crucial to closely assess the current situation on the ground to gauge the progress of this delayed project. The IMT-TH project follows a proposed plan that starts from Bangkok and passes through cities like Sukhothai and Mae Sot in Thailand, and Yangon, Mandalay, Kalewa, and Tamu in Myanmar before reaching India. In India, it is likely to pass through Moreh, Kohima, Guwahati, Srirampur, Siliguri, and Kolkata, spanning over 2,800 km. The longest stretch of the highway will be in India, while the most minor road section will be in Thailand. Thailand’s Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Vijavat Isarabhakdi, stated in a recent interview that most of the project’s work in Thailand is over. The Indian counterpart also mentioned that around 70 percent of the work is complete. Upon being approached, Aung Naing Oo, Myanmar’s Trade Minister, revealed that most of the highway was constructed, spanning 1,512 km. The contractors will complete the remaining sections within three years. The longest stretch of the highway will be in India, while the most minor road section will be in Thailand. Persisting bottlenecks The IMT-TH project encompasses a vital road network in Myanmar, which, despite having witnessed notable development in recent times, still needs progress at numerous stretches. Several sections of the original IMT-TH alignments have been completed or upgraded, including the crucial bypass road connecting Myawaddy and Kawkareik in Thailand and the second friendship bridge linking Myawaddy and Mae Sot. Additionally, ongoing efforts involve the improvement and repair of roads between Kalewa (India) and Monywa (Myanmar), the construction of a new Bago bridge supported by Japan, and the development of an arterial road connecting Bago and Kyaikto in Myanmar, facilitated by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). However, urgent attention is required to replace 69 bridges along the Tamu-Kyigone-Kalewa road. Work on this stretch has been delayed since 2015 due to the termination of the contractor’s agreement. Recently, reports suggest that work on the first bridge between Moreh (in Manipur) and Tamu (in Myanmar) is expected to restart soon. However, a proper timeline is needed. Construction is underway on the difficult Yar Gyi road section, a significant part of the Trilateral Highway. This particular stretch is characterised by steep gradients and sharp curves, posing considerable challenges to the construction process. Currently, only about 25 percent of the road is complete. The Trade Minister of Myanmar has indicated that converting a 121.8-km portion of the road, specifically between Kalewa and Yar Gyi, into a four-lane motorway will require more time than anticipated. Consequently, the construction team may need to extend or postpone the initial deadline for completion. The Trade Minister of Myanmar has indicated that converting a 121.8-km portion of the road, specifically between Kalewa and Yar Gyi, into a four-lane motorway will require more time than anticipated. Additionally, significant security issues persist in Myanmar. The Chin State and Sagaing Region, where the majority of the work is ongoing, are engulfed in conflict between the Junta and the ethnic armed groups. If the conditions do not subside, the resumption of work by contractors seems improbable. Another aspect that needs immediate attention is formulating and implementing the IMT Trilateral Motor Vehicle Agreement (IMT-TMVA). While the Indian government conducted the IMT-TH Friendship Car Rally in 2016 to sensitise stakeholders to the potential benefits of a motor vehicles agreement (MVA) between the three countries, not much has occurred. There are several reasons for this; one of the biggest challenges to implementing the IMT-TMVA is the need for more infrastructure, particularly in Myanmar. The country has limited road networks and poor connectivity, which makes it difficult for vehicles to move smoothly between India, Myanmar, and Thailand. Bureaucratic hurdles continue to remain a significant bottleneck, where obtaining permits and clearances remains challenging due to differences in the rules and procedures of vehicle movement in each nation making the situation time-consuming and cumbersome. This will be particularly challenging for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which may need more resources to navigate complex regulatory frameworks. Additionally, the security situation in Myanmar is also a significant concern for the implementation of the IMT-TMVA. The country has faced political instability and conflict in recent years, which has affected road transport safety. There have been reports of attacks on vehicles and disruption of transport routes, which can be a significant risk for businesses and travellers. This has led to concerns about the safety of drivers and passengers, which may impact the viability of any agreement. Adequate financing and resource allocation will play a vital role in overcoming these challenges and realising the full potential of this transformative regional initiative. Key factors for consideration Addressing infrastructure limitations, bureaucratic hurdles, and security concerns will ensure smooth cross-border transportation and maximise the benefits of the Trilateral Highway and the IMT-TMVA. Adequate financing and resource allocation will play a vital role in overcoming these challenges and realising the full potential of this transformative regional initiative. India’s commitment to supporting Myanmar’s democratic transition process and its emphasis on peace and stability are integral to the region’s progress and prosperity. Strengthening policy coordination with ASEAN regarding Myanmar will contribute to a more holistic approach to regional issues and ensure a stable environment for connectivity projects to thrive. Overall, the successful completion of the India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway hopes to not only bolster economic growth but also pave the way for more robust regional integration, cultural exchange, and cooperation among the participating nations, ultimately contributing to peace, stability, and prosperity in the Mekong-Ganga region..."
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Source/publisher: Observer Research Foundation
2023-07-28
Date of entry/update: 2023-07-28
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Description: "John Lewis Partnership, a highly regarded department store chain selling a wide range of products, has informed Burma Campaign UK that it will stop sourcing gems from Burma. Burma Campaign UK had written to John Lewis and around 40 other retailers asking them to ensure that if they sell gems from Burma, they make sure the gems they sell have not helped fund the Burmese military. In an email received on 25th July 2023, John Lewis stated: “We remain extremely concerned to learn of developments around the conflicts that have taken place, and that continues to take place in recent years in Burma/Myanmar…Our suppliers source a very small proportion of gems from Burma/Myanmar but we are in the process of urgently seeking alternative sources of supply.” The decision by John Lewis follows TJC, one of the biggest TV shopping channels and online jewellery retailers in the UK, telling Burma Campaign UK it was withdrawing Burmese gems from sale. Following the attempted military coup, which began in February 2021, the Burmese military now dominates Burma’s gems industry, which is potentially worth $2bn per year. Through its own private companies, control of the state-owned enterprises and government ministries, control of trade routes into areas not under its control, legal and illegal trade, and the business interests of military family members, the Burmese military extracts revenue from the gems industry in numerous ways. Burma Campaign UK is not calling for a blanket ban on Burmese gems. We are calling on companies to make sure the gems they sell haven’t been sourced in a way that provides money to the military and helps pay for weapons and the human rights violations committed by the Burmese military. “John Lewis have done the right thing by deciding to stop sourcing from Burma,” said Mark Farmaner, Director of Burma Campaign UK. “Retailers must ensure that the gems they sell haven’t helped pay for the bombs and the bullets the Burmese military are using against the people of Burma.”..."
Source/publisher: "Burma Campaign UK" (London)
2023-07-26
Date of entry/update: 2023-07-26
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Description: "Mr. HAYASHI Nobumitsu, Governor of Japan Bank for International Cooperation Mr. TAKESADA Tatsuhiko, President & CEO of Japan Overseas Infrastructure Investment Corporation for Transport and Urban Development ‍ CC: Mr. SUZUKI Shunichi, Minister of Finance Mr. SAITO Tetsuo, Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism ‍ Sent by: Justice For Myanmar Mekong Watch FoE Japan Human Rights Now Human Rights Watch Japan International Volunteer Center ‍ On June 21, 2023, the US government announced that it was imposing financial sanctions on the Myanmar junta's Ministry of Defence as a “Specially Designated National,” noting that the Ministry was “responsible for the command and control of the armed forces, which has conducted decades of repressive military rule that was violently resumed following the coup in 2021.”[1] With this designation, the connection between the Redevelopment of the Defense Services Museum Project (commonly known as the “Y Complex Project”), one of the projects being implemented using Japanese public funds, and the ongoing abuses by the Myanmar military junta, has been made even more obvious. Y Complex involves building and operating a large-scale real estate complex at the site of the former military museum in Yangon, the largest city in Myanmar. The project receives public and private funds from Japan through Japan Overseas Infrastructure Investment Corporation for Transport and Urban Development (JOIN), a government-funded infrastructure investment corporation under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, and Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) which is Japan’s public export credit agency. JOIN and JBIC invests or lends to the Y Complex project in which the Myanmar military-controlled Ministry of Defence participates,[2] and they have continued their involvement even after the attempted coup by the Myanmar military on February 1, 2021. Tokyo Tatemono, Fujita Corporation (a subsidiary of Daiwa House Industry), and JOIN set up a Joint Special Purpose Company (J-SPC) in Singapore. JBIC along with Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and Mizuho Bank co-financed a loan to this J-SPC, and the J-SPC in turn is co-investing in Y Complex Company Ltd., a Myanmar corporation set up jointly by the J-SPC and Yangon Technical and Trading Company Limited (YTT), a Myanmar military crony-owned company. The land lease agreement is between YTT and "Colonel Aung Min Thein (Officer No. Army 17642), Vice Quarter Master General, Office of the Quarter Master General, Commander-in-Chief (Army).” Land lease payments are to be made to "Defence Account no. MD 010424,” an account likely to be under control of the Office of the Quartermaster General[3]. On December 10, 2021, the US, UK and Canada imposed sanctions on the Office of the Quartermaster General.[4] The UK government has pointed out that the Office of the Quartermaster General "plays a crucial role in procuring equipment for the Myanmar Armed Forces, including ammunition, bombs and jet fuel.”[5]More recently, the EU imposed sanctions on Kyaw Swar Lin, the Quartermaster General, on July 20, 2023, noting that he is a “person whose policies and activities undermine democracy and the rule of law in Myanmar/Burma, and who provides support for actions that threaten the peace, security and stability of Myanmar/Burma.”[6] We understand that making land lease payments in the Y Complex project is equivalent to providing funds to the Myanmar military through the Office of the Quartermaster General, and have alluded to this problem since before the attempted coup.[7] So far, JOIN and JBIC have explained that because the Office of the Quartermaster General is within the Ministry of Defence and therefore a part of the government of Myanmar, land lease payments would not benefit the Myanmar military (see below). Response by Tatsuhiko Takesada, President & CEO of JOIN at the meeting of the Committee on Financial Affairs of the House of Representatives, April 20, 2021: "Regarding the contract for the project site, J-SPC is not directly involved, but under the contract, the local Myanmar company signed a land lease agreement with the Ministry of Defence which is a part of the government to obtain land use rights, and the said local [Myanmar] company subleases the land to the local project company. We have confirmed the current situation, but regarding the land lease payments, we understand that they were appropriately managed within the government."[8] Statement by JBIC official in charge of the Y Complex Project at the "Ministry of Finance - NGO Regular Dialogue," March 5, 2021: “JBIC recognizes that in this project the rent is paid to the Office of the Quartermaster General in the Ministry of Defence. We understand that the rent payments are included as revenue in the general budget of the Myanmar government…. In Myanmar, based on a law called the Budget Law, so-called general accounts budget is publicly disclosed, and the Ministry of Defence is included as part of that."[9] These statements show that both JOIN and JBIC recognized that the rent payments should not be benefiting the military and that they were attempting to maintain an appearance that the rent payments were not going to the military by publicly presenting their view that the ultimate destination of the rent payments was the Ministry of Defence and not the military. The recent imposition of sanctions by the US on the Ministry of Defence, has made these excuses even more untenable.[10] Regardless of whether the ultimate destination of the land lease payments for the Y Complex Project is the Office of the Quartermaster General or the linked Ministry of Defence, these payments enable the Myanmar military to continue to commit atrocity crimes across the country. According to the UN, there are currently 1.9 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Myanmar. [11] The Japanese government and Japanese companies should fulfill their responsibilities under the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises by immediately stopping their involvement in the Y Complex Project. To do so, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism should withdraw the investment made by JOIN, and the Ministry of Finance should cancel the loan made by JBIC to stop the injection of public funds into the project and publicly announce that they have made the decision to do so..."
Source/publisher: Justice For Myanmar
2023-07-25
Date of entry/update: 2023-07-25
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Description: "WASHINGTON — The U.S. is supporting a report by the special rapporteur of human rights in Myanmar, despite China's objection to findings that Beijing has been exporting arms to Myanmar's military which has used them to forcibly suppress resistance groups since its 2021 coup. "The United States strongly supports the mandate of the Special Rapporteur and his work illuminating the human rights situation in Myanmar," a State Department spokesperson told VOA's Korean Service on Friday. The remarks came in response to China's opposition to a United Nations report by Tom Andrews, the special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, that was issued in May. In the report, Andrews said Myanmar's military imported weapons and related material worth at least $1 billion from China and Russia since the military junta's deadly coup in 2021. The report came up during the regular daily press briefing by China's Foreign Ministry on July 18 when Sky TV asked about China's investment in Myanmar and arms sales to the junta. Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning said, in part, "The Special Rapporteur actually overstepped his mandate." She continued, "The report contained smears against normal arms trade between sovereign countries and misrepresentation of facts. China firmly opposes it. We have asked the Special Rapporteur to stay objective and fair and strictly follow his mandate and stop serving any political agenda." The U.N. report, titled "The Billion Dollar Death Trade: The International Arms Networks that Enable Human Rights Violations in Myanmar," says that out of some $1 billion, the Myanmar military imported more than $267 million worth of weapons and materials from entities in China, including state-owned entities. The report states, "Numerous private and state-owned companies registered in China, including Hong Kong, continued to supply the Myanmar military with an extensive array of arms, equipment, and raw material between October 2021 and December 2022." The report said the shipments of arms included jets, attack aircrafts and upgrades to tanks and fighter jets, as well as raw materials, such as aluminum, cooper, steel, rubber and lubricants essential for manufacturing weapons. China seeks 'friendly country,' says expert David Maxwell, vice president of the Center for Asia Pacific Strategy, said China has been exporting arms to the Myanmar military because it wants "a friendly country on its southern border" to "access the Bay of Bengal to the Indian Ocean to the East of India." He said that Beijing has "no concern for the human rights of the people in Burma" as it "seeks to export its authoritarian political system around the world in order to dominate the region." To achieve this goal, Maxwell said China also seeks to "coopt or coerce international organizations, create economic conditions favorable to China alone, and displace democratic institutions." Bruce Bechtol, a former intelligence officer at the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency who is now a professor at Angelo State University in Texas, said Myanmar is going to be viewed as "a pariah to the international community" and its "only real friend is going to be China." He added that China might consider that to be an "advantage" because Beijing wants to prevent a democratic country emerging at its border. 'Indiscriminate use of artillery' Myanmar's military has been using deadly weapons to suppress oppositions groups that have resisted its rule since the overthrow of the democratically elected government led by de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi in a violent coup in 2021. Human Rights Watch pointed out in its 2023 World Report that the Myanmar military makes "indiscriminate use of artillery and airstrikes," which has killed and injured civilians and destroyed civilian properties. The U.N. report by Andrews said that since the coup, the military killed at least 3,500 civilians, detained as much as 22,000 political prisoners, and forcibly displaced more than 1.5 million people. On Friday, two villagers said the Myanmar military killed 14 people in the village of Sone Chaung in the Sagaing region during a raid to search for the leaders of a resistance group known as the People's Defense Force, according to The Guardian citing AFP. In June, the U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions on Myanmar's Defense Ministry and two state-run banks used by the military to purchase weapons. Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank and Myanma Investment and Commercial Bank allowed state-owned Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise to access international markets to generate revenues used to import weapons and material, according to the Treasury..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Voice of America" (Washington, D.C)
2023-07-24
Date of entry/update: 2023-07-24
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Description: "Justice For Myanmar welcomes the latest round of EU sanctions targeting Mining Enterprise 2 (ME 2), the Quartermaster General, State Administration Council (SAC) members and junta ministers. ME 2 sits under the junta’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation (MONREC) and is one of five state-owned enterprises within the ministry that are illegally controlled by the junta through its February 1, 2021 coup attempt. ME 2 provide a crucial source of funds to the junta, helping to finance its ongoing campaign of terror against the people. ME 2 is responsible for the mining of tin, tantalum-niobium, titanium, vanadium, bismuth, molybdenum, rare earth elements, radioactive minerals, rubidium, lithium, hafnium, indium, gold, tungsten and heavy metal, according to data from the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. It generates revenue for the junta through profit sharing arrangements with military conglomerates and Myanmar and foreign companies. The EU has now sanctioned all but one of the junta-controlled state-owned enterprises under MONREC, having already sanctioned ME 1, Myanma Gems Enterprise and Myanma Timber Enterprise. A lack of coordination means ME 1 and ME 2 are not yet sanctioned by the UK, Canada or Australia, while Myanmar Pearl Enterprise is sanctioned by the UK, Canada and the USA but not the EU. Justice For Myanmar calls on the EU, US, UK, Canada, Australia and their allies to coordinate and sanction all state-owned enterprises under MONREC, as well as Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), which provides the biggest source of foreign revenue to the junta, and the junta-controlled Myanma Foreign Trade Bank and Myanma Investment and Commercial Bank, which the junta uses to receive foreign funds and purchase arms. The EU has also sanctioned three junta ministers, two members of the junta’s State Administration Council and the Myanmar Army’s Quartermaster General, Kyaw Swar Lin. The Quartermaster General of the Myanmar army plays a key role in the military’s corrupt business activities, overseeing Myanmar Economic Corporation, the army’s real estate developments and the purchase of arms, equipment and technology. The Quartermaster General’s Office has direct and indirect business with a number of international corporations and agencies. For the Y Complex development, the Quartermaster General is in business with the Japanese corporations Daiwa House Industries and Tokyo Tatemono, and the publicly funded Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and Japan Overseas Infrastructure Investment Corporation for Transport and Urban Development (JOIN). For the LOTTE Hotel development, the Quartermaster General is in business with the South Korean corporations POSCO International and LOTTE Hotels & Resorts. Justice For Myanmar calls on all companies and public financial institutions to urgently and responsibly cut ties with the Office of the Quartermaster General. Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung says: “JFM welcomes the latest round of EU sanctions targeting ME 2, the Quartermaster General and other junta members. “ME 2 and the Quartermaster General play key roles in the Myanmar military cartel, channelling funds to the junta that finance its widening campaign of terror, helping to pay for the bombs, bullets and jet fuel that the junta uses to murder Myanmar people daily. “The pace of US, UK, EU, Canadian and Australian sanctions are too slow and lack coordination. These governments and their allies need to do far more to cut the junta’s access to funds, arms, equipment and technology. “We urge the EU to urgently follow the US in sanctioning Myanma Foreign Trade Bank and Myanma Investment and Commercial Bank. “We call on Australia, Canada, the UK and USA to follow the EU in sanctioning MOGE, and for governments to sanction all MONREC state-owned enterprises.”..."
Source/publisher: Justice For Myanmar
2023-07-21
Date of entry/update: 2023-07-21
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "Justice For Myanmar welcomes the latest round of EU sanctions targeting Mining Enterprise 2 (ME 2), the Quartermaster General, State Administration Council (SAC) members and junta ministers. ME 2 sits under the junta’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation (MONREC) and is one of five state-owned enterprises within the ministry that are illegally controlled by the junta through its February 1, 2021 coup attempt. ME 2 provide a crucial source of funds to the junta, helping to finance its ongoing campaign of terror against the people. ME 2 is responsible for the mining of tin, tantalum-niobium, titanium, vanadium, bismuth, molybdenum, rare earth elements, radioactive minerals, rubidium, lithium, hafnium, indium, gold, tungsten and heavy metal, according to data from the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. It generates revenue for the junta through profit sharing arrangements with military conglomerates and Myanmar and foreign companies. The EU has now sanctioned all but one of the junta-controlled state-owned enterprises under MONREC, having already sanctioned ME 1, Myanma Gems Enterprise and Myanma Timber Enterprise. A lack of coordination means ME 1 and ME 2 are not yet sanctioned by the UK, Canada or Australia, while Myanmar Pearl Enterprise is sanctioned by the UK, Canada and the USA but not the EU. Justice For Myanmar calls on the EU, US, UK, Canada, Australia and their allies to coordinate and sanction all state-owned enterprises under MONREC, as well as Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), which provides the biggest source of foreign revenue to the junta, and the junta-controlled Myanma Foreign Trade Bank and Myanma Investment and Commercial Bank, which the junta uses to receive foreign funds and purchase arms. The EU has also sanctioned three junta ministers, two members of the junta’s State Administration Council and the Myanmar Army’s Quartermaster General, Kyaw Swar Lin. The Quartermaster General of the Myanmar army plays a key role in the military’s corrupt business activities, overseeing Myanmar Economic Corporation, the army’s real estate developments and the purchase of arms, equipment and technology. The Quartermaster General’s Office has direct and indirect business with a number of international corporations and agencies. For the Y Complex development, the Quartermaster General is in business with the Japanese corporations Daiwa House Industries and Tokyo Tatemono, and the publicly funded Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and Japan Overseas Infrastructure Investment Corporation for Transport and Urban Development (JOIN). For the LOTTE Hotel development, the Quartermaster General is in business with the South Korean corporations POSCO International and LOTTE Hotels & Resorts. Justice For Myanmar calls on all companies and public financial institutions to urgently and responsibly cut ties with the Office of the Quartermaster General. Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung says: “JFM welcomes the latest round of EU sanctions targeting ME 2, the Quartermaster General and other junta members. “ME 2 and the Quartermaster General play key roles in the Myanmar military cartel, channelling funds to the junta that finance its widening campaign of terror, helping to pay for the bombs, bullets and jet fuel that the junta uses to murder Myanmar people daily. “The pace of US, UK, EU, Canadian and Australian sanctions are too slow and lack coordination. These governments and their allies need to do far more to cut the junta’s access to funds, arms, equipment and technology. “We urge the EU to urgently follow the US in sanctioning Myanma Foreign Trade Bank and Myanma Investment and Commercial Bank. “We call on Australia, Canada, the UK and USA to follow the EU in sanctioning MOGE, and for governments to sanction all MONREC state-owned enterprises.”..."
