Sanctions - general
Individual Documents
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"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
Date of publication:
2023-03-26
Date of entry/update:
2023-03-26
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Sanctions - general, Business and the Military
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"The world awoke on July 25th to news that Myanmar’s military junta had executed four democracy activists following a sham judicial process, the first death sentences carried out in Myanmar in decades. Although the military has killed thousands, including dozens who have been tortured to death in military custody, since attempting to wrest control of the country from the democratically elected government in a February 1, 2021 coup d’état, the executions, and reports that a further 41 may be planned, represent a significant escalation of the junta’s campaign of repression against the people of Myanmar. The executions also show irrefutably the junta’s indifference to appeals from the international community. It is past time for US policy toward Myanmar to respond meaningfully to the junta’s depravity by taking truly meaningful action to restrict the junta’s access to foreign currency through sanctions that target its largest source of foreign income: Myanmar’s oil and gas industry. The arguments against this approach do not withstand scrutiny.
Ma Thazin Nyunt Aung, the wife of hip-hop activist turned pro-democracy politician Ko Phyo Zayar Thaw, summed up the situation in an interview with Frontier Myanmar shortly after learning that her husband had been executed. She said:
“The military has been killing people in Myanmar since the military coup. But they always denied these crimes. Now, they killed publicly. They show now that they kill people, and they don’t care who. If they want to kill, they can kill. They don’t care about our human rights.”
The executions demonstrate the disdain with which the junta views international opinion and a disregard for diplomatic pressure, as even sympathetic dictators such as Cambodia’s Hun Sen had urged the junta to call off the executions. Not that this demonstration was needed. The junta has spent over a year thumbing its nose at ASEAN by ignoring the “Five Point Consensus” to which it agreed in April 2021 and has consistently refused to allow the United Nations Special Envoy to Myanmar access to the country.
The international community must take immediate action to weaken the military’s ability to retain power and the impunity with which it commits abuses. Condemnation of the junta’s actions, while necessary, is clearly insufficient. For the United States, this starts with leveling long-overdue sanctions on Myanmar’s oil and gas industry, and in particular the Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE) – the government entity that acts as both the industry regulator and commercial partner for oil and gas projects in Myanmar. The junta may not care about international opinion, but it relies on the international financial system for the funds it needs to fuel its repression and enrich its leaders. The junta needs foreign currency to purchase weapons, surveillance technology, and jet fuel – all the products that have allowed it to terrorize the people of Myanmar.
Prior to the coup, Myanmar’s offshore gas sector was the single largest source of foreign currency income for the government. MOGE was estimated to earn up to $1.5 billion in annual revenue, representing approximately 10% of the pre-coup budget. The increase in global gas prices coupled with the irresponsible decision by TotalEnergies to withdraw from Myanmar by gifting some of its shares in Myanmar’s largest gas field to the junta means it is possible that the junta has earned even more over the past year.
MOGE sanctions are already months overdue. The oil and gas industry has always been the most obvious and impactful target for US sanctions due to the small number of companies and limited employment in the sector, its disproportionate importance to junta revenues, and its reliance on the foreign financial system to process payments. Activists, NGOs, Myanmar’s National Unity Government, and the United Nations’ Special Rapporteur have been calling for US sanctions since shortly after the coup. The EU sanctioned MOGE in February. Some international gas companies, after months of lobbying against sanctions, have changed their tune and called for the United States to act.
Calls have also come from the U.S Congress. In April 2021 a bipartisan group of US senators, led by Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) sent a letter to the administration calling for MOGE sanctions, as did House Financial Services Chairwoman Maxine Waters in August. Following last week’s executions, Senator Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell added public calls for MOGE sanctions as well.
Targeting Myanmar’s state-owned enterprises is already official US policy, especially those involved in resource extraction. The United States has sanctioned the state-owned enterprises that oversee the timber, pearl, and gemstone industries. In January, the US government released a business advisory warning of the risks of doing business with state-owned enterprises.
In spite of this, the Biden administration has thus far refused to take action against MOGE and the gas industry, instead targeting sanctions at industries that either provide minimal revenues to the junta or lack connections to the global financial system that would make them vulnerable to US sanctions. There appear to be two primary reasons for this refusal to target MOGE:
1. Concern about potential humanitarian impacts both in Myanmar and in Thailand (the importer of most of Myanmar’s gas), and
2. A related, but broader, opposition from the Thai government to US sanctions.
Both of these reasons are grounded in the inaccurate assumption that US sanctions would lead directly to a shutdown in gas production, which could then reduce electricity supplies to Yangon and disrupt Thai energy markets. This concern is a red herring.
Sanctions can, and should, be written to ensure that companies involved in gas production are not forced to suspend operations. Instead, sanctions should target financial transactions to ensure that revenue payments can be frozen or diverted from the military’s coffers and directed into restricted or escrow accounts. Only the junta could decide to suspend production, and there are four reasons to think that it would be unlikely to do so.
1. Domestic legitimacy. Gas fields provide supplies domestically, especially to the industrial base around Yangon. If the junta responded to sanctions by halting gas production, this would directly harm the businesses that provide a production and tax base for the military regime. This would undermine the junta’s claims to legitimacy, which are based on its self-image as the only institution that can maintain stability in the country;
2. International politics. China and Thailand, the export recipients of most of Myanmar’s offshore gas, are also key supporters of the military junta. These relationships are too important for the junta to antagonize by cutting off gas supplies;
3. Greed and economic self-interest. The junta will desire to gain access to this money in the future, even if sanctions freeze gas revenues right now. Shutting down production and export would prevent the junta from ever collecting these funds, but as long as production continues, money will continue to build up. Further, restarting gas fields is time-consuming and potentially cost prohibitive for a near-depleted field like the Yadana field; and
4. Precedent. EU sanctions did not lead to a shutdown in production, even though an EU company (TotalEnergies) was heavily involved in the largest field. US sanctions should be crafted with waivers to allow production to continue.
Even if the junta did decide to halt production, the Thai energy sector would see little impact. Research by EarthRights International shows that Thailand already has excess generation capacity. Further, Thailand could easily switch to fuel oil to manage immediate shocks while moving forward its plans to replace Myanmar gas with increased liquid natural gas imports.
There is a deeper reason for Thai opposition to sanctions. Myanmar’s coup-leader Min Aung Hlaing enjoys close ties with Thailand’s military establishment, to the point where he was adopted by a Thai general in 2012. In 2018, as the Myanmar military was committing genocide against the Rohingya people, he was given Thai military honors.
Mere days after the coup, Min Aung Hlaing reportedly wrote to Thai Prime Minister Prayut asking the Thai leader to “support the democracy of Myanmar” that he was in the process of trampling. Prime Minister Prayut, who first seized power himself in a 2014 coup, assured Min Aung Hlaing that Thailand would not interfere in Myanmar’s internal affairs. While US officials publicly tout Thailand’s role facilitating cross-border assistance, the reality on the ground tells a starkly different story, with the Thai government continuing to restrict aid, arrest activists, and force thousands of refugees back across the border.
In truth, the Thai government, dominated by former military officers and born from multiple military coups, has little interest in seeing resistance to a military coup succeed next door. We need only look at the Thai response to incursions by Myanmar’s air force into Thai air space during bombing raids on villages and opposition outposts, including a recent incident that forced Thai schoolchildren to seek safety in a bomb shelter. Prime Minister Prayut claimed the incident was “not a big deal” while Thai Air Marshall Napedej Thupatemi said, “Bear in mind, Myanmar is a friend.” He was not referring to the pro-democracy movement or deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
It is also clear that a successful coup would leave Myanmar almost entirely dependent on Chinese and Russian investment and political support, setting US regional influence back decades. Weakness in current US policy in Myanmar undermines the Biden administration’s stated efforts to re-prioritize support for democracy following four years of neglect under President Trump. The current US posture also calls into question the administration’s willingness to stand up to an increasingly assertive China in a key geostrategic area. Instead, the US has deflected responsibility by deferring to ineffective “ASEAN centrality” and blaming China for not doing more to rein in the junta. This could not be further from President Biden’s exhortation shortly after taking office: “Democracy doesn’t happen by accident. We have to defend it, fight for it, strengthen it, renew it.”
This is not to say that sanctions on MOGE will immediately cause the junta to change course or lead directly to its collapse.
Sanctions like those proposed on MOGE should be put in place specifically to degrade the ability of the military junta to entrench its power and murder the people of Myanmar by reducing the foreign currency that the junta can use to purchase weapons and surveillance technology. While not decisive on their own, sanctions on MOGE are crucial to any broader strategy the US wants to pursue.
Instead, US refusal to sanction MOGE undermines its already haphazard sanctions efforts by ensuring that the junta’s largest source of revenue remains intact. As seen in the international response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, no credible effort to disrupt the Russian war machine can ignore the oil and gas industry. Yet in Myanmar, where the military junta is also heavily reliant on gas revenues, US policy has insisted on doing just that — ignoring the reality. No wonder US sanctions have had little effect on the junta’s income.
Within this context, the Biden administration’s refusal to place sanctions on MOGE is an abdication of political responsibility that risks helping entrench a junta reliant on China and hostile to US interests. The humanitarian risks of MOGE sanctions are limited, especially compared to the clear and obvious costs of refusing to cut this key source of revenue as the junta drags Myanmar deeper into a humanitarian crisis while giving no indication that it will turn from the destructive course it has charted.
Youth activist Thinzar Shunlei Yi, in her own recent call for US sanctions on MOGE in the New York Times, put it best: “As the gas revenue flows, so will the blood of Myanmar’s people.” Time to stop that flow, President Biden..."
Source/publisher:
Justice Security
Date of publication:
2022-08-03
Date of entry/update:
2022-08-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Oil and gas, Sanctions, Business and the Military, Sanctions - general
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more
Sub-title:
US Sanctions Urgently Needed on Billions in Oil and Gas Revenue
Description:
"(Paris) – Myanmar’s abusive junta will obtain an increased stake in the country’s largest oil and gas field when the French company TotalEnergies withdraws from Myanmar on July 20, 2022, Human Rights Watch said today. TotalEnergies’ shares will be divided proportionally among the remaining three partners – US-based Chevron, Thai-based PTTEP, and the junta-controlled Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE).
TotalEnergies in January announced its plans to leave Myanmar in six months due to a deteriorating human rights situation that “no longer allows TotalEnergies to make a sufficiently positive contribution in the country.” The company has operated the Yadana gas project since the 1990s in partnership with Chevron and PTTEP.
“Total’s transfer of ownership shares to a military-controlled company will further enrich the junta at the expense of human rights,” said Bénédicte Jeannerod, France director at Human Rights Watch. “Other energy companies looking to exit should make sure they do so responsibly, without contributing to the junta’s coffers.”
Since the February 1, 2021 coup in Myanmar, the junta has imposed a brutal nationwide crackdown on all opposition. The junta’s widespread and systematic abuses, including mass killings, torture, arbitrary arrests, and indiscriminate attacks on civilians, amount to crimes against humanity and war crimes. Security forces have killed over 2,000 people and arbitrarily arrested over 14,000.
In March, the oil and gas project partners approved PTTEP to take over as the operator of Yadana. The division of TotalEnergies’ 31.2 percent stake in both the gas field and pipeline will leave Chevron with 41.1 percent interest, PTTEP with 37.1 percent, and MOGE with 21.8 percent. Chevron also announced plans to withdraw and has indicated its intention to sell its stake to PTTEP, though few details about its exit have been made public.
Natural gas projects in Myanmar generate over US$1 billion in foreign revenue for the junta annually, its single largest source of foreign currency revenue. The money is transmitted in US dollars to MOGE and other military-controlled bank accounts in foreign countries in the form of fees, taxes, royalties, and revenues from the export of natural gas, most of which travels by pipeline to Thailand or China.
On February 21, the European Union imposed new sanctions on junta-controlled businesses including MOGE, the first government entity to do so. However, it also issued a license with ambiguous language that seems to allow exiting companies to relinquish or transfer their shares to MOGE.
Other companies including Woodside, Mitsubishi, Petronas, and ENEOS have announced plans in recent months to withdraw at least in part from operations in Myanmar. Petronas is being replaced as operator of the Yetagun field by Gulf Petroleum Myanmar, according to reports by Myanmar Now and Justice for Myanmar.
When companies exit from Myanmar, they should place their existing shares or property rights into trust or escrow, including shares of exploration or development projects, production, or pipeline transportation ventures, to ensure the revenues from those shares do not benefit the military. If exiting companies determine that they must sell or transfer their shares to another business entity, they should ensure that those entities will respect international sanctions and follow international standards on business and human rights.
Adopting these measures would be consistent with companies’ responsibilities under the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, which state that “appropriate action” in cases in which business activities are enabling rights abuses includes consideration of “whether terminating the relationship with the entity itself would have adverse human rights consequences.”
Concerned governments should join the EU in sanctioning MOGE while specifying that transfers of ownership to the junta are prohibited. The US in particular is in a key position to impose sanctions since payments in the gas sector – even those handled by non-US companies – are typically made in US dollars and require the involvement of correspondent US or EU banks to finalize, or “settle,” large dollar or Euro transactions. Additional sanctions would also help ensure that the junta is not able to evade the new EU sanctions in other jurisdictions.
PTTEP and South Korea’s POSCO, the two main energy companies remaining in Myanmar, should signal their support for such measures. The largest gas revenue payments to junta-controlled accounts are made via PTT, PTTEP’s parent company, which purchases about 80 percent of Myanmar’s exported natural gas from Yadana as well as the Zawtika gas field, which it operates itself. In April, PTTEP announced it was withdrawing from the nearly depleted Yetagun field. POSCO runs the second largest project, Shwe.