Source/publisher: Justice For Myanmar
2023-07-21
Date of entry/update: 2023-07-21
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Description: "Burma Campaign UK today welcomed new EU sanctions on No2 Mining Enterprise and 6 individuals announced yesterday, but criticised the incredibly slow pace of the introduction of new sanctions. The EU has the right policy of sanctioning on an ongoing basis sources of revenue and arms and individuals linked to human rights violations, but EU member states are not prioritising the implementation of their own policy. “At this pace, it will be decades before the EU gets round to sanctioning those committing human rights violations and most sources of revenue and arms to the military,” said Anna Roberts, Executive Director of Burma Campaign UK. “Why has it taken two and a half years to sanction such an obvious source of revenue like a mining enterprise which receives revenue from rare earths?” There is no ‘silver bullet’ sanction which will by itself have a major impact on reducing revenue to the Burmese military. It is, therefore, essential that the EU, UK USA, Canada and others maximise the breadth of targeted sanctions to chip away at sources of revenue and arms. It is the cumulative impact of such sanctions which will maximise their effectiveness. “If you set out to try to minimise the impact of sanctions, this is the way you would do it, uncoordinated sanctions implemented at an incredibly slow speed with gaps of months in between, giving the military time to try to find workarounds before the next random sanction,” said Anna Roberts. “Since the USA organised a sanctions coordination meeting there has been less coordination and the UK is missing in action.”..."
Source/publisher: "Burma Campaign UK" (London)
2023-07-21
Date of entry/update: 2023-07-21
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "Today, the Council imposed a seventh round of restrictive measures in view of the situation in Myanmar/Burma against six individuals and one entity in response to the continuing escalation of violence, grave human rights violations and threats to the peace, security and stability in Myanmar/Burma. The listings include three Union Ministers for immigration and population, labour and health and sports, two members of the State Administration Council (SAC), the Quartermaster General, as well as No. 2 Mining Enterprise (ME 2), a state-owned enterprise that is controlled by and generates revenue for the Myanmar Armed Forces (Tatmadaw). Restrictive measures currently apply to a total of 99 individuals and 19 entities. Those designated are subject to an asset freeze and a travel ban, which prevents them from entering or transiting through EU territory. In addition, EU persons and entities are prohibited to make funds available to those listed. Other EU restrictive measure remain in place: the embargo on arms and equipment and export restrictions on equipment for monitoring communications which might be used for internal repression, the export ban on dual-use goods for use by the military and border guard police, and the prohibition of military training and cooperation with the Tatmadaw. The restrictive measures come in addition to the withholding of EU financial assistance directly going to the government and the freezing of all EU assistance that may be seen as legitimising the junta. The EU remains deeply concerned by the continuing escalation of violence and the evolution towards a protracted conflict with regional implications. The Union condemns the continuing grave human rights violations including torture, sexual and gender-based violence, the persecution of civil society, human rights defenders and journalists, indiscriminate attacks on the civilian population, including a deadly airstrike killing at least 171 persons on 10 April 2023, by the Myanmar armed forces. The dissolution of 40 political parties on 28 March 2023 was another demonstration of the blatant disrespect by the military regime for democracy and the rights and wishes of the Myanmar population. All hostilities must stop immediately. The military authorities must fully respect international humanitarian law and put an end to the indiscriminate use of force. The relevant legal acts have been published in the Official Journal of the European Union. Background In February 2021, the Council adopted conclusions condemning in the strongest terms the military coup carried out in Myanmar/Burma. On 31 January 2023, the High Representative issued a declaration on behalf of the EU on the 2nd anniversary of the military take-over stating that, in the absence of any swift progress on the situation in Myanmar, the EU stood ready to adopt further restrictive measures against those directly responsible for and those abetting the undermining of democracy and the serious human rights violations in the country. The Council has imposed restrictive measures against those responsible for the military coup staged in Myanmar/Burma on 1 February 2021, and the subsequent military and police repression against peaceful demonstrators on 22 March, 19 April and 21 June 2021, 21 February and 8 November 2022, and 20 February 2023..."
Source/publisher: Council of the European Union
2023-07-20
Date of entry/update: 2023-07-20
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Description: "British aid to Burma has been cut by 51% this financial year, and by 70% since the financial year 2020-2021, according to newly published Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office accounts. This comes during a time when Burma is suffering its worst human rights and humanitarian crisis ever, after the attempted military coup on 1 February 2021. “Foreign Secretary James Cleverly is cutting aid to Burma at a time when more people than ever are in desperate need of assistance,” said Anna Roberts, Executive Director at Burma Campaign UK. “Aid to Burma should be increased, not cut, and more aid needs to go to local civil society so British aid reaches people in areas not under Burmese military control.” British aid to Burma has been cut from £61.9 million last year, to £30.1 million in this financial year. Previous government records show that the aid to Burma in 2020 was just over £103 million. This means that aid has been cut by 70% from 2020 to 2023-2024. These cuts in aid to Burma come after the government’s 82% cuts in aid to Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, who fled genocide in Burma. The British government has previously tried to disguise the overall cuts in aid to Burma by highlighting statistics for humanitarian aid, rather than overall aid to Burma. Funding for any development aid programmes discontinued after the attempted coup began should have been reallocated towards the dramatic increase in humanitarian needs but was not. Even before the coup Burma Campaign UK had been campaigning for a higher proportion of UK aid to be spent on the humanitarian emergencies in the country. In 2018 DFID was spending three times as much on economic development and governance as on humanitarian aid. The humanitarian crisis in Burma has been created as the Burmese military desperately tries to consolidate an attempted coup in February 2021. It has met unprecedented resistance and is losing control of parts of the country. In response, it has launched indiscriminate attacks using airstrikes and long-range artillery. The British government has so far failed to sanction supplies of aviation fuel to Burma, despite five British companies, UK P&I, Steamship Mutual, Britannia P&I, North Standard and Shipowners’ Club, being involved in the supply chain of aviation fuel deliveries. Without aviation fuel, the jets can’t fly and if they can’t fly, they can’t bomb. The British government had previously led the implementation of sanctions on sources of revenue and arms but there have been no new sanctions in almost four months and major sources of revenue, such as gas, state-owned banks and rare earth minerals have yet to be sanctioned. The slow plodding pace of sanctions has meant the military has been able to generate revenue to fund arms purchases. The EU has sanctioned Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise and the US has sanctioned state-owned banks. It is not just the cuts in aid to Burma which are alarming, but also the way in which aid is given. Most of the people forced to flee attacks by the Burmese military are in areas not under the control of the military and where UN and other agencies don’t operate. For most, the only way to reach them is through local civil society organisations, but the British government and other donors provide relatively little aid to them, and apply so many conditions and so much bureaucracy and red tape that local organisations can’t access funds. “James Cleverly is moving too slowly to cut off sources of revenue and weapons to the Burmese military and is now cutting aid to the people attacked by those weapons,” said Anna Roberts. “Arguing that the British government has also cut life-saving aid to other countries is not a defence justifying these cuts, it’s a disgrace.”..."
Source/publisher: "Burma Campaign UK" (London)
2023-07-19
Date of entry/update: 2023-07-19
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Description: "Monsieur Le Président de la République Emmanuel Macron Palais de l’Elysée 55 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré 75008 Paris July 10, 2023 Subject: Seeking French support to stop Indian arms sales to Myanmar junta ‍ Dear President Macron, We are writing this open letter to you from Justice For Myanmar, a covert group of activists using research, data visualisation, and reporting to expose and dismantle the business networks that fuel the Myanmar military’s international crimes, brutality and corruption. We request that you raise concerns regarding the sale of arms, dual use goods and technology from India to the Myanmar junta with Prime Minister Modi during his upcoming visit to France. We also request that you require India to ban further exports of arms, dual use goods and technology to the junta as a condition on the export of French arms and technology to India. After Russia and China, India is the third biggest supplier of arms to the Myanmar military. The flow of arms and dual use goods and technology from India to Myanmar has continued following the military’s illegal coup attempt of February 1, 2021, notably including from Indian state-owned companies. Since the military’s coup attempt, India’s majority state-owned Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), a joint venture partner of Thalès, transferred multiple items to the Myanmar military, including: A coastal surveillance system; A remote-controlled weapon station; Slip rings that can be used in any electromechanical system that requires rotation while transmitting power or signals, such as for shipborne radar turntables, rotating turrets on military armoured vehicles, airborne radar turntables or guidance systems; Mounting base plates (true north) with the harmonised system (HS) code 8529.90, confirming that the item is a part for use with radio transmission or radar equipment; A sonar transducer and associated main equipment (specified to be wet end) for likely use in a junta submarine; A directing gear system that would support transducer arrays of hull mounted ship sonar systems, such as those developed by India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation; An underwater telephony system, coupled with three sets of unspecified technical documents and test equipment; An expendable bathy thermograph, which can be launched from a ship or submarine to measure the temperature as it falls through the water; MHS-355 and 20W HF SSB manpack radios. In the same period, items supplied by other Indian companies to the Myanmar military include: 3,000 fuzes supplied by Sandeep Metalcraft, a private arms manufacturer; Spare parts and an alarm monitoring and control system supplied by Larsen & Toubro; 122mm gun barrels supplied by Yantra India Limited, a state-owned arms manufacturer; Motors, timing belts and laboratory items from Jainkoch Corporation. The Myanmar military junta is a terrorist organisation under Myanmar law and as defined in international law. Since the attempted coup, the junta has killed more than 3,700 people and arrested over 23,700 more. It has conducted deliberate armed attacks on people across Myanmar including children and launches regular indiscriminate airstrikes and shelling as part of a campaign of terror. These actions constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity under international law, for which the military has yet to be held accountable. While the military junta is directly responsible for these attacks, they have been enabled by the continued supply of arms, equipment and technology from international suppliers such as India, and the insufficient level of action taken by the international community to prevent this support from continuing. We note that in November 2022, H.E. Mr Sébastien Lecornu, Minister for the Armed Forces of France, paid his first official visit to India to hold the Indo-French Annual Defence Dialogue and to strengthen Indo-French strategic ties. The Armed Forces Minister’s visit to India reaffirms France’s engagement in the Indo-Pacific and India’s centrality in the French strategy for the region and came in a year that has seen an acceleration of the French and Indian armed forces’ endeavours towards greater interoperability through joint air, navy, and army exercises. Minister Lecornu also held wide-ranging talks with his counterpart, Rajnath Singh, covering industrial and technological partnerships in line with the Make in India policy, under which the Indian government has brought in reforms to encourage design, development and manufacture of defence equipment in India. Without adequate safeguards in place, France may find itself indirectly supporting the Indian government’s exports of arms and dual use goods and technology to Myanmar as a result of its defence cooperation with India, including through links to India’s domestic production of arms. India, like France, is a member of the Wassenaar Arrangement. Under this arrangement, India is expected to apply export controls on transfers of arms and dual-use goods and technologies. India also has obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law to not transfer weapons when there is an expectation that these weapons could be used in violation of the Geneva Conventions, or to aid and abet atrocity crimes. The fact that that Indian companies have continued to supply weapons, dual use goods and technology after the attempted coup in Myanmar shows a serious disregard by the Indian government for its obligations under international human rights and humanitarian law, and its commitments under the Wassenaar Arrangement. In a May 2023 report on the junta’s procurement of arms and equipment, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar found that India’s supply of materials used in surveillance technology and artillery, as well as likely for missiles, contravenes its obligations under international law. He noted, “India has the requisite knowledge that the Myanmar military is committing probable war crimes given the substantial international reporting on this subject. India should therefore be aware that the arms it provides to the Myanmar military – though relatively limited – are likely to be used in the commission of international crimes.” Our request for France to take action on Indian arms sales to Myanmar is consistent with the recommendations of the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar in his reports on arms, and UN General Assembly resolution A/75/L.85, which “calls upon all member States to prevent the flow of arms into Myanmar.” We further note that in your joint statement regarding the official visit of Prime Minister Modi, it is stated, “France and India have a shared vision on peace and security, especially in Europe and the Indo-Pacific and uphold the objectives and the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, which are also the basis of our cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region”. The UN Charter states that the first purpose of the United Nations is “to maintain international peace and security, and to that end: to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace, and for the suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace”. Your action in support of the human rights and democratic aspirations of the people of Myanmar is in line with this commitment, as well as the French values of liberty, equality and fraternity. We look forward to your response..."
Source/publisher: Justice For Myanmar
2023-07-10
Date of entry/update: 2023-07-10
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Description: "More than two years after the attempted military coup in Myanmar, and two years after financial institutions’ investments in Myanmar’s military cartel were first exposed in a Justice For Myanmar and BankTrack briefing, five major French banks and a pension fund continue to invest in twenty-two companies linked to the Myanmar military junta, a report published today by Info Birmanie, BankTrack and Justice for Myanmar found. The junta is accused of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity. The report, which is endorsed by ALTSEAN-Burma, FIDH and Reporters without Borders, reveals that these investments by Crédit Agricole, La Banque Postale, the BPCE group, BNP Paribas, Société Générale and the Fonds de Réserve pour les Retraites (FRR) amount to over US$6 billion, 75% of which is in the fossil fuel sector. Investments were also made in companies that sell arms to the junta and in companies operating in the telecommunications sector that enables the junta’s surveillance. With US$4 billion, Crédit Agricole accounts for most of the investments. The companies in which these six financial institutions are shareholders have been divided into two categories: those with a direct and long-standing relationship with the Myanmar military or with companies controlled by the Myanmar military before the coup (category 1), and those with a direct business relationship with state-owned companies under military control following the coup of February 1, 2021 (category 2). The report highlights the connection of these investments to fueling widespread and systematic human rights violations in Myanmar, including the imprisonment of 70 journalists and other severe restrictions on press freedom. It reveals that Crédit Agricole is investing in India’s state-owned company Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) that has been implicated in the sale of military equipment to the Myanmar junta since the 2021 coup attempt. BEL is also a leading partner of the Thalès Group. The findings are published while France is preparing to welcome Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a guest of honour at the July 14th Bastille Day parade in Paris, as part of the celebrations marking the 25th anniversary of the France-India partnership. French investments and the partnership between India and France in the field of defence should be rigorously scrutinised in the light of these findings, to prevent French institutions from helping to finance the flow of arms and technology to the junta. Crédit Agricole also invests in Sinotruk Hong Kong Ltd, a company scrutinised in a recent report from Tom Andrews, UN Special Rapporteur on Myanmar, for transferring equipment to the Military junta since the coup attempt. Crédit Agricole, Groupe BPCE, BNP Paribas, Banque Postale and Fonds de Réserve pour les retraites also hold shares in the Japanese company KDDI and its partner Sumitomo Corporation. These companies in the telecommunications sector continue to do business with the military junta through their joint operations with Myanma Posts and Telecommunications (MPT), supporting the junta’s surveillance capabilities. The report calls on the five banks and the pension fund to comply with their obligations under France’s 2017 Duty of Care Law and international standards on business and human rights. The report authors urge the financial institutions to divest immediately and responsibly from companies listed in category 1 and to sell their shares in category 2 companies if they do not cease their support for the junta. France must ensure that the Pension Reserve Fund does not invest in companies linked to the Myanmar military. The data published in the report highlights the need for France to give the Duty of Care Law its full practical scope with regard to companies in the financial sector and the importance of the negotiations underway at European level to adopt a directive on corporate due diligence. Several countries, including France, have been reported to lobby for a restricted scope of application for the text under negotiation, excluding the financial sector. Continued vigilance and scrutiny of the ongoing negotiations is needed until the final text includes the financial sector. Info Birmanie's coordinator highlights that "it is urgent to see Crédit Agricole divest from Indian arms manufacturer Bharat Electronics Limited, which Norges Bank Investment Management, a Norwegian sovereign wealth fund, in particular, divested from because of its arms sales to the Myanmar junta." Yadanar Maung, Justice For Myanmar spokesperson says: “It is unacceptable that French banks and a pension fund continue to invest in companies with known ties to the Myanmar military junta that is committing atrocity crimes against the people of Myanmar with impunity. These banks must act now to ensure they are in no way supporting the junta. As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, we urge France to take a firm stance against the flow of arms to the junta, including from India, and push for a global arms embargo.” Henrieke Butijn, Climate campaigner & researcher at BankTrack adds : “It is outrageous that these banks have still not taken adequate action to assess and cut ties with companies linked to the Myanmar junta, even after their investments were exposed two years ago. That is two years in which the junta has been able to use the revenues from fossil fuels and the products from companies like Bharat Electronics to terrorise the population. By failing to act on their investments, these five French financiers are not only in breach of the OECD Guidelines and UNGPs, they are also betraying the people of Myanmar."..."
Source/publisher: Justice For Myanmar
2023-07-06
Date of entry/update: 2023-07-06
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Description: "Justice For Myanmar welcomes the latest round of US sanctions targeting Myanma Foreign Trade Bank (MFTB), Myanma Investment and Commercial Bank (MICB) and the junta’s Ministry of Defence. MFTB and MICB are state-owned banks that the Myanmar military illegally seized through its coup attempt. The banks are key nodes in the military cartel’s economic networks, supporting the junta’s campaign of terror. The junta’s Ministry of Defence plays a financial role for the Myanmar military as a whole and its procurement of arms and related materiel that are needed for the junta’s ongoing commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity. While these sanctions are positive, Justice For Myanmar urges the US and its allies to urgently impose sanctions on Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), which is responsible for the junta’s largest source of foreign revenue, and to coordinate sanctions that target whole networks of crony companies and arms brokers, so as to systematically cut the junta’s access to funds and arms. Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung says: “We welcome the latest round of US sanctions targeting junta-controlled banks that help sustain the junta’s campaign of terror. “However, for sanctions to be effective, far more needs to be done to systematically target the junta’s financial and arms procurement networks by the US and its allies. “Justice For Myanmar calls for urgent sanctions against Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise, which continues to bankroll the junta’s ongoing war crimes and crimes against humanity, as well as the junta’s network of cronies and arms brokers. “These sanctions are a result of the courageous resistance of the people of Myanmar to the military’s failing coup attempt, and the efforts of activists around the world supporting the Myanmar people’s struggle for democracy. “The international community needs to hear to the voices of Myanmar and take decisive action to further cut the junta’s access to funds and arms. The cartel must be dismantled.”..."
Source/publisher: Justice For Myanmar
2023-06-21
Date of entry/update: 2023-06-21
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Description: "Justice For Myanmar calls on India’s Quad partners and other allies to use their leverage to pressure India to stop the supply of arms and dual use goods and technology to the Myanmar military junta. A Justice For Myanmar investigation of Indian export records has revealed over US$5 million in new exports to the Myanmar military and its arms brokers from Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) in the six months from November 2022 to April 2023. The shipments consisted of military end-use goods, technology and technical documents to be used by the Myanmar military. Items included metallic sonar domes, transducers and gaskets for the domes to be used on frigates, warships or submarines; directing gear systems; various items for radio transmission or radar equipment; and manpack radios for battlefield communications. BEL, which maintains a branch office in Myanmar, transferred the equipment knowing that the Myanmar military is the end user, and that it is committing ongoing war crimes and crimes against humanity with total impunity. Through its campaign of terror against the people, the Myanmar military junta has so far murdered over 3,600, arbitrarily arrested 23,300 more, committed indiscriminate airstrikes and shelling, torture, sexual violence and displaced at least 1.5 million. The shipments may aid and abet the junta’s international crimes and are a continuation of India’s flagrant disregard for its obligations under international human rights and humanitarian law and its commitments under the Wassenaar Arrangement. India and the Myanmar military have long-standing ties. In his speech on 25 December 2022, war criminal and junta head Min Aung Hlaing stated a need for large warships with high combat capabilities and the training of navy officers to operate them, noting that naval officers had been sent to other countries, including India, to enhance their individual capabilities. The USA and France, which are honouring Prime Minister Narendra Modi in state visits this year, have a particular responsibility to address India’s support for the junta, and to push for India to impose an arms embargo on Myanmar. BEL’s exports to Myanmar during the six-month period were spread across seven shipments, with three being sent to the Myanmar military directly, three sent to the arms brokers Mega Hill General Trading, and one sent to Alliance Engineering Services. Alliance Engineering Services is connected to the family of the junta’s former air force chief Maung Maung Kyaw. Mega Hill General Trading is a private Myanmar military contractor that has a history of procuring technology and providing services to the army’s Directorate of Procurement, including a remote-controlled weapon station supplied by BEL in 2021 and exposed by Justice For Myanmar. Justice For Myanmar also exposed BEL’s supply of a coastal surveillance system to the Myanmar military before and after its illegal coup attempt. Justice For Myanmar calls for urgent targeted sanctions against Mega Hill General Trading, Alliance Engineering Services, their associated business, directors and shareholders. BEL is 51.14% owned by the Indian government and is publicly listed. Other shareholders include Nippon Life India Asset Management, Goldman Sachs, Vanguard, BlackRock, Fidelity, Canada Pension Plan, California Public Employees' Retirement System, California State Teachers Retirement System, Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec and the Swedish pension funds, AP-fonden (AP1), Andra AP-fonden (AP2) and Sjunde AP-fonden (AP7). BEL’s institutional shareholders should divest from the company because of its continued supply of dual use goods and technology to the Myanmar military, in line with their international human rights responsibilities. Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung says: “The Indian government and its state-owned arms companies are continuing business as usual in Myanmar, equipping and profiting from the junta as it commits acts of terror against the people. “These new and significant exports to Myanmar from Bharat Electronics Limited make India further complicit in the junta’s ongoing war crimes and crimes against humanity. “By selling arms and equipment to the junta, India is choosing to ignore the voices of the Myanmar people, the legitimate National Unity Government, civil society, UN resolutions and its responsibilities under international law. “It is crucial that India’s Quad partners and other allies step up and start using their leverage to stop India’s abhorrent support for the junta. “The Biden administration is this week honouring Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a state visit to the White House. “We urge President Biden and his government to push Prime Minister Modi to immediately stop all shipments of arms and dual use goods and technology to the Myanmar junta. “The US should impose conditions on military aid to India to help end Indian support for the junta. “President Macron should raise India’s complicity in the junta’s international crimes when Modi makes a state visit to Paris in July, and push India to impose an arms embargo on Myanmar.”..."
Source/publisher: Justice For Myanmar
2023-06-21
Date of entry/update: 2023-06-21
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Description: "Sweden must act on recent Indian arms sales to the Myanmar military and investigate how components of Swedish arms are once again being exported from India to Myanmar, despite the EU arms embargo. Justice For Myanmar calls on the Swedish government and its arms control authority, the Inspectorate of Strategic Products (ISP), to take necessary measures to ensure that Swedish arms do not end up in the hands of the illegal Myanmar military junta that is committing atrocities throughout the country with total impunity. On 29 March 2023, Sweden’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Tobias Billström responded to an inquiry by Member of Parliament, Håkan Svenneling, on measures taken by the Swedish government to prevent the re-export of weapons produced under Swedish licence in India. The inquiry follows an investigation by Justice For Myanmar that found that some of the arms and associated components sold from India to the Myanmar military have been Swedish designed, including fuses for Carl Gustaf recoilless rifles, developed and produced by Saab Group. As an EU member state, it is prohibited for Sweden to transfer arms and dual use items and technologies to the Myanmar military. In responding to MP Håkan Svenneling’s question, Billström confirmed that Swedish Carl Gustaf recoilless rifles have been manufactured in India under licence since the 1970s. He also confirmed that Sweden has transferred Carl Gustaf recoilless rifles to India and that some of these transferred arms have been diverted from India to Myanmar. In 2012, this diversion was subject to an official investigation by the ISP. According to Billström, the ISP concluded that India was respecting its commitments to not re-export weapons manufactured under Swedish licence and that the Indian government had taken sufficient measures to reduce the risk of diversion. However, since the 2012 investigation concluded, Indian firm Sandeep Metalcraft Private Limited has supplied the Myanmar military with time mechanical fuse 447 designed for 84 mm Carl Gustaf recoilless rifles, despite the Myanmar military’s genocide against the Rohingya and ongoing international crimes. One shipment of fuse 447 was sent to Myanmar in 2019 and a second shipment likely of fuse 447 was shipped after the Myanmar military’s attempted coup, directly supporting its campaign of terror. Sandeep Metalcraft still advertises Carl Gustaf fuses on its website. The information exposed by Justice For Myanmar therefore suggests that key components for ammunition for Carl Gustaf recoilless rifles once again have been diverted from India to Myanmar. This casts doubt on the Indian government’s willingness to comply with end-user commitments and take appropriate measures to reduce the risk of diversion. Billström’s response did not address the questions raised about the recent transfer of fuses for Carl Gustaf rifles from India to Myanmar. In response to Justice For Myanmar’s earlier investigation, Saab declined to respond to questions on whether the transferred fuses would require a Saab licence to be produced, and whether Saab’s licence production agreements with Indian companies prohibit or restrict onward exports from India to other countries. It is unclear whether Sandeep Metalcraft is in a position to manufacture the fuses in India without licensable parts and assistance from the Saab Group. India has continued to export military hardware, including 122 mm barrels for howitzers, to the Myanmar military as late as October 2022. The manufacturer of these barrels is Yantra India Limited, a state-owned public sector undertaking associated with the Indian Ministry of Defence. Yantra India Limited’s ordnance factory in Ambajhari currently produces 84 mm mark-III FFV 551 Carl Gustaf ammunition. The FFV551 is the primary high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) round and is a rocket-assisted projectile. Billström, in his response, also noted a new system, in place as of March 1, 2022, that implies supervisory controls in foreign countries that have received transfers of light weapons made in Sweden, such as Carl Gustaf recoilless rifles and ammunition for this category of weapon. This system may include post-transfer verification visits in recipient countries to reduce risks of diversion, including the risk of re-export to other countries without prior and explicit permission from Sweden. The new system also implies that countries that have not acted in accordance with commitments to not re-export Swedish light arms without prior consent from Sweden should not be considered eligible as recipients of new transfers of arms made in Sweden or of transfers foreseen as part of prior deals made with Sweden, as long as the commitments continue to be contravened or where a recipient country refuses to accept a post-transfer verification visit. It is not clear whether ISP has undertaken, or intends to undertake, an official investigation into the transfer by Sandeep Metalcraft fuses for Carl Gustaf rifles to Myanmar. ISP should urgently investigate if any of the Sandeep Metalcraft shipments to Myanmar contain Swedish technology and make public any past or future investigation carried out to this end. Justice For Myanmar supports the proposal made by members of Parliament Håkan Svenneling et al of April 28, 2023, asking the Swedish government to adopt a strategy to prevent the re-export of Swedish arms to Myanmar. Justice For Myanmar notes with concern that in September 2022, Saab announced its decision to set up a production facility in India for its Carl-Gustaf M4 shoulder-fired weapon system. For this venture, Saab FFV India is being established as a new company to make the rocket launchers for the Indian military, as well as parts of other weapons platforms for foreign states. This move is particularly alarming in light of India’s increasing military co-operation with the Myanmar military after its campaign of genocide against the Rohingya in 2017. In July 2019, India and Myanmar signed a Memorandum of Understanding to increase defence co-operation and has continued to support the Myanmar military after its coup attempt. According to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), India was the third largest supplier of weapons to Myanmar for the years 2017-2021, accounting for 17% of Myanmar’s arms imports after China (36%) and Russia (27%). Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung says: “We are deeply concerned about Sweden’s apparent ties to the supply of weapons to the Myanmar military, which is intensifying its indiscriminate attacks against the people. “The ISP must fully investigate how components of Swedish light arms and their ammunition are still being exported from India to Myanmar, including from Sandeep Metalcraft, and ensure that Sweden abides by the EU arms embargo, which prohibits Sweden from transferring arms and dual use goods to the Myanmar military. “The Swedish government needs to take urgent action to prevent further diversion, including a suspension of export and production agreements with Indian arms manufacturers in light of India’s blatant disregard for he norms of conduct contained in the Wassenaar Arrangement and in international humanitarian law, as seen in the continued business Indian arms manufacturers have with the illegal Myanmar military junta. “We demand that the ISP evaluation leading to a decision to grant Saab the right to establish an M4 manufacturing plant in India be made public in light of India’s well-known track record of exporting conventional arms, ammunition, parts and components to Myanmar, including from Swedish designed weapons.”..."
Source/publisher: Justice For Myanmar
2023-06-20
Date of entry/update: 2023-06-20
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "In 2022, China’s former foreign minister Wang Yi visited Myanmar, but he did not meet with the regime’s leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing. On May 2 2023, the general warmly welcomed Wang’s successor Qin Gang. The minister expressed China’s support for the regime regardless of the situation and promised deeper economic cooperation. He further promised to support Myanmar’s efforts ‘to maintain stability’. In March 2021, China condemned the violence against civilians, halted investments and engaged with the exiled National League for Democracy (NLD)’s members. This support changed dramatically in 2023 as China began a new diplomatic approach. On 4 April 2023, the secretary of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) Yunnan Provincial Committee Wang Ning arrived in Naypyidaw. Later that month, an envoy from the CCP came and met former junta leader Than Shwe — now 90 years old — who had nurtured closer relations with China than Min Aung Hlaing. The envoy also met former president Thein Sein. These meetings were intended to ask the former leaders to advise Min Aung Hlaing, who is known to be anti-Chinese, to forge closer ties. China’s strategy intertwines economic, political and military dimensions. Since the military coup, China has invested US$113 million in Myanmar. The China–Myanmar Economic Corridor provides an important economic link between the two countries. The plan for a high-speed railway between Yunnan and Rakhine — which was shelved in 2014 — is now back on the table, as is a windmill project in Rakhine, a hydroelectric power station in Kachin state and a gas power plant. For Myanmar, supplies of food, fertiliser and stable electricity are urgent, and China is addressing this through infrastructure. Since February 2023, the 770 kilometre-long Chinese-operated oil pipeline from Rakhine to Yunnan has been used to transport Russian oil to China. The pipeline begins at the deep-sea port in Kyaukphyu on Ramree Island and is very important to China’s Belt and Road Initiative. On the political and military front, China worries about the border regions, where fighting between Myanmar’s military and ethnic armed organisations (EAOs) often land both bombs and refugees on the Chinese side. Qin visited the United Wa State Army, Kachin Independent Army, Arakan Army and other China-friendly northeast EAOs before he saw Min Aung Hlaing. Qin has urged Yunnan to strengthen its border defence. China worries that the People’s Defense Force (PDF) will attack its investments in Myanmar. PDF attacked one of the stations on the pipeline in February 2022. In May 2023 a series of anti-Chinese protests arose — reflecting mounting resentment towards Chinese investments for neglecting the locals and the environment. The resistance has called for a boycott of Chinese products. There has also been speculation that China is helping to construct a base on the 11 km-long Great Coco Island, which is located 300 kilometres away from Myanmar in the Bay of Bengal. The island has a radar station and an airfield. Another sign of China’s offensive strategy in the region was a visit by Chinese diplomats to Bangladesh to accelerate the repatriation of Rohingya refugees, despite poor conditions in the Rakhine settlement camps. The strategy in Myanmar is also part of China’s attempts to counter US influence in the region. The United States’ 2021 Burma Act will provide support to the National Unity Government and the resistance. This may have convinced China to support Min Aung Hlaing. Chinese envoys have not been allowed to meet Aung San Suu Kyi and China is not happy with the NLD ban. Despite these concerns, a strategic triad alliance between China, Russia and Myanmar is emerging. Perhaps this is a convenient relationship for the three partners, but it is viewed cynically by Myanmar’s civilians. Demonstrations have intensified and the pipeline has been attacked three times since Qin’s visit. The parallel National Unity Government has declared Chinese investments illegal. For Min Aung Hlaing, the alliance is a question of survival. He badly needs economic, political and military support and so has chosen to ignore resentment against increased Chinese influence. Meanwhile, China’s Ambassador to Myanmar Chen Hai met with Myanmar’s Home Affairs Minister and urged him to crack down on the internet fraud and gambling hub Shwe Kokko run by Chinese criminals on the border with Thailand. The Ambassador urged Myanmar to rescue the people trafficked and trapped by Shwe Kokko. But their headquarters are guarded by the Border Guard Forces of the military, which have stakes in the business. China clearly wants Min Aung Hlaing to get control over matters affecting Chinese interests before it sends an invitation for an official visit to Beijing. The military uses its Russian fighter aircraft and helicopters to bomb civilians, while troops have been burning villages and murdering civilians. The resistance is without a firm coherent command, needs more international help and depends on EAOs opposing the regime. But the resistance will not give up until there is substantial change. Any mediation seems impossible and the generals are used to cope with international sanctions. China’s support of Min Aung Hlaing is bad for the resistance and the humanitarian crisis. If China’s support for Myanmar continues to be guided by a desire to serve its own interests, prospects for changing the situation will remain dim..."
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Source/publisher: "East Asia Forum" (Australia)
2023-06-17
Date of entry/update: 2023-06-17
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "A Justice For Myanmar investigation has uncovered new details of Austria’s Diamond Aircraft Industries’ project with the Myanmar military to locally assemble and produce DART-450 aircraft, in an apparent breach of the EU arms embargo. The DART-450 are training and reconnaissance planes that would provide the military with support to train Myanmar Air Force pilots, who are essential to the junta’s large-scale indiscriminate airstrikes, part of its campaign of terror against the people. The aircraft would also provide the military with aerial surveillance capabilities. Through a transfer of technology deal, Diamond Aircraft Industries supplied the Myanmar military with composites and parts, as well as technical assistance in Myanmar and the training of military personnel in Austria to assemble aircraft and manufacture key parts. Diamond Aircraft Industries is an Austrian based aircraft manufacturer owned by the Chinese corporation, Wanfeng Aviation Industry via a UK holding company. Wanfeng Aviation Industry’s ultimate owner is the Shenzhen-listed Zhejiang Wanfeng Auto Wheel Company Limited. Diamond Aircraft Industries’ support for the Myanmar military took place after its campaign of genocide against the Rohingya and while it was committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in other ethnic areas with total impunity. The project was running between 2017 and 2020, when it was temporarily disrupted as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Under the EU’s arms embargo on Myanmar, in force during the project period, it is illegal to provide arms, dual use goods, and equipment used for internal repression to Myanmar, in addition to restrictions on military training and military cooperation. Justice for Myanmar has obtained confidential records that confirm that the project would result in the Myanmar air force obtaining DART aircraft that would be locally assembled, with the military producing key composite components and parts in Myanmar over six apparent phases. In the first phase of the DART-450 project in Myanmar, six DART-450 aircrafts were to be manufactured in Austria and shipped, bulk-packed and by airfreight, to Myanmar for final assembly from 2019. The assembly of one aircraft has been completed in Myanmar with the on-site support of Diamond Aircraft technicians from Austria and Germany. Justice For Myanmar has identified companies from multiple countries implicated in the project that may also be in breach of sanctions. The companies whose key technical components have been used for the DART-450 project in Myanmar and are based in countries with arms embargoes on Myanmar include Garmin (Switzerland), SIRS Navigation (UK), Electronics International (USA) and Safran (France). Composite materials have been supplied to Myanmar by Engineered Cramer Composites (ECC) (Germany). According to information obtained for Justice For Myanmar, negotiations between Diamond Aircraft Industries and Swedish company DST Control AB to equip the DART-450 aircrafts with OTUS-U250 sensors have also been initiated. Justice For Myanmar identified companies whose computer numerical control machines have been used to manufacture and assemble the DART-450 aircrafts at the Shante air base in Myanmar, including Schuko (Germany), Styrotec (Germany) and Felder (Austria). The Diamond Aircraft Industries deal with the Myanmar military was brokered by Miya Win International, a Myanmar company that has been sanctioned by the UK and has been involved in the procurement of other military end-use equipment from Austria for the Myanmar military, including unmanned aerial vehicles from Schiebel Corporation and a flight simulator from Axis Simulation. Justice For Myanmar has submitted evidence of the Diamond Aircraft Industries business with the Myanmar military to the European Union’s sanctions whistleblower tool and calls for a swift investigation into Diamond and associated companies. Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung says: “Diamond Aircraft Industries’ deep engagement with the Myanmar military is a shocking failure of the Austrian government to enforce the EU arms embargo on Myanmar. “While the Myanmar military was carrying out indiscriminate airstrikes and committing genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity with total impunity, Diamond Aircraft Industries was equipping and training Myanmar military personnel to locally assemble aircrafts that would clearly be used to repress the Myanmar people. “This is not a standalone case but part of a pattern of Austria’s failures to stop its companies from supplying the Myanmar military with equipment and technology, including after the military’s illegal coup attempt on February 1, 2021 “Austria needs to urgently investigate all those that have violated EU restrictive measures on Myanmar, hold them accountable, and take concrete steps to prevent the further complicity of Austrian companies and citizens in the Myanmar military’s international crimes. “The UK, Germany, France, Switzerland, Sweden and the USA should also investigate companies in their jurisdictions that are implicated in the Myanmar military’s DART-450 project and take action against all breaches of sanctions. “The EU and its allies should sanction Miya Win International and its owners to help prevent further European transfers of arms and equipment to the murderous junta.”..."
Source/publisher: Justice For Myanmar
2023-06-12
Date of entry/update: 2023-06-12
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "An application for a criminal investigation into the activities of the Israeli arms manufacturer CAA Industries and officials from the Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been filed with Israel’s Attorney General, over the suspected aiding and abetting of the Myanmar military’s war crimes and crimes against humanity. The application is based on leaked shipment records showing that in July 2019, CAA Industries dispatched injection moulds and tooling used for the upgrading of the Myanmar military’s small arms, via known arms broker Star Sapphire Trading. Star Sapphire Trading is a company ultimately controlled by Dr Tun Min Latt, a Myanmar arms broker who has been indicted on money laundering, transnational organised crime and drug trafficking charges in Thailand. The application: argues that CAA Industries and officials in Israel’s Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Foreign Affairs aided and abetted war crimes and crimes against humanity by supplying the Myanmar military with machinery to manufacture accessories for the Myanmar military’s domestic small arms production lines, knowing that the military was committing atrocity crimes; calls for concerned individuals to be prosecuted under Israel’s Penal Code; calls on Israeli authorities to immediately seize relevant documents from the offices of CAA Industries, the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to avoid the concealment of evidence and potential disruption to the investigation. The application was filed with Israel’s Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara on June 6 by the advocate Eitay Mack on behalf of more than 60 Israeli citizens, among them the former speaker of the Knesset Avraham ("Avrum") Burg, prominent academics including Prof. Daphna Golan-Agnon and Prof. Ruth HaCohen Pinczower, and human rights activists. In addition to the complaint for a criminal investigation, a letter has been sent to Israel’s Defense Exports Controls Agency (DECA) of the Ministry of Defense demanding it immediately cancel export and marketing licences granted to CAA Industries for sales to Myanmar. The application for a criminal investigation follows a similar 2018 submission by Eitay Mack into the aiding and abetting of atrocity crimes by Israelis who exported arms to Myanmar; a 2022 application requesting a criminal investigation into corruption over Israeli arms companies’ dealings with the Myanmar broker Dr Tun Min Latt and his conglomerate, Star Sapphire Group; and a 2023 application into the aiding and abetting of atrocity crimes by Cognyte for its sale of spyware to Myanmar. Justice For Myanmar is concerned that the 2018 complaint has not yet led to a criminal investigation and calls for an investigation to be expedited. Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung says: “CAA Industries’ support for the Myanmar military’s arms industry is unconscionable, and amounts to aiding and abetting the military’s war crimes and crimes against humanity, which are continuing on a daily basis. “The fact that this transfer took place after the Israeli government claimed to have stopped selling arms to Myanmar raises serious questions that should be urgently addressed through a criminal investigation of both CAA Industries and officials from the ministries of defence and foreign affairs for their role in the 2019 shipment of equipment to Myanmar. “By providing moulds and tooling, CAA Industries has helped boost the military’s in-country arms production capabilities, which has lasting consequences for the people of Myanmar who are subject to daily acts of terror at the hands of the illegal junta, which is committing mass murder, indiscriminate airstrikes and shelling, torture, property destruction and forced displacement. “Israeli officials and those in CAA Industries who have enabled the supply of arms and dual use goods and technology to the Myanmar military, aiding and abetting international crimes, must be held accountable.” Eitay Mack, Advocate, says: “Thanks to Justice For Myanmar's investigations, we repeatedly discover that Israeli military exports to the country did not stop, but continued in more sophisticated ways. “This is illegal, immoral and shameful conduct by the Israeli government that approves licenses to Israeli military companies to continue doing business as usual with the murderous military in Myanmar. “This time it is not a one-time export of weapons but equipment that enables the production of weapon parts and therefore requires ongoing licenses for export and the provision of services to the junta. “Therefore, in addition to demanding a criminal investigation against the CAA company and the Israeli officials involved in the scandal, we also demand that the ongoing licenses granted to the CAA company be revoked.”..."