Human Rights Watch has previously written to all of these companies and their shareholders, urging them to support sanctions on gas revenues. Human Rights Watch has also urged other governments including the US, UK, Australia, and Japan to adopt the EU’s approach and sanction Myanmar’s military-owned companies such as MOGE.
“The US and other governments should follow the EU’s lead by urgently imposing measures that will cut the junta off from its millions in gas revenue before companies indifferent to rights take over the payment flows,” Jeannerod said. “Junta leaders need to face economic consequences for the atrocities they are carrying out across Myanmar.”..."
Source/publisher:
"Human Rights Watch" (USA)
Date of publication:
2022-07-19
Date of entry/update:
2022-07-19
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Sanctions, The Burmese military's role in the economy, Oil and gas, Sanctions - general, Human Rights and international relations
Language:
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Description:
"Mobile operator Mytel, trading under the company Telecom International Myanmar Company Limited, is a key pillar in the Myanmar military’s business network providing revenue, technology and surveillance capabilities.
Telecom International Myanmar shareholders are the military conglomerate Myanmar Economic Corporation, Vietnam Ministry of National Defence-owned Viettel Global Investment and Myanmar National Telecom Holdings.
A Justice For Myanmar investigation based on leaked documents found that Mytel has aggressively recruited members of the Myanmar military through the “Banner of Victory” campaign, in which Mytel staff worked with base commanders to sign up military personnel with customised phone numbers that include an individual’s military ID number.
State officials and business leaders were also incentivised to sign up to Mytel through generous promotions, including ones that previously targeted the State Counsellor and ministers.
As Justice For Myanmar has documented, Mytel works in partnership with the Myanmar Army’s Directorate of Signals and builds infrastructure on military bases.
The company’s biggest shareholder, Viettel, is a high-tech arms manufacturer that is involved in tech transfer with the Myanmar military.
According to an analysis of a Myanmar Investment Commission proposal, released by Distributed Denial of Secrets, the Myanmar military is projected to earn over US$700 million in ten years from Mytel, which will finance continued war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung says: “There is now extensive evidence of the complicity of Mytel in the Myanmar military’s international crimes.
“Mytel is putting the lives of Myanmar people at risk through the provision of revenue, technology and surveillance capabilities for the Myanmar military, which is a terrorist organisation.
“The people of Myanmar have taken a clear stand by boycotting Mytel and all other military products. It is time for international governments to hear the voices of Myanmar and designate Telecom International Myanmar for sanctions.
“More than 1,900 people have been murdered by the Myanmar military since the attempted coup, including children, and over 11,000 are languishing in detention, where torture is routine, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.
“The Myanmar military’s crimes are enabled by their business interests and action is needed now to stop the flow of funds to the military junta and its conglomerates.
“The Myanmar military cartel must be dismantled.”
Mytel provides the Myanmar military with dangerous surveillance capabilities over their own troops.
Since the illegal attempted military coup, courageous people’s soldiers and police have joined the civil disobedience movement, taking huge personal risk to leave the terrorist Myanmar military.
The Myanmar military can track the communications and location of these soldiers and police.
Justice For Myanmar urges military personnel joining the Civil Disobedience Movement to not discuss plans on the phone and destroy their SIM cards before defecting.
More information:
See Justice For Myanmar’s web feature on customer recruitment and surveillance, Leaking military secrets for profit
See Justice For Myanmar’s web feature, Boycott and coup attempt cost Mytel USD$24.9 million in three months
See Justice For Myanmar’s web feature, How hundreds of millions of dollars from Mytel subscribers will flow to military generals
See Justice For Myanmar’s report, Nodes of Corruption, Lines of Abuse: How Mytel, Viettel and a global network of businesses support the international crimes of the Myanmar military..."
Source/publisher:
Justice For Myanmar
Date of publication:
2022-06-14
Date of entry/update:
2022-06-14
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Business and the Military, Sanctions, The Burmese military's role in the economy, Sanctions - general
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111.53 KB 120.93 KB
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Description:
"Russia remains a major supplier of arms and dual use goods for the Myanmar military, aiding and abetting the military’s genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Justice For Myanmar demands international action to stop the trade, and has documented 19 companies that have supplied Myanmar since 2018, which must be sanctioned.
These include multiple subsidiaries of the state-owned arms giant, Rostec, as well as manufacturers of missile systems, radar and police equipment. Many of the companies have exported to Myanmar since the military’s illegal attempted coup.
Rostec, whose international trade arm, Rosoboronexport, has a representative office in Myanmar, is a key partner of the Myanmar military, with subsidiaries providing fighter jets, helicopters, surface-to-air missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV).
One subsidiary of Rostec, United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), has a partnership with the French arms maker Thales. Thales did not respond to questions from Justice For Myanmar regarding their business with UAC.
Other companies include JSC Tactical Missiles Corporation, which supplied an OKA-E-1 aircraft guided weapons preparation system to the Myanmar military in 2019, AO Gorizont, which has provided Austrian UAV parts to the UK-sanctioned arms broker Miya Win International, and GS Group, which has provided a broadcasting production system for the army’s psychological warfare directorate.
According to records from the trade database ImportGenius and leaked documents, Russian companies supply both the Myanmar military directly and via private Myanmar military brokers.
Many of the brokers have branches in Singapore to facilitate payments. Justice For Myanmar continues to demand sanctions against Myanmar military arms brokers and calls on the Singapore government to stop the use of its territory for Myanmar military arms purchases.
Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung says: “Russia’s arms industry earns big profits from the Myanmar military’s atrocities.
The same Russian arms industry that supplies the terrorist Myanmar military is manufacturing the arms that are enabling Russia’s unprovoked aggression against Ukraine.
A year ago today, the Myanmar military murdered more than 160 people while the generals celebrated Armed Forces Day with Russia’s Deputy Defence Minister.
In response to the Myanmar military’s March 27, 2021 massacre, and the many others who have been murdered by junta forces on the streets and in indiscriminate airstrikes and shelling with Russian arms and equipment, we call on the international community to take decisive action against the Russian arms industry.
Impose a global arms embargo on the Myanmar military junta and targeted sanctions on all Russian companies supplying the Myanmar military.
It’s time to hold arms traders accountable for aiding and abetting international crimes.”..."
Source/publisher:
Justice For Myanmar
Date of publication:
2022-03-27
Date of entry/update:
2022-03-27
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Business and the Military, Sanctions, Sanctions - general
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130.99 KB
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Description:
"The European Union (EU) is today the first jurisdiction to impose sanctions on Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE).
MOGE is the junta’s biggest single source of revenue, responsible for financing its terror campaign.
The move comes after TotalEnergies, Chevron, Petronas, Mitsubishi Corporation and Woodside have announced plans to exit from their investments in Myanmar.
The EU has also imposed sanctions on the state-owned No. 1 Mining Enterprise, individual members of the Myanmar military junta and crony conglomerates International Group of Entrepreneurs (IGE) and Htoo Group of Companies.
Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung says: “We welcome this new round of EU sanctions. The designation of MOGE is a historic win for grassroots activism throughout Myanmar and around the world, after over a year of campaigning to stop oil and gas revenue flowing to the terrorist military junta.
“Sanctions on MOGE are essential to deny the junta the funds it needs to finance its increasing and intensifying violent attacks against civilians, which amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.
“EU sanctions send a strong signal that the Myanmar junta cannot continue business as usual, but it is not enough.
“Other governments including the US and Japan must now follow with sanctions on MOGE, other military controlled businesses and their significant associates.
“EU sanctions against IGE should send a strong message to POSCO International and Lotte Hotels & Resorts, which continue to partner with IGE in the Lotte Hotel project, on land leased from the Office of the Quartermaster General...”
Source/publisher:
Justice For Myanmar
Date of publication:
2022-02-22
Date of entry/update:
2022-02-22
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Sanctions, Sanctions, Burma's economic relations with the European Union, Sanctions - general
Language:
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pdf
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123.2 KB
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Description:
"The Council today adopted a fourth round of sanctions in view of the continuing grave situation and of intensifying human rights violations in Myanmar/Burma, following the military coup in the country on 1 February 2021.
The new listings target 22 persons and 4 entities, including government ministers, a member of the State Administrative Council and members of the Union Election Commission, as well as high-ranking members of the Myanmar Armed Forces (Tatmadaw). As regards the sanctioned entities, these are either state-owned companies providing substantive resources to the Tatmadaw, or private companies closely connected to the Tatmadaw's top leadership. These companies are Htoo Group, IGE (International Group of Enterpreneurs), Mining Enterprise 1 (ME 1) and Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE).
Restrictive measures now apply to a total of 65 individuals and 10 entities, and include an asset freeze and a prohibition from making funds available to the listed individuals and entities. In addition, a travel ban applicable to the listed persons prevents these from entering or transiting through EU territory.
Existing EU restrictive measures also remain in place. These comprise an embargo on arms and equipment that can be used for internal repression, an export ban on dual-use goods for use by the military and border guard police, export restrictions on equipment for monitoring communications that could be used for internal repression, and a prohibition on military training for and military 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 European Union is deeply concerned by the continuing escalation of violence in Myanmar and the evolution towards a protracted conflict with regional implications. Since the military coup, the situation has continuously and gravely deteriorated.
As a matter of priority, the EU reiterates its calls for an immediate cessation of all hostilities, and an end to the disproportionate use of force and the state of emergency. The European Union will continue to provide humanitarian assistance, in accordance with the principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence. The EU reiterates its call for the full and immediate respect of international humanitarian law..."
Source/publisher:
Council of the European Union
Date of publication:
2022-02-21
Date of entry/update:
2022-02-22
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Sanctions, Business and the Military, Sanctions - general
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29.72 KB
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Description:
"Myanmar crony conglomerate, Shwe Byain Phyu group has multiple business links with the Myanmar military junta and its conglomerates.
These include business ties with sanctioned entities and individuals.
Shwe Byain Phyu is in the process of acquiring 80% of Telenor Myanmar through a secretive deal involving the Norwegian state-controlled Telenor Group, M1 Group and the Myanmar military junta.
Shwe Byain Phyu is a founding member of the Myanmar Petroleum Trade Association (MPTA) and the group’s chairperson, Thein Win Zaw, is an MPTA central executive committee member.
MPTA oversees the petroleum distribution market in Myanmar and its members include military conglomerate, Myanma Economic Holdings Limited (MEHL), which is sanctioned in the EU, UK and USA.
Since the illegal coup attempt, MPTA has organised donations of petrol for the Myanmar army, to support the military’s campaign of terror.
MPTA chairperson, Tay Za, is sanctioned in the UK and US.
Shwe Byain Phyu’s own petroleum import, distribution and retail business has operated in partnership with MEHL.
Thein Win Zaw is currently on the board of Myanma Energy Sector Development with Tay Za’s son, Pyae Phyo Tay Za, who is sanctioned in the US.
Through Mahar Yoma Public Company, Shwe Byain Phyu invests in Mytel, a lucrative mobile operator partly owned by the military conglomerate Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC). MEC is sanctioned in the EU, UK and US.
In 2017-18, the most recent data available, Shwe Byain Phyu group held jade mining licences under joint ventures with Myanma Gems Enterprise (MGE), a state-owned enterprise now under junta control.
Shwe Byain Phyu group director Tin Latt Min, wife of Thein Win Zaw, is a director of Mineral Development Bank, which provides loans for jade and gems businesses. The bank is continuing to provide international banking services for a sector controlled by MGE, and there is a high risk the bank could violate sanctions. MGE is sanctioned in the EU, UK and US.
Htoo Jewellery Company Limited, a subsidiary of Htoo Group, is a shareholder of Mineral Development Bank. Htoo Group is sanctioned in the UK.
Tin Latt Min is a shareholder in Forest Products Joint Venture Corporation (FPJVC), a timber company controlled by the military junta. FPJVC is sanctioned in the EU.
Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung says: “Shwe Byain Phyu is a conglomerate with deep and longstanding ties to the Myanmar military, including with the previous military junta, military conglomerates and sanctioned entities and individuals.
“The Norwegian government has been turning a blind eye as Telenor Group, a company they control, proceeds to transfer Telenor Myanmar to Shwe Byain Phyu, together with the historical metadata of more than 18 million people.
“This could amount to complicity in crimes against humanity, by handing the military a potent weapon they can use to track down, arrest, torture and murder civil society activists and journalists.
“The grave risks that the sale of Telenor Myanmar poses to the lives of Myanmar people are glaringly clear.
“Telenor must stop fabricating a narrative about how their current course of action is based on human rights considerations and immediately suspend the sale”..."
Source/publisher:
Justice For Myanmar
Date of publication:
2022-02-13
Date of entry/update:
2022-02-13
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Business and the Military, Sanctions, Sanctions - general
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132.74 KB 119.14 KB
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Description:
"Burma Campaign UK today launches a new campaign to persuade the UK and other countries to impose sanctions to try to stop aviation fuel reaching the Burmese military.
This past weekend, airstrikes in Karen and Kachin State killed three people and injured several more.
The huge increase in the use of air power by the Burmese military since March 2021 has created a human rights and humanitarian catastrophe. The majority of the more than 400,000 people internally displaced in the past year have been forced to flee their homes because of airstrikes or the threat of airstrikes. Airstrikes have mainly taken place in ethnic states and Sagaing Region.
Civil society organisations in and from Burma have been calling for aviation fuel sanctions in response to airstrikes by the Burmese military.
The indiscriminate bombings of civilian targets are violations of international law, constituting war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Burma Campaign UK is calling for sanctions in two areas. First are sanctions on Burmese companies involved in the supply of aviation fuel to the military. Second are sanctions to stop British companies (or USA, EU companies etc) being involved in any aspect of the supply of aviation fuel to Burma, including insurance and accreditation and certification services.
Burma does not have refining capacity to manufacture its own aviation fuel. It is dependent on imports.
The Burmese military operate jets, aircraft and helicopters from Russia, China, Serbia, and Pakistan which can operate on normal commercial Jet-A1 fuel, rather than needing military grade jet fuel. Therefore, to cut off the supply of aviation fuel to the military it will be necessary to cut off the supply of aviation fuel to Burma. Similar sanctions have been imposed on Syria because of the Syrian regime’s deliberate targeting of civilians using airstrikes.
Aviation fuel sanctions could ground domestic flights. This would impact comparatively few people and would be a small inconvenience compared to the devastating impact of airstrikes. The United Nations does not use domestic airlines to deliver aid.
Regarding international flights, most airlines already avoid refuelling in Burma because of the high costs of imported aviation fuel. Some long-haul flights may be impacted and might need to refuel in neighbouring countries. Again, this is a small inconvenience compared to the humanitarian crisis being caused by airstrikes by the Burmese military.
Burma Campaign UK is still in the process of researching international companies involved in the supply of aviation fuel and will be publishing briefing papers with more information soon.
“If Burmese military aircraft can’t fly, they can’t bomb,” said Mark Farmaner, Director of Burma Campaign UK. “Airstrikes by the Burmese military have created a humanitarian crisis. Hundreds of thousands of people are displaced and in desperate need of aid. Anything that can be done to reduce to supply of aviation fuel to the military could save lives. Liz Truss must prioritise sanctioning the supply of aviation fuel to the military. Companies involved in the supply of aviation fuel to the military are complicit in the bombing of civilians and violations of international law.”
Burma Campaign UK is asking supporters to write to British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, calling on her to impose sanctions on aviation fuel..."
Source/publisher:
"Burma Campaign UK" (London)
Date of publication:
2022-02-08
Date of entry/update:
2022-02-08
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Business and the Military, Sanctions, Sanctions - general
Language:
more
Sub-title:
UK joins US and Canada in coordinated action against Myanmar military regime, targeting individuals responsible for undermining democracy and rule of law.
Description:
"new UK sanctions against military regime enforced in joint action with allies
three individuals targeted for their involvement in undermining democracy and the rule of law
Foreign Secretary condemns the military coup and calls for return to democracy
Announced on the eve of the 1-year anniversary of the military coup in Myanmar, the UK has designated new sanctions against 3 key members of the regime who have been instrumental in suppressing democracy and stifling opposition voices.
In coordination with the United States and Canada, new sanctions will be brought against:
Dr Thida Oo, Myanmar Attorney General
U Thein Soe, Chair of the Union Election Commission
U Tin Oo, the Chair of the Anti-Corruption Commission
All 3 individuals are responsible for disregarding the Myanmar election results in November 2020 and supporting unsubstantiated claims of electoral fraud in an attempt to legitimise the coup.
The Attorney General and Anti-Corruption Commission Chair are also responsible for stifling pro-democracy groups across the country and overseeing the sentencing of democratically elected leaders, including Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint, on trumped-up charges.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said:
Over the last year, the military regime has attempted to terrorise the people of Myanmar into submission. Through fear and violence, they have created division and conflict.
The UK will always defend the right to freedom, democracy and the rule of law. With like-minded nations, we will hold to account this suppressive, brutal regime.
This latest round of sanctions will freeze the assets of these individuals and enforce a travel ban preventing them coming to the UK. They come on top of previous designations on dozens of individuals as well as businesses and business networks to limit the junta’s access to finance.
The designations demonstrate the UK’s commitment to target the junta’s personal, political and financial interests as they continue to perpetrate violence and refuse to engage with the democratic wishes of the people of Myanmar.
The UK is working with international partners to speak out for the Myanmar people, push for the full implementation of the ASEAN Five Point Consensus, stem the flow of arms to the regime and ensure the perpetrators of human rights violations are held accountable.
Since the coup, the UK has also provided £49.4 million to support those in need of humanitarian assistance in Myanmar, deliver health and education for the most vulnerable, and promote rights and freedoms. This funding is delivered through trusted aid agencies and partners, rather than through the junta.
Our humanitarian programmes have reached over 600,000 people, providing lifesaving water, sanitation and food..."
Source/publisher:
Govt. UK (London)
Date of publication:
2022-01-31
Date of entry/update:
2022-01-31
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
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Description:
"As trade in Myanmar teak continues amidst sanctions, a ban on all Myanmar timber imports is necessary.
Since the illegal attempted military coup in February 2021, the United States has imported 1,565 metric tonnes of teak from Myanmar, even though sanctions began soon after.
Following the attempted coup, the Myanmar military has carried out acts of terrorism against Myanmar people, murdering over 1,400 civilians and imprisoning 11,000 more, indiscriminately bombing and shelling communities and committing mass killings with total impunity.
In response, the United States has imposed multiple targeted sanctions, including on the state-owned Myanma Timber Enterprise (MTE).
MTE has sole responsibility for the sale of timber in Myanmar, auctioning logs for export. The forestry industry in Myanmar is effectively controlled by MTE.
According to MTE’s website, its Export Marketing and Milling Department has competencies that “cover the timber supply chain from the moment of truck, barge and train load arrive at timber depots until the transfer of the ownership of the cargoes to the customer at ports and terminals”. MTE operates teak sawmills that produce scantling for export and the enterprise regulates the private sector trade.
Since the military’s attempted coup, MTE has come under the control of the Myanmar military junta. Through MTE, the junta takes a percentage of export revenue, and this helps finance their atrocities.
The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed sanctions on MTE, with the justification that the timber industry is a key economic resource for the Myanmar military junta.
Yet, from February to the end of November, US businesses continued to import teak from Myanmar, according to data from the global trade database, Panjiva.
The 82 shipments largely consisted of teak board and scantling that are used for shipbuilding, outdoor decking, and furniture.
The first shipment of teak after the attempted coup arrived on February 18 and the most recent shipment arrived in December.
In fact, there was a sharp increase in teak exports to the US a few months after the sanctions were imposed, which may coincide with the timing of teak auctions held by the MTE.
When looking at the total number of shipments from February to November 2021 compared with the same time period in previous years, it is evident that the flow of teak from Myanmar to the United States has been quite consistent.
But how are these exports possible when the US has sanctions in place?
See a list of businesses and individuals involved in the Myanmar teak trade with the US: Download Excel File (25 kb)
Evading weak sanctions by trading via intermediaries
The answer is that importers in the US are purchasing timber from private companies that are acting as brokers in Myanmar; they are evading sanctions by not buying directly from MTE.
These private companies include major teak traders, some of which have reportedly placed winning bids at MTE auctions since the attempted coup.
The private companies that act as brokers buy the timber from MTE in Myanmar, then export it, sometimes through foreign freight companies.
While the data analysed for this feature only captured teak exports directly from Myanmar to the United States, it is likely that even more teak is being exported to the US via third countries such as China. So, the overall amount of teak exported since the attempted coup is expected to be significantly more.
This indirect trade between companies in the US and MTE may not have attracted penalties from OFAC at this stage, but it still appears to contravene US sanctions.
Sanctions imposed by the United States on MTE prohibit “the making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of any blocked person”.
Considering that timber exported from Myanmar is originally auctioned by MTE, the military junta still receives funds from the various charges applied, no matter who officially exports the timber.
A report from Myanmar’s Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative shows that the state received almost USD$100 million in revenue from taxes and royalties applied to timber trade in the 2017-2018 financial year, the last year for which data is available.
The country’s total revenue from the forestry industry that year was USD$322 million, so the taxes and royalties now flowing to the military junta from the post-attempted coup timber trade are significant.
Considering the scope of the problem and potential for the illegal military junta to gain vast sums of money to fund their atrocity crimes, it is clear that further action is essential.
Lack of transparency makes trade after sanctions difficult to trace
Before the coup attempt, MTE used to announce details of its upcoming timber auctions in advance and disclose some of the auction outcomes.
The last auction in which winning bidders were disclosed was held on January 28, 2021. As full payments were due within 75 days, the funds were likely received by the illegal military junta.
After the attempted coup, MTE's official disclosure of successful auction bidders is no longer publicly available on its website. It is likely that only businesses and timber companies close to the military junta will have access to this information, which is concerning because this information is critical to taking action against companies circumventing sanctions.
Yet, according to information published in state-run newspapers controlled by the military and other media reports, at least nine open timber auctions have been held since the coup that included teak.
The Lacey Act must be enforced
Since 2008, amendments to the Lacey Act in the United States have prohibited the importation of illegally sourced timber.
It requires companies to take due care to ensure that timber they purchase – including from overseas sources – has been harvested legally and to declare its country of origin.
While this law addresses illegal logging – and does not include purchasing from an illegal military junta in its scope – it does require some transparency about the timber supply chain.
It’s very difficult to get information about how timber is harvested in Myanmar, however, when a company exercises due care in tracing the origin of its timber, it should easily uncover MTE in the supply chain.
In Myanmar, all legally harvested timber for export passes through MTE. So, compliance with the Lacey Act should – even inadvertently – lead companies to MTE.
And this should lead to the conclusion that timber should not be lawfully imported to the United States due to the current sanctions against MTE.
But despite the efforts of organisations such as Environmental Investigation Agency, the Act is still not strongly enforced on timber imports from Myanmar.
Effective enforcement of the Lacey Act could potentially lead more companies to think twice before importing timber from Myanmar.
International banks also implicated
According to the MTE website, all of its sales are made in USD dollars and payments can be made via several banks.
These include Singaporean banks United Overseas Bank (UOB), Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) and DBS Bank.
These banks are playing an enabling role for the military junta and international action is needed. They may also be breaching US sanctions by accepting US dollar transactions in which MTE is the beneficiary.
How US industries are responding to the timber sanctions
Timber sellers, shipbuilders, furniture makers and others who produce teak products in the United States are responding in various ways to the sanctions.
While some are using indirect pathways to continue importing, others are seeking alternative products.
Shipbuilders in particular have long used Myanmar teak for its high silicone and resin content that makes it more durable in wet environments.
But given the situation in Myanmar, some recognise the imminent need to shift to other materials, and are trialling products such as iroko, other timbers and even synthetic teak.
Meanwhile, one small company called Techtona, a social enterprise that exported recycled teak from old buildings in Myanmar to the US, has closed down.
The business was hit hard by the COVID19 pandemic and a representative told Justice For Myanmar that trading any timber in Myanmar now risks supporting the military junta: “We cannot any longer import anything from Burma to USA because everything that gets exported has to pay some permit fee – and that could go to the wrong people. So this kind of business – and actually all business in Burma – is now impossible.”
What the companies still importing Myanmar teak say
Justice For Myanmar asked the US companies that have imported since the attempted coup about their purchases and whether they intend to keep importing teak from Myanmar.
World Panel Products, a US-based timber supplier to the marine industry, responded: “Don't agree with the Coup. We ensure that whoever we purchase from directly in Myanmar are not associated with any of the Army Generals or their family.”
World Panel Products also said they had not participated in any MTE timber auctions this year. Yet, transactions involving the company appear in the Panjiva trade database after the coup, with post-coup exports likely enriching the military junta.
Justice For Myanmar wrote to teak importers J. Gibson McIlvain, East Teak, Lumberbest, Kingsley Bate, but we have not received a response.
We also wrote to logistics companies Clare Express, DB, Apex Shipping (a subsidiary of Kerry Logistics) and UCM Cargo, which have transported Myanmar teak trade to the US since the attempted coup, asking about their human rights due diligence and US sanctions. None of the companies responded.
Europe also still importing Myanmar teak post-coup
The European Union also sanctioned MTE in June this year. Yet, European companies have continued importing teak.
A report by the Environmental Investigation Agency found that Italy alone has imported teak worth over €2 million from Myanmar since the attempted coup.
The problem with teak trade to Europe is similar to the United States: companies have been able to circumvent sanctions. In Europe this has involved trading via Italy and other countries where sanctions are not well enforced.
Companies in Europe are also required to conduct due diligence in timber trade under the European Union Timber Regulation, which prohibits the sale of illegally harvested timber in Europe.
This due diligence effort for any trade in teak from Myanmar would uncover MTE in the supply chain, and therefore a company should not proceed with such imports.
The Environmental Investigation Agency is calling for the companies violating EU sanctions through trade in illegal teak from Myanmar to be investigated and prosecuted. Justice For Myanmar echoes that call.
Ban Myanmar timber imports!
The evidence shows that the sanctions have not stopped the flow of teak to the US, and therefore have not stopped the flow of funds from the timber trade to the illegal military junta.
The need for international action to stop the Myanmar miilitary's international crimes is becoming increasingly urgent. After the Myanmar military's killing of at least 35 people on Christmas Eve in Karenni State, the UN Security Council issued a statement demanding an immediate cessation of violence and accountability, yet the junta's campign of terror continues with total impunity.
The companies who are aiding the Myanmar military and trading with the entities it controls, are complicit in the crimes committed by the Myanmar military.
If the US and other international governments are serious about their roles in stopping the military junta's campaign of terror and supporting the people of Myanmar, further action is urgently needed.