Source/publisher: Justice For Myanmar
2023-06-08
Date of entry/update: 2023-06-08
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "Burma Campaign UK today welcomed a decision by TJC to withdraw Burmese rubies from sale. TJC is one of the biggest TV shopping channels and online jewellery retailers in the UK. In a letter to Burma Campaign UK, TJC stated that following the military coup in February 2021 it had an official policy not to source gems from Burma, and the Burmese rubies it had been selling on its website were listed in error. After receiving correspondence from Burma Campaign UK, the Burmese rubies had been withdrawn from sale. TJC stated: “First and foremost, I want to assure you that we share your concerns and ethical values regarding the situation in Myanmar. Following the military coup in 2021, we made a conscientious decision to withdraw all Burmese jewellery items from our inventory, as we understood the gravity of the situation and the importance of taking a stand against human rights violations. Unfortunately, due to an unintended oversight, some Burmese jewellery items were mistakenly listed for sale on our platform. As soon as we became aware of this error, we took immediate action to rectify the situation. The listings were promptly removed, and we have taken steps to ensure that such an oversight does not occur again in the future.” Burma Campaign UK has written to 40 of the biggest and highest profile jewellery retailers in the UK asking them to demonstrate that the gems they sell are not sourced from Burma/Myanmar in ways which help fund the Burmese military. Following the attempted military coup, which began in February 2021, the Burmese military now dominates Burma’s gems industry, which is potentially worth $2bn per year. Through its own private companies, control of the state-owned enterprises and government ministries, control of trade routes into areas not under its control, legal and illegal trade, and the business interests of military family members, the Burmese military extracts revenue from the gems industry in numerous ways. This revenue can be used by the Burmese military to buy arms and equipment and so funds the human rights violations they commit. “It is impressive that TJC had proactively decided not to source gems from Burma following the coup,” said Mark Farmaner, Director of Burma Campaign UK. “TJC deserve praise for taking an ethical stance on this issue. We hope that other British jewellery retailers will do the same.”..."
Source/publisher: "Burma Campaign UK" (London)
2023-06-07
Date of entry/update: 2023-06-07
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "According to leaked documents and public sources, the Tokyo-based ASEAN-Japan Centre on Trade, Investment and Tourism provided a grant to the junta’s investment and foreign economic relations ministry for a capacity building program on reforms required to implement international investment agreements. The grant was awarded for the 2022-23 fiscal year, and financed at least one event held in March 2023, opened by EU-sanctioned junta minister Kan Zaw. The ASEAN-Japan Centre has refused to disclose to Justice For Myanmar the amount of funds provided to the junta, stating that the information is only available to board members. The ASEAN-Japan Centre is an intergovernmental organisation made up of the Japanese government and the governments of each ASEAN member state, including Myanmar. The Centre is governed by a council, which consists of 11 representatives appointed by each member country. Myanmar is wrongly represented on the council by Soe Han, the junta’s ambassador to Japan, and this legitimises the junta and facilitates continued support, emboldening the junta’s terror campaign. Japan is represented on the council by Yutaka Arima, an assistant minister of foreign affairs. The capacity building grant is one of several ASEAN-Japan Centre initiatives with junta ministries, legitimising the junta, encouraging business engagement and building the capacity of junta staff. The centre has an active partnership with the junta’s hotels and tourism ministry, supporting the junta’s attempts to promote tourism, which provides it with legitimacy and a source of foreign revenue. Since late 2021, as the junta’s violent attacks against the people intensified, the junta tourism ministry organised regular trainings and seminars supported by the ASEAN-Japan Centre. These involved the participation of junta minister Htay Aung and Japanese ASEAN-Japan Centre senior members, aimed at promoting Japanese tourism in Myanmar. In January 2022, the ASEAN-Japan Centre supported the junta to run a Japanese culinary skills training, opened by Htay Aung and ASEAN-Japan Centre Secretary General Kunihiko Hirabayashi. In late 2022 and early 2023, Htay Aung opened seminars for service providers of Japanese tourists in Bagan and Kalaw with ASEAN-Japan Centre officials, which were featured in junta propaganda. The ASEAN-Japan Centre has also supported the junta to provide Japanese language training for tour guides. The ASEAN-Japan Centre is now promoting tourism to Myanmar as part of the fiftieth anniversary or ASEAN-Japan “friendship and cooperation”, and has launched a website in Japanese. In consultation with the junta, the site includes five ideas for Japanese tourists to visit Myanmar, misleading the Japanese public that it is a safe and ethical destination for a holiday. That comes despite the clear call from the legitimate National Unity Government (NUG) against tourism to Myanmar. In November 2021, Minister of Planning, Finance and Investment Tin Tun Naing told the Straits Times, “The people of Myanmar are being killed, raped, detained and their houses and possessions seized or destroyed. This is not a time for sightseeing”. A third junta ministry the ASEAN-Japan Centre works with is commerce, supporting it to promote market access in Japan. Under that program, a workshop was held in January in Naypyidaw and again touted in junta propaganda. The workshop was opened by the permanent secretary of the junta’s commerce ministry, Min Min, and Yuka Kubota, an ASEAN-Japan Centre senior executive. The ASEAN-Japan Centre’s actions to include the junta on its council representing Myanmar, to fund junta ministries, to provide capacity building and to promote business links embolden the junta to continue its campaign of terror against the people of Myanmar with total impunity. Justice For Myanmar urges the ASEAN-Japan Centre and all other organisations to immediately remove the junta from its council and end all support. As the number of people killed by the junta rises daily, lives literally depend on the international community urgently taking action. Japan has a particular responsibility to end the junta’s killings as a democracy and Asian neighbour with a long historical relationship with the Myanmar military. Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung says: “ASEAN and Japan are now celebrating 50 years of friendship and cooperation. “Yet this anniversary has so far shown that ASEAN and Japan’s friendship in Myanmar is with the illegitimate military junta, not the people who are being slaughtered in the junta’s relentless attacks. “The ASEAN-Japan Centre’s activities with the military junta support its illegal and failed attempt to gain control of Myanmar and embolden its ongoing war crimes and crimes against humanity. “Without an immediate end to ASEAN and Japan’s support for the junta, the fiftieth anniversary of ASEAN-Japan relations will be forever tarnished with the blood of Myanmar people. “It’s time ASEAN and Japan end its complicity in the junta’s international crimes.”..."
Source/publisher: Justice For Myanmar
2023-05-26
Date of entry/update: 2023-05-26
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Sub-title: UK Sanctions Coordinator met with US, EU and Canadian counterparts to discuss continued cooperation on Myanmar sanctions efforts.
Description: "On 24 May, the Sanctions Coordinators for the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, and the services in charge of sanctions policy and implementation of the European Commission and the European External Action Service met to continue to assess and align ongoing efforts related to sanctions on Myanmar. The partners discussed the significant scope of actions taken since the military coup in February 2021, ongoing coordination efforts, and the importance of continued information and target sharing to support sanctions packages. The UK announced further sanctions on 31 January and 27 March 2023, targeting suppliers to the Myanmar regime of military equipment and other material being used to attack its civilians. The partners identified the continued need for sustained direct cooperation in order to restrict the regime’s ability to carry out atrocities against the people of Myanmar and pressure the regime to change course to restore the country’s path toward genuine and inclusive democracy..."
Source/publisher: Govt. UK (London)
2023-05-25
Date of entry/update: 2023-05-25
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "FIVE BRITISH INSURERS ADDED TO ‘DIRTY LIST’ FOR AVIATION FUEL DELIVERIES TO BURMA May 23, 2023 FacebookTwitterWhatsApp Burma Campaign UK added five British insurance companies to the ‘Dirty List’ after they failed to give a commitment to stop providing insurance cover for deliveries of aviation fuel to Burma. The five companies are: UK P&I, Steamship Mutual, Britannia P&I, North Standard and Shipowners’ Club. They are mutual insurance clubs which have provided insurance cover (protection and indemnity (P&I) insurance) to vessels which have delivered aviation fuel to Burma. Their role in the supply chain delivering aviation fuel to Burma was exposed in the Amnesty International Report, Deadly Cargo. The report is available here. “The Burmese military are using airstrikes indiscriminately against civilians, even against schools and hospitals, and insurance is a vital part of the supply chain delivering aviation fuel to Burma,” said Mark Farmaner, Director of Burma Campaign UK. Since the Burmese military began its attempted coup on 1 February 2021, it has increasingly used airstrikes to try to gain control over the country. On 11th April, a Burmese military airstrike in the Sagaing Region in the north of Burma killed around 170 people, including around 40 children. In February 2022 the British government issued guidance to British companies to avoid involvement in the supply of aviation fuel to the Burmese military. These companies are ignoring the guidance. “These insurance clubs have clearly taken a decision not to add delivery of aviation fuel to their cover exclusions, despite knowing this means they may insure aviation fuel that reaches the Burmese military and is used to kill civilians,” said Mark Farmaner. “This is the definition of putting profit before principle.”..."
Source/publisher: "Burma Campaign UK" (London)
2023-05-23
Date of entry/update: 2023-05-23
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "The Myanmar military junta has imported at least US$1 billion worth of weapons and related materials from Russia, China and other countries in less than two years, according to a new UN report. “Despite overwhelming evidence of the Myanmar military’s atrocity crimes against the people of Myanmar, the generals continue to have access to advanced weapons systems, spare parts for fighter jets, raw materials and manufacturing equipment for domestic weapons production,” Tom Andrews, the UN independent investigator on human rights in Myanmar, said in a press release. Launched on Wednesday, the report, “The Billion Dollar Death Trade: The International Arms Networks that Enable Human Rights Violations in Myanmar”, documented over 12,500 purchases that were shipped directly to the Myanmar military or known Myanmar arms dealers working for the military from Feb. 1, 2021 to December 2022. The report identified $406 million worth of arms-related trade from entities in Russia including state-owned entities, $267 million from China including state-owned entities, $254 million from entities operating in Singapore, $51 million from entities in India including state-owned entities and $28 million from entities operating in Thailand. Andrews said at a press conference that the diversity and volume of goods provided to the Myanmar military since the coup is staggering. He identified transfers of fighter jets, attack helicopters, reconnaissance and attack drones, advanced missile systems, tank upgrades, radio and communication equipment, radar complexes, and components for naval ships in the report. The deadly items were used by the junta to commit atrocities against the people of Myanmar, the UN Special Rapporteur said. He gave examples of the junta’s air attack on Pazi Gyi Village in Sagaing Region, a resistance stronghold, in which the junta used a Russian Yak-130 fighter jet followed by an attack by Russian Mi-35 helicopters. At least 160 people including 40 children were killed in the attack. And the junta’s Directorate of Defense Industries domestically manufactured bombs and machine guns, relying in part on raw materials supplied by private entities from Singapore, China and Thailand, the report stated. Since the coup, 28 Russian entities, including state-owned entities, have transferred fighter jets, advanced missile systems, reconnaissance and attack drones, and spare parts for fighter jets, attack helicopters, and other systems, it said. Additionally, 41 private and state-owned companies registered in China and Hong Kong continued to supply the Myanmar military with an extensive array of arms, equipment, and raw materials between October 2021 and December 2022 including advanced trainer jets/light attack aircraft, upgrades to tanks, and overhaul and repair work for the older Chinese fighter jets that make up the Myanmar Air Force fleet. Chinese firms also provided essential raw materials directly to the Myanmar military for domestic weapons manufacturing, including aluminum, copper, steel, rubber, and lubricants, it said. The report also stated that Singapore has become a major source for spare parts, raw materials, and manufacturing equipment especially for the continued operation of Myanmar’s KaPaSa weapons factories. At least 138 Singapore-based firms have served as intermediaries for the Myanmar military since the coup. Andrews requested the government of Singapore use the information in the report and enforce its own policies to the maximum extent possible. The government of Singapore has stated that its policy is to, “prohibit the transfer of arms to Myanmar” and that it has decided “not to authorize the transfer of dual-use items which have been assessed to have potential military application to Myanmar.” Unlike Russia, China, and—to a much lesser extent—India, Andrews said he has received no information indicating that the governments of Singapore or Thailand have approved or transferred arms to the Myanmar military. Rather, arms dealing organizations appear to be using the jurisdictions of Thailand and Singapore, and specifically the banking and shipping sectors there, to facilitate arms transfers, he said. The report suggest arm dealers may be seeking to use Thailand as an alternative route. It said 12 Thai companies exporting arms and related materials to the Myanmar military were established following the coup, and many were established by sanctioned arms networks already operating in Singapore. Andrews said that the Myanmar military and its arms dealers have figured out how to game the system because sanctions are not being adequately enforced. “Those providing these weapons are able to avoid sanctions by using front companies and creating new ones while counting on lax enforcement.” The UN Special Rapporteur urged a complete ban on the sale and transfer of weapons to the military, and urged governments to enforce existing bans while coordinating sanctions on arms dealers and foreign currency sources. “The good news is that we now know who is supplying these arms and the jurisdictions in which they operate. Member states now need to step up and stop the flow of these arms,” the expert said..."
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
2023-05-18
Date of entry/update: 2023-05-18
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "NEW YORK / GENEVA (17 May 2023) – The Myanmar military has imported at least $1 billion USD in arms and raw materials to manufacture weapons since the coup in February 2021, according to a new report today by the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Tom Andrews. UN Member States are enabling this trade either through outright complicity, lax enforcement of existing bans, and easily circumvented sanctions, according to the report. “Despite overwhelming evidence of the Myanmar military’s atrocity crimes against the people of Myanmar, the generals continue to have access to advanced weapons systems, spare parts for fighter jets, raw materials and manufacturing equipment for domestic weapons production,” Andrews said. “Those providing these weapons are able to avoid sanctions by using front companies and creating new ones while counting on lax enforcement. “The good news is that we now know who is supplying these arms and the jurisdictions in which they operate. Member States now need to step up and stop the flow of these arms,” the expert said. While calling for a complete ban on the sale or transfer of weapons to the Myanmar military, Andrews pleaded for Member States to enforce existing bans while coordinating sanctions on arms dealers and foreign currency sources. The Special Rapporteur’s paper, “The Billion Dollar Death Trade: International Arms Networks that Enable Human Rights Violations in Myanmar” is the most detailed study on post-coup arms transfers to the military to date. Accompanied by a detailed infographic, it identifies the major networks and companies involved in these transactions, known values of the transfers, and jurisdictions in which the networks operate, namely Russia, China, Singapore, Thailand, and India. “Russia and China continue to be the main suppliers of advanced weapons systems to the Myanmar military, accounting for over $400 million and $260 million respectively since the coup, with much of the trade originating from state-owned entities. However, arms dealers operating out of Singapore are critical to the continued operation of the Myanmar military’s deadly weapons factories (commonly referred to as KaPaSa),” Andrews said. The report reveals that $254 million USD of supplies have been shipped from dozens of entities in Singapore to the Myanmar military from February 2021 to December 2022. Singaporean banks have been used extensively by arms dealers. Andrews recalled that the Government of Singapore has stated that its policy is to, “prohibit the transfer of arms to Myanmar” and that it has decided “not to authorise the transfer of dual-use items which have been assessed to have potential military application to Myanmar.” “I implore leaders of Singapore to seize the information within this report and enforce its policies to the maximum extent possible,” the Special Rapporteur said. “If the Singapore Government were to stop all shipments and facilitation of arms and associated materials to the Myanmar military from its jurisdiction, the impact on the junta’s ability to commit war crimes would be significantly disrupted,” he said. The report also documents $28 million USD in arms transfers from Thai-based entities to the Myanmar military since the coup. India-based entities have supplied $51 million worth of arms and related materials to the military since February 2021. The report examines why international sanctions on arms dealing networks have failed to stop or slow the flow of weapons to the Myanmar military. “The Myanmar military and its arms dealers have figured out how to game the system. That’s because sanctions are not being adequately enforced and because arms dealers linked to the junta have been able to create shell companies to avoid them. The expert said the ad hoc, uncoordinated nature of current sanctions were allowing payments to be made in other currencies and jurisdictions. “By expanding and retooling sanctions and eliminating loopholes, governments can disrupt junta-linked weapons dealers,” Andrews said. The report also focuses on the main sources of foreign currency that have enabled the Myanmar junta to purchase over $1 billion in arms since the coup. “Member States have not adequately targeted key sources of foreign currency that the junta relies on to purchase arms, including most significantly Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise,” Andrews said. Andrews highlighted that no Member State has imposed sanctions on Myanma Foreign Trade Bank (MFTB) since the coup. “My findings demonstrate that MFTB is not only important for receiving foreign currency but is also being used extensively by the junta to purchase arms. It should be a prime target for international sanctions,” the expert said. ENDS Mr. Thomas Andrews (United States of America) is the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar. A former member of the US Congress from Maine, Andrews is a Robina Senior Human Rights Fellow at Yale Law School and an Associate of Harvard University’s Asia Center. He has worked with the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs and parliamentarians, NGOs and political parties in Cambodia, Indonesia, Algeria, Croatia, Serbia, Ukraine and Yemen. He has been a consultant for the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma and the Euro-Burma Network and has run advocacy NGOs including Win Without War and United to End Genocide. The Special Rapporteurs are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Comprising the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, Special Procedures is the general name of the Council's independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity..."
Source/publisher: Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (Geneva)
2023-05-17
Date of entry/update: 2023-05-17
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Description: "Burma Campaign UK today welcomed the passing of a European Parliament Resolution on Thursday, which called on the European Union to impose sanctions on the supply of aviation fuel to the Burmese military. The calls were made in a new Resolution condemning the back-door ban on 40 political parties in Burma. The Resolution is available here. Almost daily airstrikes by the Burmese military over the past two years have killed and injured thousands of people and displaced hundreds of thousands of people, creating a humanitarian crisis. As Burmese military jets use commercial aviation fuel and have taken fuel intended for civilian use, only a complete ban on the supply of aviation fuel to Burma will help reduce airstrikes. Reports by Amnesty International and Global Witness have exposed the role of European companies in the supply chain delivering aviation fuel to Burma. The European Parliament Resolution also calls for targeted sanctions on sources of revenue to the Burmese military, including No2 Mining Enterprise and the Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank. Other demands include supporting a referral of Burma to the International Criminal Court, and for the EU and member states to increase funding for Rohingya refugees. The European Parliament also condemns Russia and China “for their political, economic and military backing of Myanmar’s junta”. The European Parliament Resolution is not binding but increases pressure on the European Union to impose sanctions on the delivery of aviation fuel to Burma, and to speed up the slow pace of the implementation of sanctions on sources of revenue to the Burmese military. “The European Parliament has called on the European Union to do more to stop the flow of aviation fuel and revenue to the Burmese military, and the European Union must now listen and act”, said Anna Roberts, Executive Director of Burma Campaign UK. “There is much more the European Union can do to reduce the capacity of the Burmese military to keep bombing and killing the people of Burma.”..."
Source/publisher: "Burma Campaign UK" (London)
2023-05-12
Date of entry/update: 2023-05-12
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "The Myanmar military’s budget has increased every year since Min Aung Hlaing became its chief in 2011. The budget of the air force in particular has jumped significantly, as new aircraft have been purchased and the military regime has become increasingly reliant on air attacks to combat the resistance movement. For the 2023-24 fiscal year, the junta has approved a defense budget of almost US$2.7 billion, an increase of US$920 million on the previous year. However, until very recently the air force budget was comparatively small. According to a separate defense expenditure list acquired by The Irrawaddy that the military did not submit to parliament, the air force’s expenditure for the 2019-20 fiscal year totaled US$376 million. That amount did not include aviation fuel bills and salaries. At that time, Myanmar was dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic and holding the 2020 general election. There were some clashes between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army in northern Rakhine State. But overall the period saw the fewest clashes since Min Aung Hlaing became the military chief in 2011. As the air force’s spending was around US$376 million during that period of relative calm, its spending might reach US$1 billion per year between 2021 and 2023. But half of the budget usually ends up in the pockets of generals, officers and cronies. U Kyaw Min Oo, the owner of Sky Aviator Co, who was born to an ordinary family in Ayeyarwady Region’s Mawlamyinegyun Township, amassed huge wealth in the decade after he was awarded licenses to supply the air force. The crony has limited edition Mercedes cars in his garage. Brigadier-General Kyaw Moe Thet, who served as the commander of an air base in Mandalay’s Tada-U Township, is one of the beneficiaries of business deals involving the air force. He sponsors artists with millions of kyats. Among the artists are Yone Lay and J Fire. The general also owns dozens of land plots in Mandalay, each worth hundreds of thousands of US dollars. Even richer are the air force chief and his relatives who have accumulated immense wealth within a few years to join the country’s ‘League of Cronies.’ The structure of the Myanmar Air Force was based on the UK’s Royal Air Force, with three key departments — procurement, engineering and administration — designed to exercise checks and balances in procurement and usage of equipment, thereby preventing corruption. But the air force has become increasingly corrupt since 1988. Under the previous military regime, the State Law and Order Restoration Council, the air force stopped inviting open tenders for the procurement of new aircraft, spare parts and maintenance. Instead, licenses were awarded to those who were close to the air force leadership. Back then, the sister-in-law of Vice Senior General Maung Aye, known as Daw Daisy, was the key middleperson in procuring aircraft for the air force. Business owners awarded licenses paid commission to the likes of Daw Daisy and the generals. But under Min Aung Hlaing, the children of generals have established their own companies to supply the military. Notable examples include Ivan Htet, the son of former air force chief General Maung Maung Kyaw, who established Alliance Engineering Service to supply the air force. General Maung Maung Kyaw’s nephew and niece, U Lin Htet and Daw Mon Yee, also made fortunes by supplying and providing maintenance services for the air force. It was easy money for the generals and their suppliers, as all they need to do is to cook the books by charging higher prices for items and services provided to the air force. So the generals awarded licenses to supply the air force to their relatives. Companies have to give commission to both the military chief and air force chief for business deals made with the air force. The head of the air force reportedly gets at least five per cent of the value of each deal. Among the middlemen who helped purchase aircraft, helicopters and parts under former military dictator Than Shwe were U Tay Za, who runs the Htoo Group of Companies, and Dr. Naing Htut Aung, who owns Gate Way International. U Tay Za has close ties with former air force head General Myat Hein. The general’s son worked for U Tay Za’s company. Since Min Aung Hlaing became the military chief in 2011, his son and daughter, General Maung Maung Kyaw’s children and U Kyaw Min Oo have monopolized business with the air force. U Kyaw Min Oo previously worked for U Tay Za, while his younger brother served as the commander of an air force Mi-17 squadron. Mahar Sit Thu Gyi Co, which supplies the air force, is owned by Min Aung Hlaing’s daughter Khin Thiri Thet Mon. Aircraft need different types of maintenance after flying for certain hours. It is a business with huge profits. The annual maintenance cost for a MiG-29 fighter is over US$4.6 million, while a Yak-130 bomber’s maintenance costs US$2.1 million, according to air force figures. But the actual cost is 50 per cent less, according to some air force officers. In the 2019-20 fiscal year, the Myanmar military spent US$2.4 million on two Mi-35P assault helicopters from Belarus. One of them crashed in 2021 because they were substandard, according to air force officials. The military regime is increasingly reliant on its air force to combat the growing resistance movement. But while the junta’s airstrikes cause ever-greater civilian casualties, senior air force officers and their cronies are getting even richer..."