Justice For Myanmar calls on the United States and other international governments to:
urgently investigate the teak and timber trade with Myanmar. The OFAC should investigate whether any of these transactions have violated the current sanctions against MTE. If these imports were lawful, then it shows that current sanctions have not effectively stopped the trade in Myanmar teak to the US, therefore further measures are needed.
promptly investigate all banks and financial institutions processing teak payments.
ensure that current sanctions involving trade with Myanmar are vigorously enforced.
ensure that the Lacey Act is enforced with regard to timber imports from Myanmar.
impose new targeted sanctions on all companies and individual directors involved in exports of products from industries controlled by the military junta, including timber.
impose new targeted sanctions on all other military-related businesses and associations.
ban all Myanmar timber imports to prevent further revenue from reaching the illegal military junta.
Companies still trading Myanmar teak amidst US sanctions
In the section below, we provide details of the companies involved in the teak trade from Myanmar to the United States since the attempted coup in February 2021.
Largest US importer: East Teak Fine Hardwoods
Up to 49 per cent of the imports since the coup were made by the largest importer of Myanmar teak in the United States: East Teak Fine Hardwoods (ETFH). This company alone has bought over 765 tonnes of teak boards and scantling which arrived in 44 shipments.
The Myanmar timber companies that exported these shipments include: Thein Than Htun Manufacturing Company Limited, National Wood Industry Ltd, Maha Nadi Maritime Services Company, Unilite Industries & General Serve, Jewellery Teak Timber Company, Pa Pa Wadi Company, Yadanar Tin Company, Lin Win Company, Royal River Trading Company and KMI Company.
Among the local companies that exported to ETFH, Thein Than Htun Manufacturing Company Limited is the largest supplier. Since the attempted coup, the company has been confirmed as placing winning bids on teak at MTE auctions and has sent 22 shipments to the United States.
Questionable ties within the industry
The Thein Than Htun Manufacturing Company Limited has also sold teak to Kingsley Bate Warehouse, a leading US manufacturer of teak outdoor furniture.
Thein Than Htun’s director, Kyaw Kyaw, is also the director and shareholder of United Wood Industries Company, another company that placed winning bids on teak at MTE auctions.
Since the coup, United Wood Industries Company has shipped teak via the logistics company Apex Maritime and to the wholesaler Lumberbest, which specialises in selling “genuine Myanmar natural teak.”
One of United Wood’s directors and shareholders is Bjorn Burchard, a Norwegian citizen with longstanding ties to MTE. Under the previous military junta, Bjorn was managing director of Scantrade, a business that jointly operated a furniture factory with MTE and was sanctioned by the European Union. Norwegian authorities should investigate and prosecute Bjorn Burchard for his role in the teak trade.
Similarly, multiple companies involved in the post-attempted coup teak trade have close and questionable ties to the MTE and the export-promoting industry association, the Myanmar Timber Merchants Association (MTMA).
The MTMA plays a key role in facilitating trade relationships among the Myanmar timber industry, foreign buyers and the MTE. It operates under the guidance of UMFCCI (a federation of the country’s chambers of commerce and industry), which is closely linked to the military junta.
For example, KMI Company and National Wood Industry Limited are companies that have also exported teak to the United States since the coup attempt. These companies have two directors in common: Kyaw Win and Ye Htet Win. Kyaw Win is also the Honorary Auditor of the MTMA and Ye Htet Win is a member of the Central Executive Committee of the MTMA.
KMI Company’s other director, Min Thaw Kong, is also a director of Win Enterprise Limited, another timber company that exported teak to the United States since the attempted coup. Win Enterprise Limited is a subsidiary of Forest Products Joint Venture Corporation. Min Thaw Kong is a Secretary General (2) of MTMA and also a director of Forest Products Joint Venture Corporation. Forest Products Joint Venture Corporation is a joint venture between MTE, Myanmar’s Forest Department and private enterprises, which processes teak and has been sanctioned by the European Union.
Other large US importers
The second and third largest US teak importers since the coup attempt are J. Gibson McIlvain Company, a timber wholesaler well-known in the shipbuilding industry, and World Panel Products, the leading marine panel distributor in the United States.
Both of these companies bought teak from Win Enterprise Ltd and Myat Noe Thu Company. J. Gibson McIlvain Company also bought teak from Golden Pollen Manufacturing Company, Water Solutions Company, Tharaphu Decor Company, and World Panel Products also bought from KMI Company. Notably, Water Solutions Company and Tharaphu Decor Company have a common director, Min Min Shein.
Freight companies exporting Myanmar timber to US amid sanctions
Multiple freight companies operating in the United States and Myanmar are also implicated in the teak trade.
Largest transporter to US: Clare Group
Among these, the Clare Group alone has transported almost 1,000 tonnes in 54 shipments, which is equal to 64 per cent of the total teak imports after the coup.
The Clare Group is a multinational logistics company with subsidiaries in multiple countries, headquartered in Taiwan.
Other large transporters
Another freight company involved in these shipments is the Italian D.B. Group, an international transport and logistics company. Its Myanmar subsidiary, D.B Group Myanmar Company, has shipped teak to D.B. Group’s US-based subsidiary, D.B. Group America.
Great Foremost Logistics Company Ltd and the British Virgin Islands' logistics and supply chain management company IFB Myanmar Ltd, part of IFB Group, have also transported Myanmar teak to the US since the attempted coup. IFB Myanmar is run by two German citizens.
The involvement of these Italian and German linked companies in teak exports could violate the European Union's sanctions against MTE. This is because the EU sanctions apply to all companies that have a presence in an EU Member State, even when they are operating elsewhere.
Kerry Logistics, a Hong Kong based company engaged in logistics, freight services and warehouse operations, has additionally been involved in transporting teak to the United States through its subsidiary Kerry Freight Myanmar Ltd and its US subsidiary, Apex Maritime.
Freight companies in the United States, Aries Global Logistics Inc., Mcl Multi Container Line Inc. and United Cargo Management Inc., were listed as ‘consignees’ in teak shipments..."
Source/publisher:
Justice For Myanmar
Date of publication:
2022-01-11
Date of entry/update:
2022-01-11
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
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Description:
"January 11, 2022, Myanmar: Companies in the United States have imported nearly 1,600 tonnes of teak from Myanmar since the military’s attempted coup in February 2021.
Following the coup attempt, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed multiple targeted sanctions with the aim to block trade with Myanmar that benefits the illegal military junta.
Sanctions were placed on the state-owned Myanma Timber Enterprise (MTE), which solely manages the sale of timber in Myanmar, auctioning logs to private companies for export.
Through MTE, the junta takes a large percentage of all export revenue through various taxes and charges, and this contributes to financing their campaign of terror against the people of Myanmar.
Since February 1, Myanmar’s military has killed over 1,400 unarmed civilians and imprisoned 11,000 more.
Despite sanctions, from February to the end of November last year, US businesses continued to import timber from Myanmar, according to data from the global trade database, Panjiva.
The timber arrived in 82 different shipments between February 1 and November 30, 2021, largely consisting of teak board and scantling that are used for shipbuilding, outdoor decking, and furniture.
Multiple US timber wholesalers and manufacturers are involved, including East Teak Fine Hardwoods, J. Gibson McIlvain, Kingsley Bate Warehouse, Lumberbest, World Panel Products and others.
The data indicates that companies are circumventing sanctions by trading via intermediaries, keeping the link to MTE indirect.
It appears that only the intermediaries’ details are included on the documentation required for US imports, allowing potentially illegal imports to pass under the radar of US authorities.
Sanctions imposed by the United States on MTE prohibit “the making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of any blocked person”.
Considering that sanctions aim to block trade with MTE, and the timber exported from Myanmar is originally auctioned by MTE, the military junta still receives funds from the trade no matter who officially exports the timber.
This indirect trade between companies in the US and MTE may not have attracted penalties from OFAC at this stage, but action is now urgently needed.
Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung says: “Sanctions must be enforced in order to be effective. We urge OFAC to investigate US imports of timber from Myanmar since sanctions were imposed on MTE.”
“We call on the US Government to ban all Myanmar timber imports to prevent further revenue from reaching the illegal military junta.
“Continuing trade in timber from Myanmar supports the illegal military junta that is committing atrocity crimes with total impunity, including the indiscriminate murder of children.
“Through such targeted sanctions on imports from military-controlled industries in Myanmar, the US and other countries have the power to cut the financial flow to the illegal junta and support the Myanmar people’s struggle to end this tyranny and establish federal democracy.”..."
Source/publisher:
Justice For Myanmar
Date of publication:
2022-01-11
Date of entry/update:
2022-01-11
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Sanctions, Business and the Military, The Burmese military's role in the economy, Sanctions - general, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Title: Joint press release - Japanese investors in Y Complex development risk violating US sanctions
Description:
" Several Japanese companies that are investors in Y Complex, a mixed-use real estate development on land controlled by Myanmar’s military, risk breaching US sanctions imposed against military entities for their role in human rights abuses.
On December 10, 2021, the US, UK and Canada imposed sanctions on the Office of the Quartermaster General of the Myanmar army, in response to the unlawful February 1, 2021, attempted coup. The Office of the Quartermaster General (QMG) is a key entity that oversees the Myanmar military’s business interests.
According to the UK sanctions list, the QMG “plays a crucial role in procuring equipment for the Myanmar Armed Forces, including ammunition, bombs and jet fuel. This directly enables serious human rights violations, and the repression of the civilian population including peaceful protestors and ethnic minorities”
Japanese companies, including Daiwa House Industry subsidiary Fujita Corporation, Tokyo Tatemono and the Japanese government, private sponsored infrastructure fund Japan Overseas Infrastructure Investment Corporation for Transport & Urban Development (JOIN), pay over US$1.8 million in rent in US dollars to the QMG annually, which could violate US sanctions if they are found to be materially assisting a sanctioned entity.
The policy-based financial institution Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and the banks Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and Mizuho Bank are co-financing the project through a US$144 million loan.
The project has been suspended following the military’s attempted coup, and the sanctions risk may apply if payments in US dollars resume.
The Government of Japan must end its complicity in human rights abuses in Myanmar by halting its business with the military junta and its conglomerates, including in the Y Complex project. Y Complex investors and creditors should also avoid the risk of breaching sanctions, and fulfil their human rights responsibilities under the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, by responsibly disengaging from their business with the QMG.
HRN Secretary General Kazuko Ito says: “Since the coup happened, we have been urging Japanese companies involved in this project and the Government of Japan to responsibly exit from this project as it is obvious that this project could significantly make an adverse impact on people in Myanmar. We once again insist that all the companies should conduct heightened human rights due diligence which the UN Working on Business and Human Rights published and disclose its result to be accountable for its involvement in a transparent manner. That process should get relevant stakeholders engaged so that their voices are heard. Additionally, we urge the Government of Japan to proactively promote such processes according to its duty to protect human rights under the UN Guiding Principles.”
Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung says: “It is unacceptable that Fujita Corporation, Tokyo Tatemono and JOIN have continued their involvement in the Y Complex development, after the Myanmar military’s 2017 campaign of genocide against the Rohingya, ongoing war crimes and crimes against humanity in ethnic areas and the campaign of terror that the military junta was waged against the Myanmar people for over ten months. After the latest US sanctions on the QMG, which is the Y Complex lessor, the project is untenable and the investors must immediately move to responsibly cut ties. Should they continue payments, we request the US Treasury investigate Y Complex for any breach of sanctions and take swift action. Myanmar people continue to be slaughtered by this illegal and murderous military junta with total impunity. Through Y Complex, the Japanese government and companies are complicit in atrocity crimes. They have blood on their hands.”
Yuka Kiguchi, Executive Director of Mekong Watch, said: "Further land lease payments will mean that Tokyo Tatemono, Fujita, JOIN, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Mizuho Bank, and JBIC, are directly and indirectly providing funds for human rights violations such as extrajudicial killings, torture, sexual violence as well as attacks in ethnic minority regions committed in Myanmar under the direction of the military. In particular, JOIN and JBIC are implicating Japan's taxpayers in these human rights violations by providing public funds to Y Complex. They should immediately pull their funding and stop lending to the project."
Naoko Watanabe, Advocacy Office of JVC, said, "The Japanese public and private sectors, which have funded the Y-Complex on military land, have continued to be complicit in the massacres, detentions, torture and other atrocities committed by the military against the innocent people of Myanmar not only after the February 1 coup, but also before the coup. The sanctions against QMG by the U.S., U.K., and Canada have made it clear that the attitude of the Japanese government and the companies, involved in the project without any indication or response after the coup, is wrong and shameful. We, as Japanese citizens and taxpayers, once again call on the Japanese government and the companies involved in the project to respect the decisions of the three countries and to immediately withdraw from the Y Complex project.”
Background on Y Complex
Since the Myanmar military’s unlawful February 1, 2021 coup attempt, the junta has murdered more than 1300 people, including children, and arrested nearly 11,000, according to the Myanmar human rights organisation, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. The Myanmar military has also carried out indiscriminate airstrikes and shelling that have killed civilians, destroyed property and caused mass displacement.
Since the attempted coup, the Myanmar military has engaged in “probable crimes against humanity and war crimes” according to the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar. It has been well documented that the Myanmar military’s international crimes are financed by its business interests, including from real estate projects such as Y Complex.
Y Complex is being developed under a build-operate-transfer agreement between the crony company Yangon Technical & Trading Co. Ltd. (YTT) and the QMG, with annual lease payments of US$2.163 million payable to the Ministry of Defence.
The project, still under construction, is for a mixed-use real estate complex that will include an Okura Prestige Hotel, to be operated by the Japanese company Okura Hotels & Resorts.
Fujita, Tokyo Tatemono and JOIN’s investment in Y Complex Co. Ltd. is structured through a holding company in Singapore, Yangon Museum Development Pte. Ltd, owned by the three Japanese investors. The holding company owns 80% of the Myanmar project company, Y Complex Co. Ltd., with the remaining 20% held by their local partner, YTT.