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
2023-05-09
Date of entry/update: 2023-05-09
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "The Australian Centre for International Justice (ACIJ), Justice For Myanmar and Stop Adani condemn Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone Limited (Adani Ports) for its continued development of the Ahlone International Port Terminal 2, which provides a revenue stream and a lucrative future asset for the Australian, Canadian, EU, UK and US sanctioned military conglomerate, Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC). After announcing in October 2021 an intention to withdraw from the project, Adani Ports has pumped millions of dollars into developing the port and procuring valuable cranes that will ultimately benefit MEC. Details of Adani Ports’ development of the Yangon port after the company announced its intention to withdraw has been revealed in a Justice For Myanmar investigation. In addition, new evidence from leaked documents shows that following the Myanmar military’s illegal coup attempt, Adani Power Limited submitted an expression of interest to a US-sanctioned junta minister for the import of coal into India from the Sagaing Region of Myanmar and to seek cooperation in the development of the coal mining industry in Myanmar. At the time, the junta was waging a campaign of terror against the people of Myanmar in the very region where Adani was seeking to purchase coal. The junta’s attacks on the people of Myanmar continue today in Sagaing and across the country, in what amounts to ongoing war crimes and crimes against humanity. On April 11, the junta carried out a shocking aerial attack against a gathering of people in Pazigyi village, Sagaing, killing at least 168 people, including many children. The youngest was a six-month old child. Leaked documents published by Justice For Myanmar also raise concerns over the propriety of the US$22 million “land clearance fee” that Adani Ports paid to MEC in 2019. Details of the payment was first reported by ACIJ and Justice For Myanmar in 2021, and now confirmed in new evidence leaked from the Myanmar Investment Commission. The payment is non-standard, grossly inflated, and may amount to a kickback. Adani Ports should be independently investigated over its payments to MEC, including for land clearance. The Ahlone International Port Terminal 2 project is a partnership with MEC under a build-operate-transfer deal, which as the UN warned makes Adani Ports complicit in the Myanmar military’s ongoing atrocity crimes. Adani Ports’ deal with MEC came after the Myanmar military’s 2017 campaign of genocide against the Rohingya and was identified by the UN Fact-Finding Mission in their report on the Myanmar’s military’s economic interests, which called for all businesses to cut ties with the Myanmar military and its conglomerates. In March 2021, ACIJ and Justice For Myanmar published Port of Complicity, a report into Adani Ports’ business in Myanmar that included new evidence of payments to MEC and the company’s direct relationship with the war criminal Min Aung Hlaing, increasing pressure on investors. Adani Ports’ initial response was to deny the stark evidence of its business relationship with MEC. In June 2021, Adani Ports disclosed that they had paid US$90 million to MEC. In August 2021, ACIJ and JFM wrote to the US Treasury urging them to reject a request from Adani Ports for a general licence to exempt them from US sanctions on MEC. In May 2022, Adani Ports announced that they had signed a binding share purchase agreement on a “completed project basis”, stating that the company would ensure full recovery of its investment. Adani Ports has refused to disclose the identity of its buyer. Adani Ports’ business dealings in Myanmar and Australia have severely damaged the company’s reputation. In April 2021, Adani Ports was removed from the Dow Jones Sustainability Index after human rights and environmental groups submitted a case for review due to Adani Ports’ links to the Myanmar port project and the Adani Carmichael coal project in Australia. Adani Ports set up the Bowen Rail Company who will soon begin hauling coal from Adani’s mine to Adani’s coal port on the Great Barrier Reef, the North Queensland Export Terminal, which is operated by Adani Ports. Investors continue to exclude the company citing environmental and human rights concerns. In March 2022, Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM) added Adani Ports to its watch list and in February 2023, it dumped it entirely by divesting from it and other Adani Group companies. Other investors should follow suit. ‍ Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung said: “Adani Ports has been duplicitous in its dealings with the Myanmar military from the start, bankrolling a secretive and corrupt military conglomerate that is implicated in international crimes. “Rather than exiting by the 2021-22 financial year as originally announced, Adani Ports has misled the people of Myanmar and its own shareholders, refusing to disclose the buyer and proceeding to develop a lucrative financial and logistical asset for the Myanmar military as it wages a campaign of terror against the people. “Adani Power’s attempt to buy coal from the junta would, if successful, amount to misappropriation and help fund the junta's ongoing war crimes and crimes against humanity. “Adani’s complicity with the junta’s atrocity crimes and apparent payment of kickbacks has been enabled by the Indian government, which has pursued business and arms sales in a blatant disregard of its international responsibilities. India should change course, stand with the people of Myanmar and impose targeted sanctions and an arms embargo on the junta.” Rawan Arraf, Executive Director at the Australian Centre for International Justice said: “Adani Ports has misled the public, investors, creditors, the human rights community, but most importantly the people of Myanmar and their supporters who had welcomed the news of Adani’s announcement to exit Myanmar. “Adani continued to build the Yangon port to sell an asset which will remain in the hands of the MEC and the criminal junta. “This dishonest behaviour must be condemned, and we urge investors to take responsible steps and divest from Adani Ports once and for all. “Governments in Australia have emboldened Adani Group companies through lucrative climate-wrecking licenses, and have failed to take account of Adani’s shady deals with the junta. Sovereign wealth funds like the Future Fund have shown a complete disregard for their human rights responsibilities, and should follow the lead of Norges Bank and dump Adani entirely. “Those complicit with human rights abuses and international crimes must be held to account.” Fahimah Badrulhisham, campaigner with #StopAdani said: “US short seller Hindenburg recently exposed Adani Group’s accounting fraud, stock manipulation and money laundering. “Hindenburg has highlighted how Adani Group moves money around its vast corporate empire so that any investment in any Adani company could end up financing Adani’s dirty coal projects and their business with the Myanmar military. “Adani’s investors like Blackrock and Barclays must do their due diligence on Adani and its immoral business practices that are funding the Myanmar junta’s massacres of peaceful protestors, indiscriminate airstrikes and shelling, torture and the forced displacement of over 1.6 million since February 2021. “Blackrock and Barclays should stand with the people of Myanmar and for human rights and immediately withdraw their money from Adani Group.”..."
Source/publisher: Justice For Myanmar
2023-05-04
Date of entry/update: 2023-05-04
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "Canal+ and its satellite partner, Thaicom, are broadcasting Myanmar military junta propaganda against their responsibilities under the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the OECD Guidelines, and international law and norms. The illegal Myanmar military junta uses television for psychological warfare as part of its campaign of terror against the people, in breach of international law, and this content is broadcast by Canal+ and Thaicom. Canal+ operates a subscription television business in Myanmar in partnership with the crony company Forever Group, launched in 2018. Forever Group is a longstanding broadcast partner of the military and was formerly sanctioned by the EU. Canal+ is a subsidiary of the French corporation, Vivendi SA, which also owns Gameloft, Dailymotion and Havas Group. In 2019, Canal+ signed a capacity agreement with the Thai publicly listed satellite corporation Thaicom to broadcast content through the satellite, Thaicom 6. Thaicom has deep links to the Myanmar military. It formerly broadcast the army’s Myawaddy TV (MWD) channels and Thaicom has its own service agreement with Myanmar Radio and Television (MRTV), which was renewed in 2021. MWD is run by the Directorate of Public Relations and Psychological Warfare of the Office of the Commander-in-Chief (Army), Soe Win, who is sanctioned by the EU. MRTV is run by the Ministry of Information, illegally controlled by the military. The junta’s information minister, Maung Maung Ohn, has also been sanctioned by the EU. By broadcasting MWD, MRTV and the junta’s international propaganda channel, MITV, Canal+ and Thaicom regularly distribute images of individuals that the junta has captured as claimed members of the People’s Defence Forces, and are routinely subject to torture, arbitrary imprisonment and death in junta custody. The broadcast of these images are against the spirit of Article 13(2) of the Third Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War (1949): “prisoners of war must at all times be protected, particularly against acts of violence or intimidation and against insults and public curiosity.” Article 13(2) can be interpreted as applicable to “any materials that enable individual prisoners to be identified must normally be regarded as subjecting them to public curiosity and, therefore, may not be transmitted, published or broadcast.” While Article 13(2) originally applied to international armed conflict, Protocol II extends the application of the Geneva Conventions to non-international armed conflicts. France and Thailand have both ratified Protocol II, and as such have a responsibility to prevent companies in their territory from violating the Geneva Conventions. Images of prisoners shown on MRTV and broadcast by Canal+ and Thaicom include close-ups of individuals detained by the junta with signs of torture, such as swollen faces and with their names identified. Canal+ and Thaicom also broadcast content that refers to Rohingya as “Bengali”, a term associated with the military's genocidal intent because it is intended to Other and dehumanise Rohingya. By doing so, the junta, which unlawfully claims to be the government of Myanmar, is disregarding the Provisional Measures imposed by the International Court of Justice in The Gambia v. Myanmar case under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide prohibiting, among other actions, incitement to genocide. Recent content include footage of Rohingya arbitrarily detained when trying to flee the conditions imposed on them by the genocidal military, which include confinement in camps that amounts to the crime of apartheid. Canal+ has enhanced corporate human rights responsibilities because of its status as a multinational enterprise. It should follow the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises that obligates multinational enterprises to "consider additional standards" and to pay particular attention to situations of armed conflict and the applicability of international humanitarian law. Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung says: "The genocidal Myanmar military is waging a campaign of terror against the people of Myanmar, in which it uses media for psychological warfare, spreading fear, disinformation and hate. “By broadcasting MWD, MRTV and MITV, major weapons of the junta’s propaganda arsenal, Canal+ and Thaicom are blatantly disregarding their human rights responsibilities and obligations under international law. “Through the broadcast of the junta’s images of captured PDFs, Canal+ and Thaicom are making a commodified spectacle of prisoners of war, against the spirit of the Geneva Conventions, which their home countries, France and Thailand, are signatory to. “The fact that Canal+ and Thaicom also transmit content that refers to Rohingya as 'Bengali', disregards the Provisional Measures imposed by the ICJ that prohibit the direct and public incitement of genocide. “Canal+ and Thaicom are broadcasting MWD and MRTV's use of the term ‘Bengali’, knowing it is a genocidal slur. “We call on Canal+ and Thaicom to immediately stop broadcasting junta propaganda and to abide by their responsibilities under the OECD Guidelines and international law. “France and Thailand, who are responsible for the conduct of companies in their territories, should take urgent steps to ensure that their companies are upholding international law and norms in their business in Myanmar.” Canal+ and Thaicom did not respond to questions from Justice For Myanmar..."
Source/publisher: Justice For Myanmar
2023-04-28
Date of entry/update: 2023-04-28
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "The Swedish engineering firm AFRY has announced its intention to withdraw from Myanmar, where it has been involved in controversial hydropower projects for over two decades. The undersigned organisations welcome the move to stop doing business with the military junta but remain deeply concerned about AFRY’s delayed response and failure to realise the gravity of its dealings with the Myanmar military. AFRY’s decision to leave Myanmar comes after criticism from local and international human rights organisations. AFRY allegedly disregarded sustained opposition from communities affected by its dam projects, and continued to cooperate with and receive payments from Myanmar authorities after the military coup in 2021. According to leaked documents, obtained by Justice For Myanmar, AFRY received almost USD 5 million in consultancy fees directly from the Department of Hydropower Implementation of the junta’s electricity ministry. AFRY’s conduct in Myanmar raises serious questions about the company’s human rights due diligence procedures. It took the company more than two years after the attempted military coup to announce its exit, and it chose to do business with the Department of Hydropower Implementation after it was illegally taken over by the Myanmar military, which stands accused of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. AFRY’s cooperation with the junta continued despite EU sanctions on the State Administration Council and junta leadership. Now that AFRY has announced its intention to withdraw from Myanmar, we urge the company to: Immediately end all technical support and cooperation with the military junta. Make public its human rights due diligence in relation to its Myanmar operations, including the evidence to support its conclusion that “AFRY has not contributed to any violations of human rights.” Take all measures necessary to ensure a responsible exit from Myanmar in line with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. Investigate any negative impact on human rights that might have occurred as a result of AFRY operations in Myanmar, in close dialogue with affected local communities. All negative impact must be properly remediated. The company’s shareholders and financiers, including several big Swedish banks, should also act to ensure that the company takes these necessary steps, which are in line with the investors’ own human rights commitments..."
Source/publisher: Justice For Myanmar
2023-04-28
Date of entry/update: 2023-04-28
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Description: "Due to the negative development in Myanmar with deteriorating human rights situation and on the back of an enhanced human rights due diligence process, AFRY has decided to end its commitment in hydropower projects in Myanmar. Following the UN report: Situation of human rights in Myanmar since 1 February 2022, which was published in March 2023, AFRY has re-assessed its engagement in the country. The report concludes that the human rights situation has worsened during the last year and recommends that any engagement in Myanmar should undergo an enhanced human rights due diligence process. AFRY has been present in Myanmar for over twenty years, having worked on several hydropower projects, all aiming to accelerate the transition to a clean and stable energy system in the country. UN global development goal number seven declares that access to clean and affordable energy is key to the development of agriculture, business, communications, education, healthcare, and transportation. The lack of access to energy hinders economic and human development. In Myanmar, 30 percent of the population still lack access to energy. AFRY is currently involved in three hydropower projects in Myanmar, whereof one project is active. The contracts were signed before the military coup in February 2021 and AFRY has not signed any additional contracts after that. We have evaluated our presence in the country, international sanctions, the client with regards to the military regime, safety of our employees, environmental and social impact relating to the ongoing projects, and whether we are able to complete our engagement without being complicit or provide direct or indirect support of the military or other operations that violate human rights. Our conclusion is that AFRY has not contributed to any violations of human rights, we have ensured stronger safeguards for the environment through our engineering competence and the hydropower projects have contributed to a cleaner energy system. Nevertheless, AFRY’s assignments will be ended at the latest by the end of this year due to the negative development in the country, while we continue to monitor the situation closely..."
Source/publisher: AFRY (Sweden)
2023-04-21
Date of entry/update: 2023-04-28
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "Burma Campaign UK today called on five British insurance companies to stop providing insurance cover for deliveries of aviation fuel to Burma. The five companies are: UK P&I, Steamship Mutual, Britannia P&I, North Standard, Shipowners Club. They are mutual insurance clubs which have provided insurance cover (protection and indemnity (P&I) insurance) to vessels which have delivered aviation fuel to Burma. Their role in the supply chain delivering aviation fuel to Burma was exposed in the Amnesty International Report, Deadly Cargo. The report is available here. “Any company involved in the supply chain delivering aviation fuel to Burma is potentially complicit in airstrikes against civilians, and should stop immediately,” said Mark Farmaner, Director of Burma Campaign UK. “Without insurance, vessels cannot deliver aviation fuel.” Since the Burmese military began its attempted coup on 1st February 2021, it has increasingly used airstrikes to try to gain control over the country. The Burmese military use airstrikes indiscriminately and deliberately against civilian targets, including health clinics, schools, homes, religious buildings and camps for people who had fled previous Burma military attacks. On 11th April, a Burmese military airstrike in the Sagaing Region in the north of Burma killed around 170 people, including around 40 children. In February 2022, the British government issued guidance to British companies regarding aviation fuel to Burma. It stated: “The Myanmar military regularly uses air strikes against civilian targets. If dealing with any entity linked to Myanmar’s aviation sector, businesses should conduct thorough supply chain diligence to ensure that commodities such as jet-fuel do not reach the military.” The guidance is available here. In their report, Deadly Cargo, Amnesty International exposed how aviation fuel intended for civilian use was taken by the Burmese military. This means it is impossible to be involved in supplying aviation fuel to Burma and ensure that fuel does not reach the Burmese military. Companies insuring vessels delivering aviation fuel to Burma are not following British government guidance. Despite its own guidance being broken, the British government has failed to impose sanctions preventing British companies being involved in supplying aviation fuel to Burma. Canada has imposed such sanctions. So far, the British government has only sanctioned Burmese companies and individuals which have sold aviation fuel to the Burmese military. “Insurers largely operate behind the scenes but play a vital role in the delivery of aviation fuel to Burma,” said Mark Farmaner. “These companies must now publicly commit that they will no longer provide insurance cover for vessels delivering aviation fuel to Burma.”..."
Source/publisher: "Burma Campaign UK" (London)
2023-04-20
Date of entry/update: 2023-04-20
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Description: "Drink giants Heineken, Carlsberg and ThaiBev are paying tens of millions of dollars in tax to the Myanmar military junta, Justice For Myanmar has revealed in an investigation of tax filings released by Distributed Denial of Secrets. The foreign companies are partnered with the family of the deceased crony Thein Tun, who controlled Myanma Golden Star Group with his son, Thant Zin Tun. Myanma Golden Star Group produces beer with Carlsberg and soft drinks with a subsidiary of LOTTE Corporation. Thein Tun’s daughter, Mar Mar Tun and son-in-law, Aung Moe Kyaw, are the local partners of Heineken and Thai Beverage (ThaiBev). ThaiBev controls Grand Royal Group. An analysis of available tax filings from October to December 2021 show that Heineken, Carlsberg and ThaiBev subsidiaries paid 49.9 billion kyat in Specific Goods Tax (SGT) alone to the military junta, equivalent to US$27.6 million based on average exchange rates from the Central Bank of Myanmar, which is illegally under junta control. SGT is a tax on the production and import of alcohol and other products that is applied to beer at a rate of 60% and a sliding scale for spirits, depending on the price level. ThaiBev, Heineken and Carlsberg companies also pay commercial tax and income tax to the junta, which totalled 12.6 billion kyat in the period, equivalent to US$7 million. Spread across a year, ThaiBev, Heineken and Carlsberg companies in Myanmar could be paying as much as 250 billion kyat or US$155 million in taxes to the junta, bankrolling its international crimes. LOTTE, which is not subject to SGT, pays smaller amounts of tax and is also responsible for lease payments to the Myanmar Army as part of its hotel subsidiary’s investment in a hotel development with POSCO International. Payments from these corporations aid the junta as it wages a campaign of terror against the people of Myanmar, increasingly relying on its air force to carry out indiscriminate attacks. On April 11, the junta launched an indiscriminate aerial attack against people gathered at an event in Pazigyi village, Sagaing, killing at least 168 people, weeks after the UN Human Rights Council passed a resolution that called on the Myanmar military to immediately cease all air strikes. An October 2022 air strike against a concert in Kachin State killed over 80 people. Large tax payments from the drink giants help the junta buy arms, fuel and equipment and pay soldiers, supporting ongoing war crimes and crimes against humanity. Justice For Myanmar calls on ThaiBev, Heineken, Carlsberg and LOTTE to follow the guidance of the National Unity Government and their international human rights responsibilities, and end payments to the military junta. Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung says: "Heineken, Carlsberg and ThaiBev are paying the equivalent of tens of millions of dollars in taxes annually to the Myanmar military junta, which is a terrorist organisation that has been committing war crimes and crimes against humanity against the people of Myanmar with total impunity. "The illegal junta desperately needs revenue to sustain its campaign of murder and destruction, and these taxes from drink giants help fund the bombs, bullets and jet fuel the junta needs to attack the people. "Since there is a specific goods tax for beer and spirits, the junta gets a massive share of the revenues of Heineken, Carlsberg and ThaiBev in Myanmar. "These are funds that belong to the people of Myanmar and should be paid to the National Unity Government (NUG), which is the legitimate government. Instead, Heineken, Carlsberg, ThaiBev and LOTTE are ignoring NUG’s guidance and bankrolling the illegal junta, making themselves complicit in its international crimes and undermining democracy. "It is also concerning that the companies are partnered with the Thein Tun family, who have deep links to the Myanmar military, evidence of Heineken, Carlsberg, ThaiBev and LOTTE’s historic human rights due diligence failures in Myanmar. "We call on Heineken, Carlsberg, ThaiBev and LOTTE to fulfil their international obligations under the OECD Guidelines and UN Guiding Principles, and end their substantial payments to the military junta, which is a terrorist organisation."..."