Yangon Museum Development is the recipient of co-financing from JBIC, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and Mizuho Bank.
According to Yangon Museum Development’s most recent financial statement for 2020, US dollars is the functional currency of the company and funds are held in US dollar accounts in Singapore, from where they are transferred to Myanmar, including for lease payments to the QMG. Any banks involved in the transfer of US denominated funds to the QMG may be at risk of violating sanctions.
Payments to the QMG are made from a US dollar rent reserve account that is jointly controlled by Y Complex Co. Ltd. and YTT. According to the draft Land Lease Agreement between Y Complex Co. Ltd. and YTT, leaked by Distributed Denial of Secrets, the Japanese investors are responsible for transferring US$1.82 million annually into the rent reserve account. These funds are transferred to Myanmar from Yangon Museum Development, and according to the 2020 financial statement, were last remitted in 2019 from Singapore. In reality, Japanese investors may be indirectly paying a greater share of the funds owed to the QMG, through additional payments to YTT that are specified in the Land Lease Agreement.
Fujita Corporation and Tokyo Tatemono both said, “Regarding the Y Complex Project, Tokyo Tatemono considers the safety of the Myanmar people and relevant stakeholders to be the top priority and has suspended the operation of the Project entirely since February 1, 2021. We are seriously concerned about the recent sanctions imposed by the United States and other countries and will continue to monitor the situation, including its possible impact on the Project.”
JOIN said,“As Y Complex Project is a JV project with other private partners, we share the same view with Fujita Corporation.”..."
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Now, Japan Volunteer Center, Justice For Myanmar and Mekong Watch
Date of publication:
2021-12-20
Date of entry/update:
2021-12-20
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Sanctions, Business and the Military, Sanctions - general
Language:
Format :
pdf pdf pdf
Size:
265.36 KB 271.75 KB 1.15 MB
Local URL:
2021-12-20-_Joint PR-Japanese-investors-in-Y-Complex-development-risk-violating-US-sanctions-en.pdf- 2021-12-20-_Joint PR-Japanese-investors-in-Y-Complex-development-risk-violating-US-sanctions-bu.pdf
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Description:
"December 17, 2021, Myanmar: The Myanmar military has commissioned aircraft manufactured in France, Russia and China, during a ceremony held on Wednesday to mark the 74th anniversary of the Myanmar Air Force.
Aircraft include an ATR-72 600, an Airbus Eurocopter, a Y-12, Yak-130s and K-8s.
ATR-72 600s are manufactured in France by ATR, a French-based joint venture between Airbus and Italy’s Leonardo Corporation.
Eurocopters are also manufactured in France by Airbus. Airbus’ corporate headquarters are in the Netherlands.
The aircraft were commissioned by EU sanctioned war criminal and junta leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing as the Myanmar military intensifies its terror campaign following the February brutal and illegal coup attempt. In recent weeks, the junta has carried out indiscriminate airstrikes in Kachin and Shan states and the Sagaing and Magwe regions, killing civilians, destroying property and causing mass displacement. Earlier air raids had also targeted Chin, Karen and Karenni states. These attacks amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Data from ACLED, analysed by Altsean Burma, shows a 632% increase in armed clashes and attacks compared to 2020. Between February 1 and November 26, Myanmar had more armed clashes and attacks than both Yemen and Afghanistan.
The European Union has an arms embargo on Myanmar with a ban on the transfer of dual use goods, although the Myanmar military has a history of bypassing arms controls through their network of private brokers and crony-run airlines.
Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung says: “The French, Dutch and Italian governments must immediately investigate how ATR and Airbus aircraft got into the hands of the terrorist Myanmar military junta. These aircraft will be used by the military to attack civilians and kill children. The fact that the military continues to procure aircraft must be a wakeup call for the European Union, which has not imposed new sanctions on Myanmar since June. That contrasts with the US, UK and Canada, which have targeted entities related to military procurement in the latest round of sanctions. France has a particular responsibility as a permanent member of the UN Security Council and should be leading the push for a global arms embargo on Myanmar. It is unacceptable that the junta is still able to procure European aircraft after the 2017 genocide against the Rohingya, their illegal coup attempt and continued acts of terrorism.”
In addition to European aircraft, the Myanmar military has commissioned K-8 trainer jets, Yak-130 fighter jets and a Y-12 military transport plane.
K-8s and Y-12s are manufactured by subsidiaries of the Chinese state-owned company AVIC. K-8s are produced by AVIC’s Hong Kong listed subsidiary AviChina Industry and Technology Co. Ltd, connecting AviChina investors to AVIC’s complicity in the Myanmar military’s atrocities.
AviChina’s biggest investors include Airbus, Vanguard Group, BlackRock, Dimensional Fund Advisors and the sovereign wealth funds of Australia, New Zealand and Norway.
Yak-130s are manufactured in Russia by the majority state-owned United Aircraft Corporation.
Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung says: “China and Russia are aiding and abetting the junta’s war crimes and crimes against humanity by selling aircraft, profiting from the murder of Myanmar people. The fact that two UN Security Council permanent members with veto power are arming the terrorist military junta explains why the UN’s highest body has utterly failed to take meaningful action on Myanmar. The international community must take action against Russia and China’s complicity in the Myanmar military’s atrocity crimes.
It is alarming that sovereign wealth funds and major international corporations continue to invest in AVIC, despite clear evidence of their complicity in the Myanmar military’s war crimes and crimes against humanity. We demand that shareholders of AVIC immediately divest to end their link to the Myanmar military’s crimes. International partners and suppliers of AVIC and United Aircraft Corporation also have a responsibility to prevent human rights impacts linked to their business relationships. We call on them to cut ties with AVIC and United Aircraft Corporation immediately.”..."
Source/publisher:
Justice For Myanmar
Date of publication:
2021-12-17
Date of entry/update:
2021-12-17
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, UN Security Council, Business and the Military, Sanctions, Sanctions - general
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221.39 KB
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Description:
"Burma Campaign UK today welcomed new targeted sanctions on the Burmese military announced by the UK, USA and Canada.
The new sanctions announced today are:
The Quarter Master General’s Office
The Directorate for Defence Industries
The Directorate for Defence Procurement
The Myanmar War Veterans Organisation
The Myanmar War Veterans Organisation acts as a reserve for the military and has significant economic interests. The others are military bodies responsible for buying and manufacturing arms, Burma Campaign UK has been campaigning for sanctions on these entities.
The British government statement on the new sanctions is available here.
“The British government is doing exactly what is needed, systematically identifying and sanctioning sources of revenue and arms to the military,” said Anna Roberts, Executive Director of Burma Campaign UK. “We would like to see the British government increase the pace of rounds of sanctions, and expand them to areas such as aviation fuel. Military air strikes are being made against civilian targets, causing deaths and injuries, and forcing tens of thousands of people from their homes. This has created a humanitarian crisis.”
Since the military coup on 1st February 2021 more than 1,300 people have been killed, more than 10,000 arrested and nearly 300,000 people have been forced to flee their homes.
Under the previous military dictatorship, sanctions were only introduced every few years in response to new atrocities. This time the British government is implementing sanctions in a much more strategic and effective way. This approach to implementing sanctions will have not only a financial impact on the military but also a psychological impact in letting them, and their business allies, know that the economic pressure will keep increasing.
“Inside Burma, people’s sanctions are cutting revenue to the military, with boycotts of military companies, and people refusing to pay electricity bills,” said Anna Roberts. “It’s right that the international community should join the people of Burma in seeking to cut the flow of money to the military. Liz Truss is showing global leadership in rallying allies to coordinate the implementation of targeted sanctions on the Burmese military.”
Burma Campaign UK also renewed its call for a new round of sanctions from the European Union.
“The European Union is lagging behind, with no new sanctions for almost six months,” said Anna Roberts. “The EU has economic leverage which it isn’t using. The EU must bring in a new round of sanctions and commit to implementing regular rounds of targeted sanctions in the future.”
Absent from sanctions so far are measures to stop hundreds of millions of dollars in gas revenue to the military. French company Total and US company Chevron are both involved in gas projects in Burma and are lobbying against sanctions which force them to stop financing human rights violations.
“Ten months on from the coup, President Biden and President Macron still appear more interested in protecting energy company profits than acting to stop hundreds of millions of dollars of gas revenue financing the Burmese military,” said Anna Roberts.
The Burmese military has been unable to consolidate the military coup, and is facing peaceful protests, boycotts and armed resistance every day. Today millions of people joined a nationwide silent strike, leaving city streets empty across the country. Military defectors report plummeting morale. It is vital that the British government and others do everything they can to cut the flow of arms and money to the military, deny them the legitimacy they crave, and hold them to account for the violations of international law they have committed..."
Source/publisher:
"Burma Campaign UK" (London)
Date of publication:
2021-12-10
Date of entry/update:
2021-12-10
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
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Sub-title:
The UK announced new sanctions against the Myanmar military for their continued suppression of the civilian population and for serious human rights violations.
Description:
"on International Human Rights Day, the UK announces new sanctions against the Myanmar military for their role in serious human rights violations against civilians
sanctions made in coordination with US and Canada
the UK has also sanctioned a former commander in the terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, who helped orchestrate a 2017 bombing in Pakistan
The UK has today (10 December 2021) announced new sanctions against the Myanmar military for their continued suppression of the civilian population and for serious human rights violations.
The sanctions, announced alongside the US and Canada, demonstrate the UK’s staunch commitment to hold Myanmar’s military accountable for human rights violations and our resolve to act, together with our partners, to limit its access to arms, equipment and funding.
The UK has also sanctioned Furqan Bangalzai, a former commander in the terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, who helped orchestrate the 2017 bombing of the Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine in Pakistan. Designating Bangalzai for his role in the attack, in which more than 70 Sufi worshipers were killed, reinforces the UK’s commitment to defending religious freedom where minority faith groups face persecution.
Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister of State for South Asia, the UN, and the Commonwealth and the Prime Minister’s Special Representative on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict said:
The sanctions made today target some of the most callous violations and abuses of human rights, including cases where civilians suffer unrelenting state repression and worshippers have been targeted and killed for their religious beliefs.
The UK will always be a fierce champion of human rights and we will work with our fellow democracies and partners, as a network of liberty, to hold to account those who deny these fundamental freedoms.
The UK will impose travel bans and asset freezes pursuant to the Global Human Rights Sanctions Regulations 2020 and the Myanmar (Sanctions) Regulations 2021 respectively on those involved in serious human rights violations or abuses and those responsible for undermining fundamental rights and liberties.
The designations made under the Myanmar (Sanctions) Regulations 2021 are:
the Quarter Master General’s Office, which plays a crucial role in procuring equipment for the Myanmar Armed Forces and is responsible for overseeing a campaign of violence and human rights violations across Myanmar
the Directorate for Defence Industries, a state-owned enterprise that has manufactured weapons and technology used by the Myanmar military
the Directorate for Defence Procurement, responsible for buying arms from abroad used by the Myanmar military to undermine democracy and violate fundamental rights of the civilian population
the Myanmar War Veterans Organisation, a quasi-reserve force for the Myanmar military which has publicly supported the military’s undermining of democracy, violation of human rights, and repression of the civilian population
The individual designated under the Global Human Rights Sanctions regime today is:
Furqan Bangalzai, a former commander in the terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, for his role in the 2017 bombing of the Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine in Sehwan, Pakistan which killed 70 people
Today’s announcement ensures this individual cannot freely travel to the UK, channel money through UK banks or profit from the UK economy..."
Source/publisher:
Govt. UK (London)
Date of publication:
2021-12-10
Date of entry/update:
2021-12-10
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Sanctions, Business and the Military, Sanctions - general
Language:
more
Description:
"November 24, 2021, Myanmar: Indian publicly listed jewellery company Vaibhav Global Limited is continuing to trade in Myanmar gems, despite the illegal February 1 attempted military coup and US, EU and UK sanctions against state-owned Myanma Gems Enterprise (MGE), which is now under military control. Through MGE, the Myanmar military receives a share of revenue from all gemstones sold.
Vaibhav Global sells jewellery with Myanmar gems via major online retailers including Amazon and Overstock, as well as its own website and TV channel, The Jewellery Channel. In the US, Vaibhav Global also sells loose rubies from Mogok and Mong Shu, Myanmar, but list the country of origin as “India”.
A ban on Myanmar origin gems is urgently needed to stop the trade. Section 203 of the Burma Act of 2021, introduced in October and currently before Congress, authorises the prohibition of all US imports of Myanmar gemstones. Justice For Myanmar urges members of Congress to stand with the people of Myanmar by passing the Burma Act and prohibit imports of Myanmar gemstones.
Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung says: “It is unacceptable that over six months since sanctions were imposed on MGE, companies are openly trading Myanmar gems in the US and other jurisdictions. This is a slap in the face of the Myanmar people, who are being subjected to immense suffering at the hands of the terrorist military junta. The US Government needs to do more, including imposing a total ban on the import of Myanmar gemstones and sanctioning Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise. We also call on other international governments to urgently impose targeted sanctions that will stop the flow of funds to the Myanmar military, which finance its campaign of terror. We appeal to members of the US Congress to swiftly pass the Burma Act and ban all imports of Myanmar gemstones. Vaibhav Global investors also must act in accordance with their obligations under the OECD Guidelines. If Vaibhav Global does not stop trading in Myanmar gems, shareholders must divest. These gems are stained with the blood of the people of Myanmar. US consumers have power to act. Boycott Myanmar gems and demand businesses like Amazon and Overstock stop selling these blood-stained products.”
According to filings, Vaibhav Global’s institutional shareholders include The Vanguard Group, Dimensional Fund Advisors, State Street Global Advisors, BlackRock and the Florida State Board of Administration, all based in the US. The USA is Vaibhav Global’s biggest market, with 2021 financial year revenue at US$234.9 million, according to its latest annual report..."
Source/publisher:
Justice For Myanmar
Date of publication:
2021-11-24
Date of entry/update:
2021-11-24
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
215.05 KB
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Description:
"Over the eight months since the attempted military coup began, the situation in Myanmar
has continued to deteriorate. The National Unity Government (NUG) supports responsible
business investment that contributes to national development and respects the human rights
of Myanmar citizens. However, given the atrocities and human rights violations committed
by the illegitimate military junta on the people of Myanmar, the NUG also recognises that the
situation is such that it is now very difficult for foreign firms to operate responsibly in
Myanmar. In particular, NUG declared as a terrorist organization, to the SAC that pays no
respect to the rule of law, harms people and refuses to recognise the democratically elected
representatives of the Myanmar people. So foreign firms must not provide assistance,
support and communicate through their business activities to SAC.
To assist the international community and investors, the Ministry of Planning. Finance and
Investment (MoPFI) of the NUG published a 3 Pillar Framework Guiding Responsible
Investment and Continued Operations.1 This Framework recognises the contributions made
by investors to the economic and social development of Myanmar, and commits to protecting
investor interests in accordance with the rule of law. Under the Framework, the NUG calls on
business to
1. take every possible step to promote human rights
2. eliminate business interactions that support to the military junta's acts of terrorism
and sustain the military junta.
3. promote employee welfare and safety.
4. The NUG maintains that our first and foremost principle is to separate the military
from the economy. We want no military ownership or military-run businesses in the
Myanmar economy. For this reason, our call for sanctions focuses on military-owned
and military-linked businesses, entities, and individuals in order to starve the military
junta of income and to subject the military to full civilian control. The junta must not
be provided with access to funds that allow the generals to enrich themselves at the
expense of the Myanmar people and to continue their acts of terrorism against the
people of Myanmar.
Why sanctions and why is an NUG policy on sanctions needed?
The NUG would like the international community to know the NUG's stance on sanctions
against the military junta.
Currently, Myanmar finds itself facing multiple, simultaneous crises - an attempted coup and
a continuing people's revolution in response, ongoing atrocities including crimes against
humanity and possibly genocide, economic collapse, and a Covid-19 third wave that the
military junta has weaponised to eliminate political opponents. There is also a high possibility
of a fourth wave of Covid-19. Taken together, our country is on the brink of a humanitarian
catastrophe not seen in the region for the past half-century. The NUG would like to request ongoing aid from international donors and aid to be responsibly delivered bypassing the
military and its associates.
The NUG calls on the international community to implement stronger, tougher and
coordinated measures targeting the military's economic interests, in line with the findings of
the report of the UN Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar. We are much encouraged by
sanctions so far imposed on the military-owned companies, individuals and other military
interests by some States but these measures need to be adopted by a larger number of
nations and strengthened to maximize their impact.
Beyond the military-owned conglomerates (Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited (MEHL) and
Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC)) which have been sanctioned by some members of
the international community, there is a need to broaden sanctions to a wider number of
enterprises that have fallen under the control of the military junta since the coup. Only
broadening sanctions in this way will have a real impact on the military's income streams.
Sanctions should be imposed on state-owned enterprises that are now under military
control)2 At the foremost of the sanctions regime, as well as MEHL and MEC, should be the
Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), a Myanmar state-owned economic enterprise now
under military control. MOGE is the military's most important financial lifeline - one of a
handful of stable, predictable sources of finance used to procure weapons, surveillance
technologies and jet fuel. The military does not use the lucrative revenues from the oil and
gas sector for the benefit of the people of Myanmar, instead it uses the revenue to fund its
war against the civilian population. Therefore, it is extremely important and urgent to
sanction MOGE, a demand of the Myanmar people to the international community which is
yet to be answered.
In this instance, the NUG outlines below the sanctions measures where it calls for urgent
action:
The following business entities should be sanctioned:
• All state-owned enterprises now under the control of the junta, including MOGE;
• All businesses owned or controlled by or associated with the junta, especially MEHL
and MEC;
• All private businesses owned by individual members of the junta or by senior military
officers;
• All of the military's business partners and associates assisting the junta, including
private sector firms owned by individuals that are known 'cronies' of the military.
All payments, including taxes, dividends, profits and rents, that provide income to the junta
should be stopped.
Intent on targeting the military's economic interest, the sectors on which the NUG wants
the international community to impose sanctions are shown below in their priority order:
1. First priority: Oil and gas. This is because oil and gas companies provide a large and
steady stream of revenue to the junta.
2. Second priority: Mining. This is because the military has a large share of the mining
sector and profits directly flow to the military and their corrupt associates.
3. Third priority: Banking. Sanctioning international banks to prevent transactions
involving the Myanmar military will hurt the military's ability to buy weapons and also
to misappropriate the country's revenues for their personal gain.
What does the NUG want investors to do?
• Suspend all the business that are contributing to the military junta's acts of crimes
against humanity and cut off all the finance in any forms which are helping the military
acts of terrorism;
• Suspend all business dealings with all state-owned enterprises, including joint
ventures with state-owned enterprises;
• Suspend all business ventures with the military-owned or controlled holding
companies, including MEHL and MEC;
• Suspend all payments that provide income to the junta or to the military and instead
place owed funds into a third party account that cannot be accessed by the junta;
• Suspend all outstanding loans to Business Holdings Limited;
• Do not co-operate with the businesses owned by members of the junta or of the senior
military leadership or their families. Cancel the partnership if currently in business
with them;
• Do not co operate or do business with private sector firms owned by individuals that
are known 'cronies' of the military;
• Prohibit entry of members of the junta or of the senior military leadership and their
allies to other countries;
Responsible business operations and departure from Myanmar
In the event of businesses exiting Myanmar to relocate to another country and/or closing
down in Myanmar, the businesses must pay proper compensation to workers. However, the
NUG would like to remind that all business are Instructed NOT to pay any tax or provide any
income to the military regime of Myanmar. If it is not possible to avoid payment to the
military, then the only option is to suspend the business operation until democracy is fully
restored in Myanmar. In the case of exit from Myanmar and sale of an existing business, NUG
expects the investors to be vigilant and to conduct human rights due diligence, in line with
the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, to verify responsible business
conduct of the would-be buyer. It is vital that businesses are not sold to irresponsible buyers,
including companies implicated in human rights abuses or associated with the military junta,
as this would only exacerbate what is already a dire situation in Myanmar.
Overall, all businesses must conduct heightened human rights due diligence and be vigilant
to avoid working with a local business partner that is connected to the illegal military junta.
Under those circumstances, where there is a clear investment nexus, investors could be
culpable for indirectly providing support to the military junta that is violating the human rights
of the people of Myanmar. International investors should also carefully examine their own
business and human rights policies and, if their presence in Myanmar is in conflict with their
own principles and policies, they should consider responsible exit..."
Source/publisher:
National Unity Government of Myanmar
Date of publication:
2021-11-09
Date of entry/update:
2021-11-10
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), Business and the Military, Sanctions, Sanctions - general
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"October 28, 2021: The Australian Centre for International Justice, Justice For Myanmar and Stop Adani cautiously welcome Adani Ports’ plans to divest from their Myanmar container port business, which is a testament to grassroots campaigns for corporate accountability in Myanmar and Australia, and the work of the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar (FFM).
The groups say Adani Ports’ decision to withdraw from the project shows that the Adani Group can walk away from projects that are breaching human rights and have renewed calls for Adani to shelve its controversial Carmichael coal mine in Australia that is opposed by Traditional Owners, the Wangan and Jagalingou people. Traditional Owners have this week called for urgent intervention from the Queensland government to protect a significant cultural site that Adani is preparing to clear for its coal mine. Earlier this month Queensland Police refused Adani’s requests to remove Traditional Owners occupying Adani’s Carmichael mine site and acknowledged their cultural rights under the Queensland Human Rights Act.
The port project is a partnership with Myanmar military conglomerate Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC) under a build-operate-transfer deal, which made Adani Ports complicit in ongoing atrocities. Adani Ports’ deal with MEC came after the Myanmar military’s 2017 campaign of genocide against the Rohingya and was identified by the FFM 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 JFM published Port of Complicity, a report into Adani Ports’ business in Myanmar that included new evidence of payments to the MEC and the company’s direct relationship with Senior General 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, Adani Ports disclosed that they had paid US$90 million to MEC.
In August, 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.
Adani Ports’ business dealings in Myanmar and Australia have severely damaged the company’s reputation. In April, 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.
Adani’s decision to divest comes amid increasing troop reinforcements and attacks against people in Sagaing and Magway Regions and Chin State in north-western Myanmar and as the UN reports fears of a spike in atrocities. As the military increases their campaign of terror, businesses and their investors must ensure that they are not complicit in financing the Myanmar military’s grave crimes.
Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung says:
“Adani Ports’ plan to divest shows community and investor pressure works. Business with the terrorist Myanmar military does not pay. Adani Ports should never have gone into business with MEC, knowing they would be complicit in the Myanmar military’s atrocities. Adani Ports must now find a way to exit responsibly by mitigating the impact on their Myanmar workers and recovering what they can of their $90 million payment to MEC so they do not leave a windfall for the terrorist Myanmar military. Contractors on the port, including ITD Cementation India and Singapore firms HSL Constructor Pte Ltd and Asia Infrastructure Ptd Ltd must also ensure they cut all ties with the Myanmar military. Continuing work to develop the port creates an asset that the Myanmar military will use to further finance their campaign of terror.
While we recognise that Adani Ports has finally made the right call in Myanmar, Adani Group continues to do harm to the climate and communities elsewhere. We stand in solidarity with First Nations people, the Wangan & Jagalingou and all Australians in opposing Adani’s destructive Carmichael mine project.”
Rawan Arraf, Executive Director at the Australian Centre for International Justice said:
“We welcome the decision by Adani Ports to disengage from their deeply flawed investment in Myanmar. It was untenable for Adani Ports to maintain business with a sanctioned entity and after sustained pressure from the public and investors. It is a testament to the coordinated work of activists in Myanmar who were joined by campaigners in Australia and abroad to expose its dealings in Myanmar. For years, Adani Ports ignored the clear and direct public warnings before and after it entered into business in Myanmar.
It is positive that Adani Ports has shown an apparent willingness to engage in human rights due diligence obligations by divesting from Myanmar. However, there are massive failings connected to the Adani Group’s operations in India and Carmichael that it must reconcile. The impacts on the human rights of the Traditional Owners, the Wangan & Jagalingou are severe, they face destruction of their sacred places and cultural heritage. Adani Group companies must respect the rights of the Wangan & Jagalingou people and shelve its destructive Carmichael coal mine.”
Pablo Brait, Campaigner, Market Forces said:
“Adani finally announcing that it will walk away from its business with the Myanmar military shows that with enough pressure it can be convinced to do the right thing. The next project it needs to walk away from is the climate-wrecking Carmichael thermal coal mine. Building a new coal mine at a time when coal use needs to be urgently phased out sabotages efforts to limit global warming.”..."
Source/publisher:
Australian Centre for International Justice, Justice For Myanmar, Market Forces and Stop Adani
Date of publication:
2021-10-28
Date of entry/update:
2021-10-28
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Individual Documents
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"October 20, 2021: A legal memorandum from leading international barrister Felicity Gerry QC found that international law and guidance places due diligence obligations on the Singapore Exchange (SGX), and possible liability on the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Singapore Government, in relation to companies doing business with the Myanmar military.
The legal memo found 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.
Legal remedies would be “easily pursued and enforced” against SGX if the Myanmar military’s financial organs are found to be in breach of international laws and/or compliance regulations including international human rights and humanitarian law.
The legal memo authored by Felicity Gerry QC, counsel on the list at the International Criminal Court and at the Bar of England and Wales and Victoria, Australia, and Daye Gang, also of the Victorian Bar in Australia, focussed on the listing of Emerging Towns & Cities Singapore (ETC), the developer of the Golden City complex, under a build-operate-transfer agreement with the Myanmar Army’s Quartermaster General’s Office (QMGO). The memo was written at the request of the Australian Centre for International Justice and Justice For Myanmar.
In February, SGX initiated regulatory actions against ETC after Justice For Myanmar published an investigation into payments to the Myanmar army, implicating funds raised on the SGX. ETC has commissioned two independent reviews: one by Nexia TS Advisory into contractual payments to the QMGO and fundraising; and another by Kelvin Chia Partnership into the applicability of sanctions and compliance with “applicable laws”.
However, the legal memorandum finds these reviews may not address international law risks in light of the 2019 UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar (FFMM) report into the Myanmar military’s economic interests, and ongoing atrocity crimes.
The legal memo also raised the possibility of reputational and sanctions risks for the SGX, its regulator the Monetary Authority of Singapore, and by extension, the Singapore Government, should it not prevent continued payments from ETC to the Myanmar army.
Yadanar Maung, Justice For Myanmar spokesperson:
“This legal memorandum raises urgent questions for SGX and the Singapore government. As the memo points out, Singapore has been the largest foreign investor in Myanmar. ETC is just one of many Singapore companies that have commercial ties to the Myanmar military junta and its conglomerates. The memo shows that there could be serious legal consequences for Singapore authorities if they continue to turn a blind eye to the complicity of Singapore companies in the Myanmar military’s atrocity crimes. We welcome SGX’s regulatory actions against ETC and appeal to SGX and MAS to stop ETC’s payments to the Myanmar army. The Singapore government must end the use of its territory as a base for business with the criminal Myanmar military.”