Source/publisher: Justice For Myanmar
2023-04-19
Date of entry/update: 2023-04-19
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Format : pdf
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Description: "On April 13, ENEOS Holdings (hereinafter referred to as“ENEOS”) announced that their withdrawal from the Yetagun gas project inMyanmar had been approved by the Myanmar “government” on April 12, in referenceto the illegitimate military junta. This announcement by ENEOS provided little information,with the company stating, “The impact of this transaction on our consolidatedfinancial results is expected to be minimal”, and made no reference to thecompany’s obligations to responsibly exit, in accordance with the UN GuidingPrinciples on Business and Human Rights and the OECD Guidelines. Malaysian company Petronas has been the operator of theYetagun gas project, under a partnership with Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise(MOGE), PTTEP of Thailand, and the ENEOS consolidated subsidiary, Nippon OilExploration (Myanmar). Other investors in Nippon Oil are the JapaneseGovernment and Mitsubishi Corporation. While Petronas announced its withdrawal in 2022, ithas not issued an update on the current status of its exit and any steps it hastaken to divest from Myanmar responsibly. Last year and also this year, Mekong Watch, FoE Japanand Justice For Myanmar (JFM) strongly urged ENEOS and its partners to responsibly disengage, with transparency andthrough consultation with local communities and civil society stakeholders.However, our demands were ignored. In exiting Myanmar, ENEOS and its internationalpartners have apparently failed to ensure that revenue from the project wouldnot flow to the Myanmar military. Also, ENEOS and its internationalpartners have not taken appropriate steps to close the field, which ispredicted to be near depletion. While under control of the illegal militaryjunta, MOGE cannot be trusted to close the gas field in an environmentallyresponsible way. According to information obtained by JFM, the Yetagungas project is being taken over by Gulf Petroleum Myanmar, which is part of the Thailand-based NorthernGulf Petroleum group. Northern Gulf Petroleum is structured through shell companies in Bermuda, a taxhaven, according to information on the GPM website on June 28, 2022 (which has nowbeen removed), and has a holding company in Singapore, a corporate structurethat uses secrecy jurisdictions that may help facilitate payments to the junta.The selection of GPM as a successor implies that ENEOS, the Government ofJapan, and Mitsubishi Corporation have not taken adequatemeasures to identify, prevent, mitigate and remedy the negative environmentaland social impacts related to their withdrawal. We call on ENEOS, the Government of Japan and Mitsubishi Corporation todisclose their human rights due diligence in relation to their withdrawal fromMyanmar, and the steps they will take to address negative impacts, inaccordance with their international human rights responsibilities. .."
Source/publisher: Justice For Myanmar
2023-04-17
Date of entry/update: 2023-04-17
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Description: "Justice For Myanmar welcomes sanctions imposed by the UK and US on subsidiaries and one individual from Asia Sun Group of Companies, to coincide with the illegal Myanmar junta’s “Armed Forces Day”. Asia Sun Group of Companies is a key local partner of the Myanmar military junta and is involved in importing, storing and delivering jet fuel to the military. Asia Sun’s role in the Myanmar military’s jet fuel supply chain was detailed in the Amnesty International report, Deadly Cargo, with research contributed by Justice For Myanmar. On March 24, 2023, the US sanctioned three Myanmar-registered companies in the Asia Sun network: Asia Sun Group Company Limited, Asia Sun Trading Company Limited and Cargo Link Petroleum Logistics Company Limited. On March 27, 2023, the UK sanctioned the Singapore-registered Shoon Energy Pte Ltd, which was formerly named Asia Sun Aviation, along with its director and sole owner, Khin Phyu Win. Amnesty International has revealed that in December 2022, the Swiss and Singapore based Puma Energy transferred its share of National Energy Puma Asia Sun (NEPAS) to Shoon Energy. NEPAS is a joint venture with the junta controlled Myanma Petrochemical Enterprise (MPE) and is responsible for the import, storage and sale of jet fuel. Shoon Energy is the second Singapore registered company to be sanctioned following the Myanmar military’s illegal coup attempt, and further highlights the role Singapore continues to play as a base for businesses providing funds, arms and jet fuel to the Myanmar military. The first Singapore business sanctioned since the coup attempt was Star Sapphire Group Pte Ltd, designated by the US on Friday. In January, the UK sanctioned Asia Sun Trading, its sole director and shareholder Zaw Min Tun, former director and shareholder Win Kyaw Kyaw Aung, and Cargo Link Company Limited. However, more action is urgently needed to stop the supply of jet fuel to the Myanmar junta, including through a total ban on jet fuel sales to Myanmar, sanctions on MPE and the extension of sanctions to all Asia Sun companies, directors and shareholders, including the key individuals May Thwe Aung and Moe Myint Aung, who remain unsanctioned. Justice For Myanmar has documented at least 8 subsidiaries of Asia Sun Group of Companies that are directly involved in the jet fuel supply chain, and only four of these companies have been sanctioned in one or more jurisdictions. Asia Sun Group of Companies has at least 40 subsidiaries and 13 associated companies in total. The illegal junta relies on its air force to wage a war of terror against the people of Myanmar. In the first two months of 2023, Chin Human Rights Foundation documented one airstrike per day in Chin State townships under martial law. In late February, a campaign of indiscriminate airstrikes in Karenni State killed civilians and displaced thousands. By supplying jet fuel to the Myanmar military, Asia Sun Group of Companies is complicit in the junta’s airstrikes, which amount to atrocity crimes, and all those responsible should be held accountable under international law. Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung says: “We welcome the latest round of sanctions from the US and UK targeting the junta’s jet fuel supply chain. “However more urgently needs to be done to stop the junta from accessing jet fuel, which enables its ongoing air attacks against the people of Myanmar. “The US, UK, EU and Australia should follow the lead of Canada by imposing a ban on the sale of jet fuel to Myanmar. “The US, UK, EU, Canada and Australia need to coordinate to sanction MPE and the whole Asia Sun network of companies and individuals, as well all other companies and individuals that continue to supply jet fuel to the Myanmar military. “The junta’s procurement of arms and jet fuel is enabled by its access to funds. Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE) remains the biggest source of revenue for the junta and must be targeted to disrupt the junta’s ability to maintain its campaign of terror against the people of Myanmar. “We urge the US, UK, Canada and Australia to follow the EU and sanction MOGE immediately, as has been repeatedly demanded by civil society and the National Unity Government. “It is concerning that Asia Sun has continued to operate in Singapore, along with many other companies supporting the junta’s international crimes. “Recent US and UK sanctions against Singapore companies should be a wake-up call to the Singapore government to act in accordance with its international responsibilities and stop allowing Singaporean companies to support the junta. “We note Singapore Foreign Minister Dr Vivian Balakrishnan's recent statement committing to a prohibition on the transfer of arms and dual use goods to Myanmar, but comprehensive action needs to be seen.” More information: See our data on Asia Sun Group of Companies subsidiaries and directors here, and read Amnesty International’s Deadly Cargo report, with research supported by Justice For Myanmar Read our joint press release with The Sentry welcoming US sanctions against Star Sapphire Group of Companies, subsidiaries and individuals here Justice For Myanmar, a group of covert activists campaigning for justice and accountability for the people of Myanmar, is calling for an end to military business and for federal democracy and a sustainable peace..."
Source/publisher: Justice For Myanmar
2023-03-28
Date of entry/update: 2023-03-28
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Description: "The sole legitimate Government of Myanmar, the National Unity Government (NUG) welcomes the announcement by the UK government of further targeted sanctions against those enabling the brutal Burmese military's assault on the democratic aspirations of the people of Myanmar. The announcement comes on the annual Armed Forces Day in Myanmar. Today, the brutal Burmese military leaders celebrate their crimes against humanity against the people of Myanmar by throwing massive military parades. Yesterday, the Government of the United States of America (USA) imposed fresh sanctions against the brutal Burmese military for inflicting terrible pain and unspeakable suffering of the people of Myanmar. The sanctions will restrict the genocidal Burmese military's access to fuel and military equipment by targeting individuals and entities involved in the supply of military equipment and aviation fuel to the military regime. The entities and individuals sanctioned are: Shoon Energy Pte Ltd. - a company supplying aviation fuel to the Myanmar Air Force, Khin Phyu Win - Director and shareholder of Shoon Energy Pte Ltd., Tun Min Latt - Director of Star Sapphire Trading Company Limited, a company that supplies restricted goods or technology through its business. We hope and pray that all the International Communities will join the UK government by taking coordinated, targeted and tougher actions against the brutal Burmese Military. We hope and pray that all International actors will join the UK Government in condemning the inhuman Burmese military's brutal campaign against the people of Myanmar, which has resulted in violence and atrocities against civilians. In the last 24 months alone, the brutal Burmese Military's atrocities have totalled more than 9,000 attacks on civilians, resulting in the deaths of over 3,000 innocent individuals and the inhuman and illegal detention of over 20,000 civilians including President U Win Myint, State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and spiritual leader Rev. Dr. Hkalam Samson. These brutal evils forces of Burmese Military have destroyed over 60,000 homes, schools, churches, and monasteries, displacing more than 1.6 million civilians and causing over 17 million people to face hunger and starvation. These genocidal attacks by the brutal Burmese military junta have been made possible by the massive supplies of fuel and finances provided to the fascist military. The individuals, groups, organizations, businesses, companies, and countries enabling these atrocities and crimes against humanity must be held accountable. These targeted sanctions are an important step towards holding those responsible for these crimes accountable, and we urge the international partners to maintain pressure on the brutal Burmese Military and support the people of Myanmar in their fight for rule of law, freedom, federal democracy and human rights. We call on all countries to end the sale and transfer of arms and equipment that facilitate the brutal Burmese military's atrocities and to take similar targeted measures to hold accountable those profiting from, or supporting, the genocidal Burmese Military (Tatmadaw). It is time for the international community to stand with the people of Myanmar and demand an end to the genocidal Burmese Military's brutal campaign against them..."
Source/publisher: Ministry of International Cooperation Myanmar
2023-03-27
Date of entry/update: 2023-03-28
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Description: "Burma Campaign UK today welcomed new UK sanctions targeting companies supplying aviation fuel, arms and aircraft parts to the Burmese military. The sanctions follow similar sanctions targeting aviation fuel announced by the USA on 24th March. The new sanctions target the following: Shoon Energy, linked to the already sanctioned Asia Sun company, which supplies aviation fuel to the military. Khin Phyu Win, Director of Shoon Energy. Tun Min Latt, Director of the Star Sapphire group of companies. He is a Burmese business crony close to the head of the military, Min Aung Hlaing, and also an arms broker and linked to the illegal drug trade. The updated sanctions list is available here. It follows Asia Sun Trading and two executives being sanctioned by the UK in February for supplying aviation fuel to the Burmese military. Since the attempted military coup began on 1st February 2021, the Burmese military have increasingly used airstrikes against civilians and those resisting military rule. More than 1.5 million people have been forced to flee their homes, creating a humanitarian crisis. These almost daily airstrikes are a violation of international law, with homes, schools, hospitals and medical centres being targeted, as well as churches and other religious buildings. Stopping the supply of aviation fuel is one of the single most effective things the international community can do to address the human rights and humanitarian crisis in Burma. “These sanctions are well targeted, prioritising suppliers of aviation fuel and arms brokers, but a complete ban on British companies supplying aviation fuel to Burma is the only way to ensure no British companies are complicit in airstrikes against civilians,” said Anna Roberts, Executive Director of Burma Campaign UK. “The British government has the right policy in seeking to cut off sources of revenue, arms and aviation fuel but they are implementing the policy far too slowly.”..."
Source/publisher: "Burma Campaign UK" (London)
2023-03-27
Date of entry/update: 2023-03-27
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Description: "The National Unity Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar warmly welcomes the United States Department of the Treasury’s announcement of further sanctions against individuals and entities connected to the illegal military junta. Announced on 24 March 2023, the new measures target two individuals and six entities tied to the junta and its deliberate, widespread and systematic atrocities against civilians. Significantly, they also take aim at the import, storage and distribution of jet fuel to the junta. Frustrated by the scale and resilience of the Myanmar people’s rights-based revolution and by its own failure to seize power, the junta is escalating its airstrikes against villages, schools and hospitals. According to the UN’s Human Rights Office, the junta has increased its aerial attacks against civilian locations by 141 percent over the past year. In recent weeks, senior UN officials have condemned the junta at the Human Rights Council, the UN’s premier human rights forum. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, told the Council that “[t]he disregard and contempt for human life and human rights that are continuously demonstrated by the military constitute an outrage to the conscience of humanity.” The UN’s Special Rapporteur on Myanmar, Tom Andrews, urged the Council to take action, pressing that the junta “does not offer any viable path to stability or an end to the human rights crisis in Myanmar because it is the very cause of this crisis”, and that the junta “lacks even a shred of constitutional or democratic legitimacy”. The latest tranche of United States sanctions joins a growing movement of measures against the junta. In February, the European Union imposed a sixth round of sanctions that targeted the junta’s oil and gas revenues, building on earlier measures aimed at stripping the junta of access to arms, munitions and dual-use items. The National Unity Government extends its gratitude to the United States for its sustained commitment to the Myanmar people and calls on other members of the international community to take equal action..."
Source/publisher: Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Myanmar - NUG
2023-03-26
Date of entry/update: 2023-03-26
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Description: "ပြည်ထောင်စုသမ္မတမြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော် အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ အနေဖြင့် အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီနှင့် ဆက်စပ်နေသော လူပုဂ္ဂိုလ်နှင့် အဖွဲ့အစည်းများအား အမေရိကန်အစိုးရ၊ ဘဏ္ဍာရေးဌာနမှ အရေးယူပိတ်ဆို့မှုများ ထပ်မံ ချမှတ်ခဲ့သည့်အပေါ် ကြိုဆိုပါသည်။ ၂၀၂၃ ခုနှစ် မတ်လ (၂၄) ရက်တွင် ထုတ်ပြန်ခဲ့သည့် အဆိုပါကြေညာချက်သည် အရပ်သားပြည်သူများ အပေါ်ကျူးလွန်နေသည့် ရက်စက်ကြမ်းကြုတ်မှုများ ၊ ကျယ်ကျယ် ပြန့်ပြန့် စနစ်တကျ လုပ်ဆောင်နေမှုများကို ချင့်ချိန်သုံးသပ်လျက် စစ်တပ်နှင့် ဆက်စပ်နေသည့် လူပုဂ္ဂိုလ် (၂)ဦးနှင့် အဖွဲ့အစည်း (၆)ခုတို့အား ရည်ရွယ်ပစ်မှတ်ထား ချမှတ်ခြင်း ဖြစ်ပါသည်။ အရေးယူပိတ်ဆို့မှုတွင် ပိုမိုအရေးပါသည့်အချက်မှာ စစ်တပ်ထံသို့ ဂျက်လေယာဉ်ဆီ တင်သွင်းခြင်း၊ သိုလှောင်ခြင်းနှင့် ဖြန့်ဖြူးခြင်း တို့ကို ရည်ရွယ်ပစ်မှတ်ထား အရေးယူပိတ်ဆို့ခြင်းဖြစ်ပါသည်။ မြန်မာ့ပြည်သူလူထု၏ မိမိကိုယ်ကို ခုခံကာကွယ်ပိုင်ခွင့်အပေါ် အခြေခံသည့် တော်လှန်ရေး၏ အတိုင်းအတာ၊ ကြံ့ကြံ့ခံနိုင်မှုများနှင့် အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်တပ်၏ ၎င်းတို့ကိုယ်တိုင် အာဏာထိန်းထားနိုင်ခြင်း မရှိမှုတို့ကြောင့်၊ အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်တပ်သည် ကျေးရွာများ၊ စာသင်ကျောင်းများနှင့် ဆေးရုံများကို လေကြောင်းတိုက်ခိုက်မှုများ အရှိန်မြှင့်တင် လုပ်ဆောင် လာပါသည်။ ကုလသမဂ္ဂလူ့အခွင့်အရေးရုံး၏ အဆိုအရ ပြီးခဲ့သည့်နှစ်အတွင်း အရပ်သား တည်နေရာများအား အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်တပ်၏ လေကြောင်းတိုက်ခိုက်မှုမှာ ၁၄၁ ရာခိုင်နှုန်းအထိ မြင့်တက်လာခဲ့ပါသည်။ အဆိုပါ ဖြစ်စဉ်များနှင့် ပက်သက်၍ လူ့အခွင့်အရေးကောင်စီ၌ လွန်ခဲ့သည့် ရက်သတ္တပတ်များက ပြုလုပ်ခဲ့သည့် ကုလသမဂ္ဂလူ့အခွင့်အရေးဖိုရမ်တွင် ကုလသမဂ္ဂတာဝန်ရှိသူများက အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီ အား ပြစ်တင် ရှုံ့ချခဲ့ပါသည်။ ကုလသမဂ္ဂလူ့အခွင့်အရေးဆိုင်ရာမဟာမင်းကြီး Volker Türk က “လူ့အသက်နှင့် လူ့အခွင့်အရေးကို လျစ်လျူရှု ပမာမခန့်ပြုကြောင်း စဉ်ဆက်မပြတ် ပြသနေသည့် အကြမ်း ဖက်စစ်တပ်၏ လုပ်ရပ်သည် လူ့သားများ၏စိတ်ကို နာကြည်းမှု ဖြစ်စေကြောင်း” လူ့အခွင့်အရေးကောင်စီ၌ ပြောကြားခဲ့ပါသည်။ မြန်မာ့လူ့အခွင့်အရေးဆိုင်ရာ ကုလသမဂ္ဂအထူးကိုယ်စားလှယ် Tom Andrews ကလည်း “ စစ်တပ်သည် အဆိုပါပြဿနာများ၏ အဓိကအကြောင်းရင်း ဖြစ်နေသည့်အတွက် မြန်မာနိုင်ငံအတွင်း တည်ငြိမ်မှု သို့မဟုတ် လူ့အခွင့်အရေး ပြဿနာကို အဆုံးသတ်နိုင်မှုတို့အတွက် နည်းလမ်းမရှိကြောင်း” နှင့် “ အကြမ်းဖက် စစ်တပ်သည် ဖွဲ့စည်းပုံအခြေခံဥပဒေအရဖြစ်စေ၊ ဒီမိုကရေစီအရဖြစ်စေ အနည်းငယ်မျှပင် တရားဝင်မှု မရှိကြောင်း” စသဖြင့် ပြောကြားခဲ့ပြီး စစ်တပ်အပေါ် အရေးယူဆောင်ရွက်ရေး အတွက် ကောင်စီသို့ တိုက်တွန်းပြောကြားခဲ့ပါသည်။ အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်တပ် အပေါ် အရေးယူ ဆောင်ရွက်ချက်များတွင် အမေရိကန်ပြည်ထောင်စု၏ အရေးယူ ပိတ်ဆို့မှုများလည်း ပါဝင်လာခဲ့ခြင်း ဖြစ်သည်။ ဥရောပသမဂ္ဂကလည်း အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်တပ်၏ ရေနံနှင့် သဘာဝဓာတ်ငွေ့ ရငွေများအပေါ် ပစ်မှတ်ထားသည့် ပိတ်ဆို့မှုများကို ယခုနှစ် ဖေဖော်ဝါရီလတွင် ဆဌမအကြိမ် ချမှတ်ခဲ့ပြီး အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်တပ် အနေဖြင့် စစ်လက်နက်ပစ္စည်းများ၊ ခဲယမ်းမီးကျောက်များနှင့် စစ်ဘက် နည်းပညာများ မရရှိနိုင်ရေးကို လုပ်ဆောင်ခဲ့ပါသည်။ အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ အနေဖြင့် အမေရိကန်ပြည်ထောင်စု၏ မြန်မာပြည်သူများအတွက် တစိုက်မတ်မတ် နှစ်မြှုပ် ဆောင်ရွက်ပေးနေမှုများ အတွက် ကျေးဇူးတင်ရှိပါ ကြောင်းနှင့် နိုင်ငံတကာအသိုင်းအဝိုင်းမှ အခြားအဖွဲ့ဝင်များ ကိုလည်း အလားတူ အရေးယူမှုများ ဆောင်ရွက်ပေးရန် တိုက်တွန်းအပ်ပါသည်။..."
Source/publisher: Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Myanmar - NUG
2023-03-26
Date of entry/update: 2023-03-26
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Description: "Justice For Myanmar and The Sentry welcome the adoption of sanctions today by the United States on Star Sapphire Group of Companies, Star Sapphire Trading Company Limited, Star Sapphire Group Pte. Ltd., and two of their owners, Tun Min Latt and his wife Win Min Soe. Star Sapphire Group of Companies is a Myanmar conglomerate with diversified interests in trading, power, hospitality, and mining. As revealed by Justice For Myanmar in an April 2022 report, Star Sapphire Group of Companies has substantial business links with theMyanmar military. The United Kingdom sanctioned Star Sapphire Group of Companies in August 2022. According to the Department of the Treasury’s press release, Tun Min Latt has used his companies “to import military arms and equipment, including drones and aircraft parts” and has acted as Myanmar’s agent with the US-sanctioned Chinese arms manufacturer NORINCO.Alongside institutional links between Star Sapphire Group of Companies and the Myanmar military, significant ties exist between Tun Min Latt and his wife Win Min Soe and the family of junta leader and commander-in-chief of the Myanmar military Min Aung Hlaing. Research by Justice For Myanmar and Reuters published in January 2023 revealed that Tun Min Latt held assets in the names of Min Aung Hlaing’s adult children at the time of Tun Min Latt’s arrest by the Thai police in Bangkok in September 2022. The arrest was carried out after Tun Min Latt and his associates were charged with drug trafficking and money laundering; he remains incustody in Thailand where his trial is ongoing. Thai police found at the time of his arrest that Tun Min Latt was in possession of the property deed for a luxury Bangkok condominium in the name of Aung Pyae Sone and a checkbook for a Thai bank account in the name of Khin Thiri Thet Mon. Aung Pyae Sone and Khin Thiri Thet Mon are the adult son and daughter, respectively, of Min Aung Hlaing; both children were sanctioned by the US in March 2021 for having “directly benefitted from their father’s position and malign influence.” The Sentry and Justice For Myanmar welcome the decision by the US to sanction these military cronies and call for likeminded jurisdictions,including the European Union, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia, to coordinate efforts to ensure that all of the Star Sapphire entities and owners are sanctioned by each jurisdiction. Yadanar Maung, spokesperson for Justice For Myanmar, stated: “We welcome the latest round of US sanctions against StarSapphire entities and two of their owners, who have aided and abetted the Myanmar military’s genocide, war crimes, and crimesagainst humanity through financial support and the brokering of arms. These sanctions are also significant for targeting aSingaporean entity for the first time and help send a message that Singapore is no longer safe for Myanmar cronies. Tun Min Lattalso has deep personal ties with the war criminal Min Aung Hlaing and his family, helping them profit from the military’s illegal coup attempt and hide assets offshore. We urge the US and its allies to extend sanctions to the whole Star Sapphire network, including Htet Aung, Khine Wint Mon, Sithu Maung, and Thant Lwin Moe, as well as all other enablers of the illegitimate Myanmar military junta.” Justyna Gudzowska, director of illicit finance policy at The Sentry, said: “Tun Min Latt, Win Min Soe, and the Star Sapphireentities epitomize the enablers that facilitate business transactions with the Myanmar military in ways that benefit both the genocidal institution and its leadership. These welcome designations act as a warning and deterrent to businesspersons, corporate entities, and financial institutions from Myanmar and beyond that engaging in transactions with the Myanmar military will incur legal and reputational consequences.” ‍ For media inquiries or interview requests for The Sentry, please contact: Greg Hittelman, Director of Communications, [email protected] For media inquiries for Justice For Myanmar, please contact: Yadanar Maung, Spokesperson, [email protected] ‍ About Justice For Myanmar Justice For Myanmar is a collective of covert activists working to create a just, peaceful, and federal democratic Myanmar. The collective uses painstaking research, data visualization, and hard-hitting reporting to expose multinational corporations with business ties to the Myanmar military—money that funds inequality, corruption, violence, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. Their work has helped pressure multinational corporations to divest hundreds of millions of dollars from the Myanmar military, led to targeted sanctions, and raised international awareness of the situation in Myanmar. About The Sentry (Short descriptor for press use: “The Sentry, an investigative organization that tracks corruption”) The Sentry is an investigative and policy organization that seeks to disable multinational predatory networks that benefit from violent conflict, repression, and kleptocracy. Pull back the curtain on wars, mass atrocities, and other human rights abuses, and you’ll find grand corruption and unchecked greed. These tragedies persist because the perpetrators rarely face meaningful consequences. The Sentry aims to alter the warped incentive structures that continually undermine peace and good governance. Our investigations follow the money as it is laundered from war zones to financial centers around the world. We provide evidence and strategies for governments, banks, and law enforcement to hold the perpetrators and enablers of violence and corruption to account. These efforts provide new leverage for human rights, peace, and anti-corruption efforts..."
Source/publisher: Justice For Myanmar
2023-03-24
Date of entry/update: 2023-03-24
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "Two European engineering corporations have been paid millions consulting for the Myanmar military junta on harmful hydropower projects, Justice For Myanmar has revealed through an analysis of leaked tax filings, some of which were provided by Distributed Denial of Secrets. The Swiss arm of the Swedish publicly listed company AFRY AB earned US$4.68 million in service fees for consulting work on the Upper Yeywa and Middle Paunglaung Hydropower Projects in Myanmar from February 2021 to September 2022. The Myanmar branch of the Austrian-based ILF Group earned US$1.1 million in consulting fees from the junta from February 2021 to April 2022. ILF Group’s local branch is working on another dam scheme in Myanmar, the Tha Htay Hydropower Project. Both companies are paid by a department of Myanmar’s electricity ministry which is illegally controlled by the military junta. They are advising the junta under tenders awarded in 2020 by the democratically-elected government, preceding the military’s brutal coup attempt. AFRY did not respond to specific questions from Justice For Myanmar regarding the current status of their operations in Myanmar, but confirmed they have projects in the country. ILF Group responded, “our activities were discontinued some time ago, and most recently focused on dam stabilization and slope stabilization for spillway purposes.” ILF Group did not disclose the date their activities were discontinued. Both companies remain registered on Myanmar’s corporate registry. The illegitimate military junta is building dams while attempting to crush freedom of expression, assembly, and association. Since the military’s coup attempt, the junta has created a state of terror, committing deliberate killings, arbitrary arrests, indiscriminate airstrikes and shelling, rape and torture. The junta has killed more than 3,100 people, and arbitrarily arrested over 20,000. The Upper Yeywa dam is a 280MW hydropower project on the Namtu River, which is also known as the Myitnge River. It was conceived under the former military dictatorship in Myanmar in 2008, and has been opposed by local communities because of its devastating social and environmental impacts, lack of transparency, threat to ancestral lands and fuelling of conflict. In 2020, the Shan Human Rights Foundation documented grave human rights violations by the Myanmar military near the Upper Yeywa project, including an extrajudicial killing and torture. The group called on foreign companies to withdraw from the dam project or risk complicity in the Myanmar military’s atrocities. In December 2022 a local community network, the Namtu River Protectors, warned that more than 40,000 people living in villages near the dam could be impacted by flooding. Following the military coup attempt, communities have courageously continued to protest the Upper Yeywa Dam, despite grave risks, and a group of workers from the dam project joined the Civil Disobedience Movement against the junta. On the 2022 International Day of Action for Rivers, communities throughout Shan State protested against the junta’s dam projects, including Upper Yeywa. The Tha Htay Chaung dam is a 110MW hydropower project in Thandwe Township, Rakhine State. In 2013, a coalition of Rakhine civil society and political parties demanded a halt to the dam, along with other infrastructure developments in the state, until Myanmar has a federal democracy which would ensure ethnic people have control over the management of their resources. The Middle Paunglaung dam is a 152MW hydropower project on the Paunglaung River, near Naypyidaw. The dam threatens villagers with forced displacement, according to researchers. Justice For Myanmar calls on AFRY and all other companies to responsibly suspend any remaining work on hydropower projects in Myanmar until there is federal democracy. In the meantime, Justice For Myanmar calls for AFRY, ILF and all other involved companies to disclose their human rights due diligence and justify their reasoning and decision-making to advise on hydropower projects in Myanmar, and to remediate damage already incurred in accordance with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung says: “It is deplorable that AFRY and ILF Group have been collaborating with the Myanmar military junta, supporting socially and environmentally destructive dams while their business partner wages a campaign of terror against the people of Myanmar. “AFRY and ILF Group have disregarded the voices of local communities and their international human rights responsibilities by carrying out business as usual with war criminals. “These dams displace communities, destroy livelihoods and harm Myanmar’s rivers, while emboldening an illegal military junta attempting to use infrastructure to gain control of territory. “We call on AFRY to stop any remaining work for the military junta and for AFRY and ILF to remediate damage already incurred in accordance with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. “We urge AFRY’s shareholders to take concrete action urgently to ensure the company fulfills its human rights responsibilities, or to divest.”..."
Source/publisher: Justice For Myanmar
2023-03-14
Date of entry/update: 2023-03-14
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "Burma Campaign UK has today updated its Boycott List of Burmese military-owned companies and brands. The Boycott Lists names the products and brands of the vast business empire of the Burmese military, enabling individuals, companies, organisations and governments to avoid purchasing goods and services from military companies. The updated Boycott List is available here. Five new listings have been added: The Angel Bistro (Pathein), NayPyiDaw Wholesale, Five Star Compound (Yangon), Five Star Port, Thateka Wharf (Yangon), and Gandamar Wholesale. These are not new military companies or brands, most are part of existing companies and brands on the list. They are being added to ensure the Boycott List is as comprehensive as possible. One entry has been removed. The cargo vessel Yaan Byea has been sold by the military-owned Five Star shipping line. Military-owned and controlled companies are an important source of revenue for the Burmese military. Buying goods and services from the military increases their revenue and this revenue is used to fund their operations, building their military capacity and paying for the human rights violations they commit. “The Boycott List enables people in Burma to avoid funding the military, and should also be used by embassies, companies and UN agencies to make sure they are not funding human rights violations,” said Mark Farmaner, Director of Burma Campaign UK. “All embassies and aid donors in Burma should have policies not to buy goods and services from military companies, and that local and international NGOs cannot use their funds to purchase goods and services from military companies.”..."
Source/publisher: "Burma Campaign UK" (London)
2023-03-13
Date of entry/update: 2023-03-13
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Sub-title: A People’s Defense Force member died after the junta sent in an attack helicopter.
Description: "A pro-democracy militia in central Magway region set fire to a junta-controlled oil well after storming a military guard post at a Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise oil field. Around five junta troops were injured in Thursday’s attack but the People’s Defense Force was hit harder, with one death and seven injuries following a junta airstrike, according to the Myaing People’s Administration Group, which is aligned with the PDF. Around 40 junta soldiers, police and members of the Pyu Saw Htee militia were stationed at a camp in the oil field when the PDF attacked. “The PDF forces surrounded Well Two and opened fire (on the guard posts),” Cpt. Mite Tee, administration officer of Myaing township’s western zone told RFA. “We were able to burn it (the posts) down and had some success but we had to retreat due to a sudden airstrike.” He said the junta attack helicopter fired around 20 times at the PDF after it set fire to tents at the camp’s gates and entered the camp. The military junta has not released a statement on the incident and calls to junta spokesman Major Gen. Zaw Min Tun went unanswered Friday. There are hundreds of oil wells in the Well Two oil field, which produces about 100 barrels per day, according to residents. Mite Tee told RFA that troops often raid nearby villages to flush out People’s Defense Force members and try to limit attacks. The junta declared martial law in Magway region’s Myaing, Pauk, Tilin, Gangaw and Saw townships on Feb. 2 this year..."
Source/publisher: "RFA" (USA)
2023-03-10
Date of entry/update: 2023-03-10
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "China’s appointment of a new special envoy to Myanmar in December last year followed the United Nations’ first resolution on Myanmar in 74 years, and the US Congress’ passage of the Burma Act. Observers say it was not a political coincidence. The Burma Act authorizes funds and technical assistance for anti-junta forces in Myanmar, including EAOs. The US has pledged to continue to support Myanmar opposition forces inside and outside of Myanmar. The UN resolution demands an end to violence and urges the military junta to release all political prisoners, including ousted leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. China’s new special envoy Deng Xijun met seven of Myanmar’s ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) in China’s Yunnan Province in the last week of December. Then he flew to Naypyitaw and met junta chief Min Aung Hlaing. In less than a month, he visited the headquarters of the powerful EAOs including the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), the United Wa State Army (UWSA) and the National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA). His visit was different from previous ones. Politics Interestingly, the Chinese envoy was accompanied by the Mandalay-based Chinese consul. The consul did not participate in talks with the EAOs, and the reason Deng brought the consul along with him was not clear. Secondly, he visited displacement camps in Laiza, the location of the KIA headquarters in Kachin State. It was followed by reports that China would provide assistance in health and education for EAOs as well as displaced civilians, indicating a new level of relationship between China and EAOs at the border. Thirdly, Deng echoed his predecessor Sun Guoxiang, and urged EAOs to join peace talks and sign the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA). But while Sun said he was acting according to Beijing’s policy, Deng stressed that his urging of the EAOs came at the request of Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing. The flurry of activity by Deng after the US Congress’ passage of the Burma Act indicates that China does not want to see US aid and influence reaching EAOs based along the Chinese border. China will be cautious about potential US influence and possible spying efforts that will come along with its assistance. It will use even greater caution now as tensions are rising over the Taiwan issue. This is why China has made a move to cement ties with EAOs at the border and provide them with non-military assistance. Myanmar people are interested to see whether China will pressure the EAOs to stop fighting the Myanmar military regime, as some of them are fighting alongside resistance forces from central Myanmar. Of the EAOs based in northern and northeastern Myanmar along the border, only the UWSA and the NDAA have de facto control of their own territories, so it is inevitable that the five others will continue to fight the Myanmar military to achieve greater status. The Myanmar military’s policy is that EAOs must disband and turn themselves into militias or border guard forces under its control as per the 2008 Constitution. This will not be acceptable to the KIA, the Shan State Progress Party, the Arakan Army (AA), the Ta’ang National Liberation Army and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), which have high political ambitions and relatively strong armies. So, it is important to keep an eye on the moves of the Chinese special envoy in this regard. Economy Some Chinese investment projects have come back to life following the activities of the Chinese special envoy, the Chinese ambassador and the consul to Myanmar. The first one is the Letpadaung copper mining project. Around the end of February, junta troops shelled and raided around eight villages near the copper mine. Soon after junta troops were deployed along the road to the mine, 150 to 250 people believed to be Chinese employees of Wanbao Co. arrived at the copper mine in five vehicles from Monywa. In a May 5, 2022 statement, Wanbao said mining had been suspended since the coup, but employees were paid their basic salaries, and only a maintenance team was working for maintenance of the mines. There have been reports lately that Wanbao is contacting its Myanmar employees to return to work. The second one is an agreement with Chinese companies to install wind turbines in Ann, Thandwe and Gwa townships in Rakhine, western Myanmar. The project is scheduled to start in December this year and to be completed in 2025. The Chinese ambassador attended the agreement signing ceremony, and it is the only Chinese investment project officially announced since the coup. The project emerged as a result of the ceasefire between the Myanmar military and the AA in Rakhine. The third is construction of the Ruili-Mandalay-Kyaukphyu railroad linking China’s Ruili with Kyaukphyu in Rakhine, an important part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Neither the Myanmar regime nor China have officially talked about the project, but media outlet Frontier Myanmar, citing senior officials of Myanma Railways, reported that the regime and a Chinese company carried out an environmental impact assessment on the railroad construction in 2021-22, and that the first section of the railroad linking Ruili and Mandalay is in the process of being constructed. This is part of the reason China has urged EAOs in northern Myanmar to observe ceasefires and hold talks with the Myanmar military regime. Shortly after the coup, the Myanmar military granted approval to the China-backed, US$2.5-billion power plant in Meelingyaing in Pathein, Ayeyarwady Region. China has not made any move regarding that project. But it is no coincidence that some Chinese investments have resumed following the trips of the Chinese special envoy this year. Military The area along the Chinese border with northern Shan State is overseen by the Myanmar military’s North-Eastern Command. In 2021-22, its presence in the area comprised a light infantry division and seven military operations commands. Surprisingly, the regime has pulled out three military operations commands or around 30 battalions from the area since early this year, after over 1,000 troops trained by the MNDAA—most of them fighters from central and southern Myanmar who decided to take up arms against the regime following the coup—finished their military training. Why has the Myanmar military pulled out a large number of troops while its enemy has got over 1,000 new soldiers? Perhaps the regime is taking advantage of the fact that China wants to de-escalate military tensions in northern Shan State for its Ruili-Mandalay railroad. Thanks to the troops it has pulled out of Shan, the regime has been able to send reinforcements to Kayah (Karenni) State, and Yedashae and Pinlaung, where People’s Defense Force groups (PDFs) and the Karenni Nationalities Defense Force are active, as well as to Karen State. Conclusion The latest developments in politics, the economy and the military situation in Myanmar following the UN resolution, Congress’ passage of the Burma Act, and moves by the Chinese special envoy, are interesting. Besides the US and the West, China might also consider the steps of the Indian nationalist government, which is blindly supporting the regime to establish a foothold in Myanmar. After both China and Russia declined to exercise their veto power and block the UN’s resolution on Myanmar, the regime came to understand that Russia will not go against China regarding important decisions on Myanmar. Since then, the regime has made moves to improve ties with China, after getting too close to Russia over the past two years. Again, the regime is saying China is Myanmar’s good neighbor. The regime might also be considering seeking advantage in the competition between China and India. The regime replaced its foreign minister in February, appointing a former Myanmar ambassador to the US to the post. Political observers suggest the regime is planning to approach the US. We have seen complicated diplomatic moves alongside hostilities over the past two years. The parallel National Unity Government (NUG) says it is the only government that can guarantee stability and safety for foreign investors. We need to monitor the policies and moves of US and Western governments that directly engage the NUG and EAOs; of China, which has avoided getting too close to the NUG though it is engaging with both the regime and EAOs in northern Myanmar; and of Russia and India, which are closely cooperating with the regime. Following his meeting with EAOs, Deng met junta chief Min Aung Hlaing on Monday in Naypyitaw, the second such meeting since the envoy’s appointment. The two vowed to cooperate in various sectors including the economy. The two discussed the role of China in border security and internal peace in Myanmar. It appears their ties have improved since the previous meeting. The main question is whether China will turn a blind eye to the wishes of the Myanmar people in its involvement in the Myanmar issue. If it overly focuses on its rivalry with the US and ignores the wishes and popular revolt of the Myanmar people, it will face a stronger response from Myanmar people. We must pay special attention to Deng’s shuttle trips between the junta chief and EAOs in northern Myanmar. According to credible sources from the border, Deng and seven EAOs in northern Myanmar plan to meet soon for a third time, this time collectively. China has officially supported ASEAN’s Five-Point Consensus on Myanmar. One of the points is a visit by the ASEAN special envoy to meet all parties concerned. Neither the ASEAN envoy nor the Chinese envoy have yet been able to do this. If Deng fails to meet all parties concerned and his moves help support the regime politically, economically and militarily, the Myanmar people, especially the armed resistance who are fighting the regime, will not accept it. If the situation goes on like this, Deng’s move will do more harm than good for the Myanmar people, and anti-Chinese sentiment will rise again, which could result in further complications..."