Rawan Arraf, Executive Director at the Australian Centre for International Justice:
“This wide-ranging legal memorandum demonstrates the necessity for the Singapore Exchange and Singaporean authorities to seriously examine their obligations under international law, to include global governance compliance. As part of their examination of the issues, consideration must be made to providing effective redress to those that may have been harmed by business with the Myanmar military. More broadly, businesses operating in Myanmar need to undertake their due-diligence obligations broadly and seriously, and to ensure they promptly end all commercial ties with the Myanmar military and its business interests.”
According to the memo, potential international law issues arising from ETC’s continued listing on the SGX include:
● state and corporate responsibility under the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights;
● due diligence risks associated with the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises;
● supply chains and modern slavery;
● state responsibility for internationally wrongful acts;
● implications arising out of the Singapore-Myanmar bilateral investment treaty;
● commercial liability risks in relation to genocide, construction contracts, torts and land disputes;
● criminal liability risks in relation to atrocities, the crime of genocide, human trafficking, terrorist financing and money laundering;
● international sanctions risks;
● risks arising out of applying bribery, corruption legal frameworks
● potential risks of breaches of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, of which Singapore is a signatory; and
● breaches of international humanitarian law.
The legal memo was published today by ACIJ and Justice For Myanmar, and has been sent to Singapore Exchange Limited, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, Emerging Towns and Cities Singapore Limited and ETC’s sponsor, RHT Capital Pte. Ltd..."
Source/publisher:
Justice For Myanmar
Date of publication:
2021-10-20
Date of entry/update:
2021-10-20
Grouping:
Individual Documents
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275.56 KB
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"October 18, 2021, Myanmar: A leaked November 2020 Myanmar army procurement document shows attempts to procure parts for tactical radios from Barrett Communications, an Australian defence firm that has been selling equipment to Myanmar for almost twenty years.
The army’s request specifies handsets, battery packs, display modules, internal modems, antenna tuning units and power amplifier interfaces for Barrett’s PRC-2090 manpack. According to the Barrett Communications website, a feature of the unit is frequency hopping, which is a prohibited export under Australia’s sanctions regime on Myanmar. The company told Justice For Myanmar that frequency hopping is not a standard item on the PRC-2090.
Barrett Communications disclosed to Justice For Myanmar that their last sale to Myanmar was in 2017, with Australian government authorisation. The company would not provide further details, stating that "all business transactions are commercial in confidence." 2017 is the year that the military launched a campaign of genocide against the Rohingya.
A spokesperson for Barrett Communications acknowledged that PRC-2090 parts could have been sold to the Myanmar military by third party sellers without authorisation from Barrett Communications.
Justice For Myanmar found that Barrett radios are also deployed in military airports and airports with heavy military traffic. In addition to Barrett equipment, Myanmar has also procured radios from Codan Limited for use in airports and the army may have received ultra-long range telemetry radio modems from RFDesign Pty Ltd. Codan and RFDesign are also Australian companies.
Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung says: “We are appalled that the Myanmar military is using Australian technology for troop communications and air force operations. It has been known for over a decade that Barrett Communications provides advanced technology to the Myanmar military, an organisation that has committed genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity against the people of Myanmar for decades with total impunity. Why then is the Australian government allowing this equipment to be sold to this terrorist organisation, which is waging a war against the Myanmar people? We want to know if the Australian government is complicit by approving these exports. If Barrett Communications is breaching Australia’s export controls, then they must be held accountable by law. It is appalling that successive Australian governments have courted the military and are now giving the junta a free pass, not even sanctioning coup leader and war criminal Min Aung Hlaing. Australia needs to immediately strengthen and reinforce its arms control regime to ensure that no more equipment is transferred to the Myanmar junta.”
Codan Ltd and RFDesign did not respond to a request from Justice For Myanmar for an explanation of their business with Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
Justice For Myanmar
Date of publication:
2021-10-18
Date of entry/update:
2021-10-18
Grouping:
Individual Documents
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202.37 KB 109.55 KB
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"Sep. 27, 2021, Myanmar: Htoo Group of Companies (HGC) is a major crony conglomerate with deep ties to the Myanmar military. On September 2, 2021, the UK government imposed targeted sanctions against HGC and its chairperson, Tay Za, citing the group’s provision of financial support and arms to the Myanmar military. HGC responded with a press release on September 6, 2021, stating that they disagree with the sanctions designation and advised that they are seeking clarification “as there is no actionable data or detailed information”.
To advocate for further sanctions against Tay Za and HGC, and to support sanctions enforcement, Justice For Myanmar has published data on Tay Za’s business network and links to the Myanmar military and its junta. This includes a leaked meeting note sheet on business between the Myanmar Air Force and Yangon Aircraft Engineering Company Limited that provides further evidence of Tay Za’s involvement in the arms trade, as well as a spreadsheet detailing 131 directors and shareholders of 60 HGC subsidiaries and associated businesses.
Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung says: “Tay Za and his network are close and longstanding business partners of the Myanmar military and have built immense wealth from the military’s systemic corruption. They stand complicit in the military’s ongoing atrocity crimes through their business with the junta and its conglomerates, including concessions, a joint venture, land leases and the sale of arms and related services. The illegitimate military junta is continuing its campaign of terror across Myanmar, murdering more than 1,100 and arresting more than 8,000 including children, committing torture, sexual violence, mass killings, looting and destroying properties, attacking medical workers and blocking humanitarian aid. Over 250,000 people have been forced to flee from the junta’s indiscriminate aerial assaults, shelling and mortar attacks and ground clearance operations in ethnic areas. These international crimes are enabled by Htoo Group and other crony conglomerates. We demand the international community act now to impose further sanctions against Tay Za, his family members and their businesses, as well as all other business associates of the Myanmar military. The international community must act to support the Myanmar people’s struggle for federal democracy and send a clear message that the criminal conduct of the military junta and its cronies will no longer be tolerated.”
Note to editors
See Justice For Myanmar’s page on Htoo Group and its business with the Myanmar military: www.justiceformyanmar.org/stories/htoo-groups-business-with-the-myanmar-military
See Justice For Myanmar’s list of military-owned businesses, directors and significant business associates that require targeted international sanctions here: www.justiceformyanmar.org/stories/myanmar-military-controlled-businesses-associates-that-require-targeted-sanctions
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
Date of publication:
2021-09-27
Date of entry/update:
2021-09-27
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Business and the Military, Sanctions, Sanctions - general
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178.41 KB 98.3 KB
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"Myanmar’s military regime will auction off 12,500 tons of hardwood on September 16 and 30 as it seeks to raise hard currency to fund its coup.
Myanma Timber Enterprise, the state-run entity which controls Myanmar’s timber sales, said the timber for sale includes 1,500 tons of teak logs and 1,000 tons of sawn teak. The auction will be held in Yangon’s Insein Township with buyers bidding online.
In May, the junta held three separate auctions at which nearly 10,300 tons of timber were sold for around US$5 million, followed by another auction in June of more than 14,000 tons of timber.
The wood sold in May and June reportedly came from a stockpile of 200,000 tons of illegally-harvested timber seized by the now-ousted National League for Democracy government.
The UK and US-based Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) said in a statement in May that the military regime is seeking an injection of hard currency by selling off thousands of tons of illegal timber to international markets.
Faith Doherty, EIA Forests Campaigns Leader, said, “Why would this state enterprise do this, other than to obtain desperately-needed hard currency to continue the junta’s brutal persecution of the people of Myanmar”.
Since the February 1 coup, the US, Canada, EU and Britain have sanctioned the regime’s resources and environmental conservation minister, U Khin Maung Yi, as well as other relevant individuals in Myanmar, to prevent the junta from exploiting the country’s resources.
However, twenty-seven Italian timber traders imported teak into the EU from Myanmar despite clear regulations, in the form of the EU Timber Regulation, which prohibit such imports, said the EIA in a September 1 report. The Italian traders imported wood worth between US$1.5 million and US$1.77 million from Myanmar between March and May this year.
“By continuing the trade, these companies are effectively supporting the military junta and its brutal repression of the Myanmar people as well as the destruction of the country’s forests,” said the EIA’s Doherty.
The parallel National Unity government has warned that it will blacklist any bidder and government staff involved in the junta’s timber auctions..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of publication:
2021-09-10
Date of entry/update:
2021-09-12
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Illegal Economy - general, Sanctions, Business and the Military, Sanctions - general, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
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Sub-title:
The 57-year-old has supplied the military with weapons and financial aid, Britain's foreign office said
Description:
"The UK government on Thursday announced new sanctions against Myanmar tycoon Tay Za and his businesses for providing arms and financial support to the military.
Tay Za owns the Htoo Group of Companies and his business empire includes banks, airlines and hotels. The 57-year-old is one of the richest people in the country. He helped supply arms to the former junta led by Than Shwe and is infamous for his illegal logging activities.
Britain’s government said it will freeze all assets held by Tay Za and his companies and ban him from entering the country. The sanctions will also prevent others from providing funds or economic resources to the tycoon.
A UN fact finding mission in 2019 said that Tay Za helped to fund the 2017 military campaign against the Rohingya, which has been labelled genocide.
“U Tay Za is associated with the military through his extensive links with the former and current junta regimes and has provided support for serious human rights violations in his role in assisting the military to procure arms,” the UK’s foeign office said in its statement.
British foreign secretary Dominic Raab said the new sanctions came as “the military junta has shown no signs of halting its brutal attack on the people of Myanmar.”
“The UK will continue to restrict the junta’s access to finance and the supply of arms used to kill innocents, including children, and target those who support the junta’s actions,” he added.
The UK has imposed several rounds of sanctions since the coup, targeting top military officials, the military’s business interests, and members of the coup regime..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2021-09-02
Date of entry/update:
2021-09-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
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Sub-title:
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab announces new sanctions against U Tay Za and Htoo Group of Companies.
Description:
"these sanctions target a key business associate of the military junta, and his network of companies for providing financial support and arms to the military
this move follows sanctions on senior Myanmar military officers and their associated businesses following February’s military coup
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has announced new sanctions today against Myanmar businessman U Tay Za and his business empire Htoo Group.
Htoo Group of Companies, of which U Tay Za is the founder and chairman, is a large business network that operates across the region, which contributed funds to the 2017 Rohingya clearance operations in Rakhine. U Tay Za is associated with the military through his extensive links with the former and current junta regimes and has provided support for serious human rights violations in his role in assisting the military to procure arms.
These sanctions make clear that the UK will take concrete measures to limit the junta’s access to finance and economic resources, including by targeting business networks associated with the military regime.
Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab, said:
The military junta has shown no signs of halting its brutal attack on the people of Myanmar.
Along with our partners, the UK will continue to restrict the junta’s access to finance and the supply of arms used to kill innocents, including children, and target those who support the junta’s actions.
Enforced with immediate effect, sanctions will freeze all UK assets held by Htoo Group and U Tay Za, as well as banning the business tycoon from entering the UK. Sanctions will also block others from providing funds or economic resources to both those designated.
These sanctions follow recent efforts to ensure that the supply of arms to Myanmar is halted, and follow on from the Communiqué the UK secured at the G7 Foreign and Development Ministers’ Meeting, that committed members to prevent the supply of arms and technical assistance to the military. In addition, on 18 June, the UK worked with partners to deliver a UN General Assembly Resolution which urged member states to prevent the flow of arms to Myanmar.
Under the UK’s presidency the G7 continues to call for a return to democracy, an end to the violence and the immediate adoption of the ASEAN 5-point consensus, including the release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners..."
Source/publisher:
Govt. UK (London)
Date of publication:
2021-09-02
Date of entry/update:
2021-09-02
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
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Description:
"As the Tatmadaw, Myanmar’s military, appears to be consolidating its grip on power, at least in the capital Naypyitaw, the debate over whether sanctions or engagement would be the best way to influence the generals has once again begun. There is, however, a simple answer to that question: neither is effective. Myanmar’s military rulers have always had their own agenda and don’t listen to people outside their own inner circle, regardless of what outsiders say or do. Attempts to understand the Tatmadaw by using as yardsticks the standards of modern Western militaries such as conventional command structures, promotions, equipment, orders of battle and deployment is equally fruitless.
The way the Tatmadaw works and functions can best be described as feudal and deeply rooted in traditional authoritarian values where the king was God. The supreme ruler demands and rewards loyalty and disowns and punishes those who dare to be different—and this is the system that was introduced by General Ne Win when he built up the Tatmadaw in the 1950s and created a state within a state, which in 1962 seized absolute power.
Ne Win stepped aside in 1989 and died in 2002 but the system lived on under Senior General Than Shwe, supreme ruler from 1992 to 2011. Than Shwe even changed the stated purpose of celebrating March 27, which in the past was called Resistance Day and meant to commemorate the day in 1945 when the Myanmar military, armed and equipped by the Japanese, turned against their former masters. Now, in the new, monumental capital Naypyitaw created by Than Shwe, there stands an enormous statue of the three main warrior kings in Myanmar history: Anawratha, Bayinnaung and Alaungpaya. Tributes to them and their virtues have replaced references to the anti-Japanese struggle, which may still be mentioned but only in passing.
But he is now 88 years old, has been hospitalized with COVID-19 and may not be around for much longer. That means that Myanmar right now is at a crossroads. Although Than Shwe retired from active duties after the 2010 election, he has remained a father figure for the military and when he is gone there is no obvious candidate for the role as the next King of the Tatmadaw.