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Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
2023-03-09
Date of entry/update: 2023-03-09
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "Representatives of the illegal Myanmar military junta have been invited to attend the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) Workshop on Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism this week, according to a Justice For Myanmar source. The workshop is set to take place in Bali, Indonesia from March 8 to 10, 2023 and will be co-chaired by the European Union, Indonesia and Laos, with apparent financial support from the German development agency, GIZ. As part of the workshop, the EU is hosting a welcome dinner on March 8. The ASEAN Regional Forum’s secretariat invited representatives of the Myanmar junta via its Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which then invited the junta’s Ministry of Home Affairs and Central Bank of Myanmar. The Ministry of Home Affairs houses the junta’s police force and prisons department and is directly responsible for ongoing crimes against humanity. The EU has sanctioned the junta’s home affairs minister and deputy home affairs minister, as well as the junta’s State Administration Council. The workshop aims to build knowledge and capacity to address the security risks of money laundering and terrorist financing, focussing on the prevention of the financing of terrorism by non-profit organisations related to the intergovernmental Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Recommendation 8. FATF blacklisted Myanmar in October 2022 over serious deficiencies in countering money laundering, urging countries to conduct enhanced due diligence against the risks emanating from Myanmar. A group of former United Nations experts, the Special Advisory Council for Myanmar, have established that the Myanmar military junta is a terrorist organisation under Myanmar law and as defined in international law, and it should be treated as such by the international community. In 2021, the junta illegally declared the National Unity Government (NUG), which is the legitimate government of Myanmar, as a terrorist group. It also designated the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH) and People’s Defence Forces (PDFs) as terrorist organisations. Since the military’s illegal coup attempt, the junta has created a state of terror, committing deliberate killings, arbitrary arrests, indiscriminate airstrikes and shelling, rape and torture, using counter-terrorism as a pretext. The junta has killed more than 3,100 people, and arbitrarily arrested over 20,000. As part of its attempt to gain control, the junta illegally introduced an organisation registration law in October 2022 to force non-profits to register with the junta, and disclose funding sources and details about their operations, under threat of imprisonment. Analysis by the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) found that the junta’s organisation registration law is “wholly incompliant” with international law and standards, violating the right to freedom of association, assembly, opinion, expression, and political participation. The junta has also increased surveillance of the financial sector. An August 2022 directive by the junta’s Central Bank of Myanmar to mobile money businesses requires users to register a photo of their face, their ID card and phone number, increasing the grave risks of retaliation by the junta to those making payments to the NUG, CRPH, PDFs, civil society and other forces successfully resisting the military’s attempted coup and providing humanitarian aid and basic services to the people. Justice For Myanmar wrote to the co-chairs of the ARF workshop to express dismay at the invitation of illegal military junta members, to urge that they are disinvited and that an invite is instead extended to the National Unity Government, and to seek clarification on funding arrangements. A representative of the EU denied responsibility for the Myanmar junta’s participation, saying that invitations for ARF activities are distributed through the ARF Secretariat, and clarified that the EU is not funding the participation of representatives from Myanmar. GIZ responded that they are not financially supporting participants to attend the workshop. Meanwhile, no response was received from Indonesia or Laos. Justice For Myanmar requests the co-chairs of the workshop to immediately disinvite the Myanmar military junta and to ban the junta from this and all future ASEAN Regional Forum workshops and events. Instead, these invitations should be extended to the National Unity Government. Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung says: “It is nonsensical for ARF to invite representatives of the Myanmar junta, a terrorist organisation, to a workshop on countering the financing of terrorism. The invite not only legitimises the junta but also provides it with an opportunity to improve their understanding of measures to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing, which may help them to better circumvent these measures as part of their organised, criminal activities. “By providing the junta with capacity to regulate the transactions of non-profit organisations, ARF is in effect supporting the junta’s crackdown on freedom of association, assembly, opinion, expression, and political participation, which violates international law. “The invite also undermines the integrity of ARF’s important work to address the security and economic risks linked to money laundering and terrorist financing activities. “The Myanmar junta is systemically corrupt and uses a vast network of business to fund its ongoing war crimes and crimes against humanity against the people. ARF should treat the junta as a threat to regional economies and security, rather than as a partner. “JFM calls on ARF to immediately revoke the invite to the military junta, and instead extend an invite to the National Unity Government. “The EU should use its leverage as a co-host to urge the exclusion of the junta in the upcoming workshop, the EU hosted welcome dinner and all other international meetings and events the EU is part of. Instead, the EU should support and recognise the NUG as the legitimate government of Myanmar.”..."
Source/publisher: Justice For Myanmar
2023-03-07
Date of entry/update: 2023-03-07
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "The NUG welcomes the new export restrictions imposed by the U.S Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) on four entities - two Burmese military and security services entities for providing surveillance technology to the military regime. This action shows continued international pressure and condemnation of the military regime's human rights abuses, and supports the efforts of pro-democracy activists and lawmakers in their fight for a return to democratic governance in Myanmar. We are grateful for the work of the US in placing these important restrictions to slow the military's capacity to continue their campaign of terror and repression. We are hopeful that further targeted sanctions and restrictions will follow, and we hope that more countries follow suit..."
Source/publisher: Ministry of International Cooperation Myanmar
2023-03-05
Date of entry/update: 2023-03-06
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Size: 22 KB 73.44 KB
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Description: "State-owned arms company Yantra India Limited has shipped multiple 122mm barrels to the Myanmar military in October 2022 in likely breach of international law, a Justice For Myanmar investigation has found. The 122mm barrels appear to be for howitzers that are produced in Myanmar by the Office of the Chief of Defence Industries (OCDI), also known as the Directorate of Defence Industries, a unit of the military that is sanctioned by the US, UK, EU and Canada. The barrels were sent to a company owned by the Myanmar military arms broker, Kyaw Kyaw Htun, who Justice For Myanmar previously exposed for importing fuzes from the Indian company Sandeep Metalcraft to be used by the Myanmar military for the detonation of munitions. Kyaw Kyaw Htun and his network not yet been sanctioned. Yantra India Limited is an official public sector undertaking operating under the Department of Defence Production of the Indian Ministry of Defence. Yantra’s exports of 122mm barrels to Myanmar follows several other known exports of weapons and weapon components from Indian companies after the Myanmar military’s attempted coup, including a remote controlled weapon station from the majority state-owned company, Bharat Electronics Limited. Since the military’s illegal coup attempt, the junta has murdered protesters, shelled villages and conducted indiscriminate airstrikes, killing more than 3,000 people and displacing over 1.2 million. The latest shipment comes as the military junta continues to commit war crimes and crimes against humanity, including with howitzers. The Myanmar army has recently been recorded firing 122mm howitzer rounds into civilian areas. For example, on 6 December 2022, the military fired rounds from a 122mm howitzer to the outskirts of Namsai Hkahku in Hpakant Township, Kachin State. On 13 December 2022, 122mm howitzer rounds were fired in Bhamo Township, Kachin State. The fact that Yantra India Ltd is a fully state-owned company, coupled with the fact that Indian arms manufacturing companies have continued to supply weapons after the attempted coup, show India’s serious disregard for international humanitarian law and norms of conduct contained in the Wassenaar Arrangement. Justice For Myanmar calls on India to immediately impose an arms embargo on the Myanmar military junta, which is a terrorist organisation under Myanmar law and as defined in international law, and cease all training and other military support. Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung says: "India is directly supporting the junta’s indiscriminate attacks against civilians by allowing the export of barrels that that the junta will use in its continued gross violations of international law. “As a democracy and a neighbour of Myanmar, we appeal to the Indian government to stand with the people of Myanmar, not war criminals and their illegitimate junta. “India must immediately stop arming the Myanmar military junta and uphold its obligations under international humanitarian law. “We urge fellow members of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (the Quad), Australia, Japan and the USA, to use their influence to stop the flow of arms from India to the Myanmar military. “It is disappointing that Kyaw Kyaw Htun and his network has not been sanctioned, despite clear evidence of their complicity in the junta’s war crimes and crimes against humanity through the brokering of arms and surveillance equipment. “We call for urgent sanctions against Kyaw Kyaw Htun, his businesses and associates, along with all other enablers of the junta.”..."
Source/publisher: Justice For Myanmar
2023-03-01
Date of entry/update: 2023-03-01
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "Myanmar’s military coup in 2021 has triggered a widespread humanitarian crisis but also a breakdown in the rule of law. And the security situation is getting worse by the week. With the rise of lawlessness, the coup has provided freedom for cyber-criminals, human traffickers and gunrunners to operate along the border with Thailand. In the city of Shwe Kokko, Karen State opposite Thailand’s Mae Sot, Chinese triad gangs and criminals are exploiting the turmoil following the military takeover to expand their criminal activities. Shwe Kokko, just north of Mae Sot, is notorious as a criminal hub for online gambling, scamming and trafficking. The city is also known as Myanmar’s Silicon Valley, but since the coup its high-tech expertise and infrastructure has been geared to transnational criminal activity. Among the victims are foreigners lured to the city by offers of high-paying jobs in Thailand. Last year, Filipinos, Malaysians, Indonesians, Indians, Thais, Taiwanese, Bangladeshis, Brazilians, Kenyans, Colombians and Hong Kongers traveled to Thailand on the promise of jobs, only to find themselves trafficked across the border to Shwe Kokko. Just 20 kilometers south is KK Park, also known as KK Garden, which recently made headlines as a trafficking hub for Malaysian and Indian victims. The victims in Shwe Kokko and KK Park are imprisoned and coerced to work for crime syndicates as online scammers. Those who refuse face physical punishment or even worse forms of abuse. Families of the victims have been asked to pay ransoms in exchange for the release of loved ones. Embassies in Bangkok have been busy rescuing their citizens from Shwe Kokko. In diplomatic circles of the Thai capital, the name Shwe Kokko has now supplanted Myanmar’s democratic icon Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who languishes in a junta jail after her government was ousted in the February 2021 coup. The city is making headlines in regional newspapers as a hive of scams, abduction, and human trafficking, with governments increasingly under pressure to respond to emergency appeals from families and victims. Shwe Kokko is under the control of the Karen State Border Guard Force (BGF) led by Colonel Saw Chit Thu, a Karen insurgent leader. Several years ago, he signed a ceasefire with Myanmar’s army that saw his breakaway Democratic Karen Buddhist Army rebadged as the Karen BGF under partial command of the military. In the mid-1990s, Karen insurgents fought fierce battles with Myanmar armed forces around Shwe Kokko – an area known then as Kawmoora. The Kawmoora battleground was notorious among both Myanmar citizens and foreign journalists who arrived to cover the fighting between Karen rebels and state forces. Few could have imagined this war-torn stretch of border would come under the control of a Karen breakaway group, which brokered peace and business deals with Myanmar’s military and invited massive investment by the Chinese underworld. These days, the regime in Naypyitaw is merely a sideshow in what could be dubbed Myanmar’s Special Criminal Zone. In 2017, Saw Chit Thu formed a joint venture with Yatai International, owned by She Zhijiang, a Chinese national who holds Cambodian citizenship. The result was the Karen BGF’s Chit Linn Myaing Co Ltd, the front for Chinese investment to develop a $15-billion special economic zone (SEZ) in Shwe Kokko. The project was portrayed as a high-tech hub with an airport, industrial zone, villas, amusement park, hotels and other facilities. Once a fly-blown village of cattle smugglers and Karen BGF, Shwe Kokko transformed into the Chinatown of Karen State as Chinese investors, workers and gamblers flocked to the area. She Zhijiang was also responsible for turning it into a criminal hub for online gambling and scams. In 2018, the Myanmar Investment Commission approved a first phase of the Shwe Kokko New City project: the $22.5-million construction of 59 luxury villas on 10.3 hectares. However, construction activity expanded well beyond those limits. Mae Sot, a sleepy town in the 2000s, transformed into a bustling city peppered with luxury vehicles, upscale restaurants and hotels, with flights from Bangkok mostly fully booked. The developers initially claimed Shwe Kokko New City was part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), but Beijing disavowed the project after it was investigated by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s government. In 2020, the Chinese embassy in Yangon backed the government’s move to probe irregularities surrounding the controversial city development project in Karen State. Thailand shut off power and telecoms services to Shwe Kokko. However, power and Internet service were switched back on just weeks after the 2021 coup. Chinese nationals continued to flow into Mae Sot. Among them was She Zhijiang, who is a fugitive in China but holds a Cambodian passport after investing in casinos there. She, also known as Dylan She, is chairman of Yatai International Holding Group. Thai authorities arrested the billionaire fugitive tycoon in August 2022 for running illegal online gambling platforms, but Yatai said the arrest would not affect its business operations. Thousands of Chinese illegal immigrants continue to live in Shwe Kokko and the city’s online gambling venues are still busy. The Myanmar military issues licenses for its allies and cronies to run hotels, clubs and casinos in towns on the border with Thailand and China. The operators pay annual fees to the military. Among them is Myanmar crony businessman Tun Min Latt, an arms broker and drug trafficker who was arrested in Bangkok last year and has direct connections with top generals including junta boss Min Aung Hlaing and his family. Tun Min Latt runs the Star Sapphire Group and operates several hotels and casinos in the border town of Tachilek, northern Shan State. His Allure Resort offers a casino, shopping and other entertainments for Thai and Chinese gamblers. Tun Min Latt’s deep connections with high-ranking generals including Min Aung Hlaing give him freedom to run lucrative and illicit business along the border. His company pays annual fees to the military while he has also provided a considerable sum of money to the regime leader and his family. Junta leaders are reportedly trying to secure his release from detention in Thailand. Several transnational Chinese criminal gangs operate hotels and casinos in the northern Shan State borderlands, also known as the Golden Triangle. Their local partners include the border guard forces and other militia and insurgent groups. The irony is they emerged after the coup “strengthened and with new opportunities to generate illicit income”, according to the United States Institute of Peace USIP. How much tax revenue flows into the regime’s coffers from Shwe Kokko is not known. However, revenue received from criminals in the border city boosts the junta’s ability to purchase arms to suppress its own people. New casino projects have mushroomed along the border in Karen State since the coup. Meanwhile the regime has been condemned for mass killings and arbitrary arrests of opponents that amount to crimes against humanity. This criminal campaign extends from the heartlands to the ethnic border regions, so it is unrealistic to expect the regime to clamp down on transnational crime. In fact, Chinese criminal tycoons are thought to have reached deals with Naypyitaw top brass involving substantial kickbacks. The military regime uses its control over the contested Karen territory to milk the area for revenues. Elsewhere, it continues to loot citizens’ homes, shoot children, torture dissidents to death, torch villages, and bomb resistance forces and civilians with fighter jets. The coup has triggered serious instability beyond the border regions, bringing an exodus of people, economic collapse, human tragedy and security concerns for neighbors. Myanmar’s home-grown criminals are sitting in Naypyitaw. Meanwhile, transnational Chinese gangs are free to operate on the Myanmar-Thailand border, posing a serious security threat to the region. It is time for governments of countries who share borders with Myanmar, including China, India and Thailand, to look into this matter more closely since criminal activities in Shwe Kokko and other casino hubs are directly linked to the junta in Naypyitaw. Criminals in Myanmar should not go unchecked – they pose a serious threat to countries across the region..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
2023-02-27
Date of entry/update: 2023-02-27
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "As evidence grows of British companies’ involvement in Burma’s gas industry, Burma Campaign UK is calling on the British government to sanction the military-controlled Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise. The British government must take action to prevent British companies being involved in Burma’s gas industry, which earns the Burmese military more than $2bn a year. They must also work with allies to prevent gas revenue reaching the Burmese military. British involvement in Burma’s gas industry includes: InterMoor, a subsidiary of British company Acteon Group, has been working on the Shwe gas project in Burma. A holding company in Bermuda, a British overseas territory, is being used by Canadian company MTI Energy to purchase a 41% stake in the Yadana gas project. Burma Campaign UK is working to confirm information about British insurance companies insuring vessels and infrastructure for gas projects in Burma. “British companies involved in the gas industry in Burma are facilitating an industry which enables the Burmese military to receive billions of dollars,” said Mark Farmaner, Director of Burma Campaign UK. “Gas sales provide revenue which the Burmese military can use for the purchase of arms and equipment, including the jets used for airstrikes against civilians.” The British government has a policy of systematically identifying and sanctioning sources of revenue, arms and equipment to the Burmese military. However, the policy is being implemented too slowly. Burma Campaign UK is calling on Foreign Secretary James Cleverly MP to speed up the implementation of sanctions against other sources of revenue and arms. The British government should seek to find creative ways of preventing gas revenue reaching the Burmese military, such as the creation of escrow accounts and sanctioning international bank accounts of MOGE. Burma Campaign UK is asking supporters to write to the Foreign Secretary calling on him to sanction MOGE..."
Source/publisher: "Burma Campaign UK" (London)
2023-02-27
Date of entry/update: 2023-02-27
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Sub-title: Western sanctions should be welcomed but the country’s opposition must do more.
Description: "Ever since the West turned on the military taps and flooded Ukraine with weapons capable of stopping the Russian advance, the backers of Myanmar’s ousted government have asked: “what about us?” It’s an understandable question. The National Unity Government (NUG) and its armed wing, the People’s Defense Force (PDF), are in dire need of weaponry as they push the civil war from the jungles into junta-held provincial zones where the military responds with Russian-made fighter jets and artillery. But the Western response has been limited to sanctions. The latest sanctions just announced by the European Union include travel bans on 16 individuals and entities, including the junta’s energy minister, high-ranking officers, the ministry of defense and private companies thought to be supplying fuel, arms, and funds to the military. A number of sources who have advised the PDF on strategy, the NUG on policies and sought military help from the West, including Washington D.C., say perennial issues remain. Enjoying this article? Click here to subscribe for full access. Just $5 a month. “I have spoken with Congressmen who want to provide military aid but they don’t know who to deal with. The NUG and PDF have no public face. There is no leader that people can rally around, there’s no central point,” said one ASEAN politician who recently returned from the United States. Unlike Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, few would recognize the leader and acting president of the NUG, Duwa Lashi La, and that’s more than two years after the Myanmar military – also known as the Tatmadaw – ousted an elected government headed by Aung San Suu Kyi. Observers close to Lashi La, who does not speak English, say he lacks charisma and is reluctant to fill the shoes of Aung San Suu Kyi, who is languishing behind bars, because of old loyalties and his sense of hierarchy. Aung San Suu Kyi is deservedly recognized by the United Nations as the legitimate leader of Myanmar, despite her fall from grace over her backing of the military during the slaughter of the Rohingya in 2017. Her ability to carry an audience was formidable and her cult of personality well documented, but her days as Myanmar’s savior are over. There’s just not that much she can do. Meanwhile, those around Duwa Lashi La have proved barely competent when dealing with journalists outside their comfort zone. Disunity remains a persistent issue among the official 135 major ethnic groups and seven ethnic minority states that contribute to opposition forces. Latest estimates say the PDF has more than 65,000 troops serving in more than 250 units but there is no single command structure and it would be impossible for each ethnic group to negotiate military aid with countries like the U.S. on their own. According to the Human Rights Foundation of Monland, a local NGO, much of the latest fighting has taken place in Karen and Mon state and in Tanintharyi Region, which border Thailand. It says the people in Karen State have been harshly impacted, which along with Mon State and the Tanintharyi Region, are being relentlessly and indiscriminately attacked by the junta. “Destruction of property, including the burning of villages, is ongoing,” it said. “Thousands more are being forced to flee their homes daily as military impunity and a lack of international action only encourage the junta to commit more atrocity crimes.” Enjoying this article? Click here to subscribe for full access. Just $5 a month. Thus the NUG leadership desperately needs to step up or move on, more so with Indonesia taking the helm of ASEAN for 2023. It has opened up the prospect of direct negotiations with the NUG, and hopefully, put an end to the dithering and silly political theatrics of the last two years. The shift in direction matters with the military looking to shore up its legitimacy through rigged, stage-managed elections, which the U.N. special rapporteur for Myanmar, Tom Andrews, has already described as fake because “these are not the conditions for a free and fair election.” “These are conditions for a fraud that is going to be attempted to be perpetrated against the people of Myanmar,” he quite rightly said. Hence, the NUG needs to get its political act together..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "The Diplomat" (Japan)
2023-02-24
Date of entry/update: 2023-02-24
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Sub-title: Prime Minister Should Fulfill Pledge by Stopping Payments, Imposing Sanctions
Description: "During a televised parliamentary budget session on Wednesday, February 22, Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said his government will “appropriately handle” a development aid project in Myanmar that is benefiting the country’s abusive military. Yoshimasa Hayashi, the Japanese foreign minister, echoed the prime minister’s public pledge to take appropriate action. The leaders’ comments came in response to questions from an opposition politician about Japan’s Bago River Bridge Construction Project, being built partly by Japanese construction giant Yokogawa Bridge Corp. In March 2021, Myanmar Now reported that a steel mill owned by the military-owned conglomerate Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC) was supplying steel for the project and “profiting enormously.” Financial transactions analyzed by Human Rights Watch show that from July 2022 to January 2023, Yokogawa Bridge Corp. transferred around US$2 million to MEC for the project, with United States government approval. MEC generates vast revenue through businesses in sectors including manufacturing, mining, and telecommunications, according to a 2019 report by the United Nations-backed Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar. The US, United Kingdom, European Union, Canada, and Australia have sanctioned MEC and Myanmar’s other military conglomerate, Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited, for their role in generating significant revenues that help fund military abuses. Since the February 2021 military coup, Myanmar’s military has been responsible for widespread and systematic human rights abuses, including extrajudicial killings, torture, and indiscriminate attacks on civilians that amount to crimes against humanity and war crimes. Prior to the coup, Myanmar’s security forces committed crimes against humanity and genocidal acts against the Rohingya Muslim minority in Rakhine State, forcing thousands to flee to Bangladesh, where about 900,000 Rohingya are currently living in overcrowded camps. An estimated 600,000 Rohingya remain in Rakhine State, where they are subject to persecution and violence, confined to camps and villages without freedom of movement, and cut off from access to adequate food, health care, education, and livelihoods. If Japan’s prime minister and foreign minister are serious about “swiftly restor[ing] Myanmar’s democratic political system,” they should fulfill their own pledge and take concrete action. This means stopping payments to MEC, suspending all non-humanitarian aid to Myanmar, and imposing targeted economic sanctions on military leaders and military-owned conglomerates..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: Human Rights Watch (USA)
2023-02-24
Date of entry/update: 2023-02-24
Grouping: Individual Documents
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