The new junta leader, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, is perceived by many as weak, and lacks charisma as well as leadership qualities. As a Yangon-based Myanmar analyst put it: “He doesn’t have the political stature of General Ne Win, the military manpower of General Than Shwe or the wiliness of both.” The future of military rule is therefore up for debate and that is where the question of sanctions versus engagement comes into the picture.
Sanctions and boycotts serve a purpose when it comes to rallying support for Myanmar’s democratic forces, which is important in order to keep the movement alive and prepare for possible future scenarios, but recent history shows that such measures have so far had zero impact on how the Tatmadaw as an institution acts and thinks. The views of those in the West who advocate engagement actually reflect what amounts to a blatant neo-colonial attitude or, as I wrote in The Irrawaddy on June 11, 2015, words to the effect of: “We have to go and tell those funny little brown fellows how to run their country, and, because we are big and clever white guys, surely they will listen to us.” It is, however, easy to image what the generals’ reaction is when they receive those Western proponents of engagement: “Those myaukpyu [white monkeys] are sort of amusing. But they are not very clever. So let’s use them.” Or words to that effect.
The third way, some Western diplomats and academics argue, is to apply a carrot-and-a-stick policy with punishments such as sanctions when the Tatmadaw behaves badly, and rewards in the form of aid and investment if the generals take some positive steps such as allowing more openness and demonstrate a willingness to negotiate a peaceful solution to the country’s decades-long civil wars. But, as one analyst put it: “That would work only if you are dealing with a donkey or a rabbit.” Josef Silverstein, a renowned Myanmar scholar who died on June 29 this year, once said: “If you offer them [the generals] a carrot, they will just eat it and ask for another one.”
Proponents of engagement have always underestimated the manipulative skills of the Tatmadaw and failed to realize that using military officers as intermediaries in the belief that their Myanmar counterparts would be more willing to listen to them than to civilians does not work. This was clearly demonstrated when Vice-Admiral David Johnston, vice chief of the Australian Defense Force, rang Vice-Senior General Soe Win, number two in the junta, or State Administration Council (SAC), to press for the release of Sean Turnell, an Australian academic and economic adviser to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s ousted government who was detained after the coup. Johnston also said that he urged the Tatmadaw not to use force against the protesters who were then filling the streets of Yangon and practically every city, town and major village in the country. But in Myanmar’s military-controlled media, the talk was described as a friendly discussion between two equals, thus appearing to be an endorsement of the coup.
When the European Union’s military chief of staff, Vice-Admiral Hervé Bléjean, called on Soe Win on March 9 to urge the Tatmadaw to stop all violence and release the country’s democratically elected leaders, the official media reported that they had discussed the SAC’s efforts to establish “community peace and the rule of law.” Myanmar analyst Ye Myo Hein pointed out succinctly in The Irrawaddy on Aug. 13: “Constructive engagement with the military by Western democracies did not transform the military into a professional organization, but instead and inadvertently emboldened and legitimized its leadership to do whatever they wished.”
Calls for engagement can also be outright distasteful and lacking in respect for the victims of the Tatmadaw. Erik Solheim, a Norwegian politician and former development minister who became a controversial figure when he unsuccessfully tried to mediate in the Tamil-Sinhalese conflict in Sri Lanka, wrote in the Norwegian journal Bistandsaktuellt on March 15 that the best way to honor Kyal Sin or “the Angel”, a 19-year-old demonstrator in Mandalay who was shot and killed by a sniper, would be through engagement and investment. Solheim asserted that the Norwegian telecom giant “Telenor is more important than the [UN] Security Council.” That, of course, was before Telenor in July sold all its businesses to a Lebanese company because it was too difficult to operate in SAC-ruled Myanmar. Telenor’s Sigve Brekke told Reuters after the pull-out: “There are three reasons why we think a sale is necessary: it is the safety of our employees, but also the regulatory conditions and also that there is good compliance.”
Sanctions, smart or otherwise, will remain ineffective for two major reasons. The first, which is also mostly overlooked, is the size of Myanmar’s parallel, or greyish-black, economy, which does not show up in any official statistics, and then the fact that countries such as China, Russia, Thailand, India, Malaysia, Vietnam and Singapore—Myanmar’s main trading partners—are happy to continue dealing with whoever is in power in Naypyitaw. Actually, most of them would prefer to deal with a military-run Myanmar than a democratic, transparent and accountable system where the authorities may have the audacity to clamp down on corruption and other malpractices.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in a speech at a forum at Tsinghua University on July 3 that the international community should refrain from imposing sanctions on the SAC, branding such actions as “inappropriate intervention.” Russia, another SAC ally, said as early as April 6 that sanctions against the SAC were futile and extremely dangerous. “In fact, such a line contributes to pitting the sides against each other and, ultimately, pushes the people of Myanmar towards a full-scale civil conflict,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said, as quoted by the Interfax news agency and reported by Reuters.
Russia and China, both permanent members of the UN Security Council, have consistently vetoed any attempt by other members to get the world body to take action against the SAC. China was also for years the Tatmadaw’s main source for military hardware and Myanmar has long been a buyer of Russian fighter jets, helicopters, drones and anti-aircraft missile systems.
And then there is the underground economy, which has kept Myanmar alive throughout rigid socialist policies before 1988 and sanctions and boycotts after that and until the West changed its policies in the aftermath of the 2010 election and the formation of a quasi-civilian government led by ex-General Thein Sein. Drugs, precious stones, timber, antiques and other artifacts have always been smuggled out of the country while assorted consumer goods have traveled in the other direction from countries such as China, India, Thailand and Singapore. The exact value of this informal—and illegal—trade is not known but runs into millions if not billions of dollars.
With an inadequate and largely untrustworthy banking system, many people in Myanmar prefer to utilize the services of dealers in what is called “hundies”, which in the Indian Subcontinent and the Middle East is known as “hawala”. Through this system, money is transferred via a network of private brokers, leaving no paper trail that any authorities can track down and follow. In short, Myanmar will, as it always has done, survive another round of punitive measures imposed by the West.
All that does not mean that change is never going to come to Myanmar—but it would have to come from within the Tatmadaw. And even the officer corps must realize through their Buddhist belief in anicca that nothing is permanent.
The possibility of splits within the military is usually dismissed by most foreign observers as unlikely because of the remarkable cohesion among officers that exists in the officer corps and their loyalty towards the supreme leader. While that is correct, Australian Myanmar expert Andrew Selth pointed out in a Feb. 19 article for the Lowy Institute, a Sydney-based think tank, that the highly unpopular coup will test the loyalty of military and police officers. “Times have changed and the latest generation of men in the security forces has grown up in a different environment than its predecessors…it would be a mistake to assume that they are just a mindless mass prepared to do whatever they are told,” Selth wrote. Even more important—and crucial for Myanmar’s future—would be what happens after the death of Senior General and Tatmadaw King Than Shwe.
Many pundits predicted that Myanmar, and the Tatmadaw, would change after the demise of Gen. Ne Win. But that did not happen. After an interregnum with the almost farcical junta leader General Saw Maung, a new strongman emerged. That may happen this time as well and it is highly unlikely that he will be more democratically minded than his predecessors. On the contrary, if Min Aung Hlaing were to be replaced because of his weaknesses, the new King could be even more savage and barbarous. But, on the contrary, if no person with strength and omnipotent stature is to be found, it would open a Pandora’s box of possibilities that could lead to unimaginable chaos and mayhem. And that is the grim legacy of the system Gen. Ne Win laid the foundations for—and which has prevailed since the military takeover in 1962.
Bertil Lintner is a Swedish journalist, author and strategic consultant who has been writing about Asia for nearly four decades..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of publication:
2021-08-20
Date of entry/update:
2021-08-20
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Sanctions - general, Business and the Military, Sanctions, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"1.1 Background
Once again like déjà vu the land of Myanmar splashed international front page headlines for its
recent brutal crackdown on protestors and monks in the autumn of 2007. People intercepted the
news with unsurprised horror as their memories flashed back to the infamous 1988 uprisings that
prematurely ended the lives of at least 1,000 civilians in Rangoon alone and possibly 3,000
nationwide.
1
This time around it was different with the international community and media
quickly coming to the aid of the protestors in voicing condemnation of the junta‘s actions and
calling for support for the protestors. Human rights and exiled Burmese activists further
increased pressure on the international community to take action against Myanmar and distance
themselves from the military regime. The 2007 anti-government protests (lasting from August
15th until approximately October 31st) were initially led by students and pro-democracy activists
in response to the government‘s increase of fuel prices, which consequently caused a spike in
public transport and staple food prices.2
In what was already an impoverished situation with
inflation at ahistorical levels, it was of course no surprise that social unrest ensued. This
particular fuel hike served as a watershed event for all the economic problems that had been
troubling the people of Myanmar for the last two decades since the last uprising of 1988 took
place. Monks from all over the country eventually joined in and took to the forefront of the
protests in what would be dubbed the ―Saffron Revolution‖ symbolizing the color of the robes
the monks wore. This did not appease the junta leaders as they proceeded forward with a brutal
crackdown on the protestors that resulted in the beating and killing of both civilians and monks
alike. The final death toll of the junta crackdown varies between the junta‘s own official figures
of 10 up to the 200 casualties claimed by dissident groups. In addition, many monks were
consequently detained and put in prison camps while some fear that many of them were
murdered. Upward to 6,000 demonstrators in all were arrested with many of them being
gradually released.3
As if it was not enough that Myanmar had garnered worldwide criticism for its loathsome
antics, Cyclone Nargis would draw renewed world attention and criticism to the country. On May 2nd of 2008, less than a year after the Saffron Revolution, Myanmar experienced the worst
natural disaster in the recorded history of Myanmar claiming the lives of over 100,000 people.
Abundant criticisms were directed toward the junta from the bungling of their own relief effort to
the blockage of international aid, and of their undeterred determination to proceed with elections
the following weekend. All of the mishandling and mismanagement of the crisis kept the junta
on the front page news while the international community desperately explored alternatives to
get help to those who needed it most. Yet again the junta reminded the world of its indifference
to its own people and mocked the world community for its inability to do anything. It is
unforeseen at this point whether this catastrophe has resulted in anything more than minimal
cooperation from the regime and often it is only for handouts of international aid. Cyclone
Nargis will presumably serve as a painful lesson that even in the worst state of crisis the junta of
Myanmar will still refuse to buckle to outside pressure.
Twenty years has now passed since the 1988 uprisings that initially brought international
attention to Myanmar and Nobel laureate Daw Aung Suu Kyi to the forefront of the democratic
opposition. Due to Aung San Suu Kyi and her party comrades‘ repeated arrests and detentions
for their political activities, the international community has adopted numerous diplomatic
strategies over the years with the hopes of coercing the junta into releasing the political prisoners
and into accepting the 1990 election results that favored Suu Kyi and her party, the National
League for Democracy (NLD). There has been consistent international pressure and activism
over the years for the release of the more than one thousand political prisoners locked up for
their participation in the 1988 demonstrations and/or other political activities. Despite the myriad
approaches undertaken by various actors the last two decades, Daw Aung Suu Kyi and many
others remain in captivity and the junta still rules the country with an iron fist. The most popular
approach utilized by state actors against the junta has by far been the imposition or threat of
economic sanctions. The historical timing of Suu Kyi‘s arrests and Myanmar‘s deplorable human
rights behavior against the backdrop of the post-Cold War relations proved a pivotal stimulus for
the use of economic sanctions as a diplomatic tool.
In terms of international cooperation in the United Nations, it wasn‘t until the end of the
Cold War that the international organization finally achieved unprecedented cooperation in the
United Nations Security Council (UN SC). Prior to this relations amongst the Security Council
permanent members had chilled from the start of the Cold War and dimmed any hopes for
cooperation in the Security Council. The renewed cooperation that brought an end to the chilly relations in the UN SC was marked by the Iraq invasion of Kuwait. As a result of this new unity,
a string of peacekeeping and enforcement activities followed suit, howbeit it was not military
activities that proved the most popular method of choice, but alternatively it was economic
sanctions that proved most appealing to Security Council members. It comes as no surprise then
that the 1990s has been dubbed ―the decade of economic sanctions.‖
4 Howbeit, not all these
economic sanctions consisted of multilateral mandatory economic sanctions as outlined under
article 41 of the UN Charter. On the contrary, many economic sanctions were and are indeed
today unilateral.
Since the rejuvenation of the UN SC following the Cold War, economic sanctions have
persistently been issued often to the detriment of the civilian population. A strong majority of the
literature on economic sanctions have questioned and raised doubts over the efficacy of
sanctions. A magnitude of political leaders, human rights activists, and scholars remain for the
most part oblivious and aloof to the detrimental harms of sanctions despite that nearly all are
aware that the infamous Iraqi sanctions campaign claimed the lives of half a million (of which
the majority were children). This is clearly another case of ―collective amnesia‖ since the
international community too often forgets the catastrophic errors of their time in spite of slogans
that cry “Never Again”. Sanctions are assumed to be a less costly alternative to armed force
when measuring the cost of lives, but as former UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali
expressed:
Sanctions, as is generally recognized, are a blunt instrument. They raise the ethical question of whether
suffering inflicted on vulnerable groups in the target country is a legitimate means of exerting pressure on
political leaders whose behaviour is unlikely to be affected by the plight of their subjects.
5
An overwhelming amount of literature and research by experts and scholars concede that
sanctions have had in fact drastic implications for vulnerable populations and frequently did not
achieve the objectives it had aimed for. My particular concern in this debate, which is needy of
more research, is the impact of sanctions on women. Women have appeared to suffer the brunt of
sanctions according to numerous anecdotal evidence since women are often times more
vulnerable to economic sanctions due to their gender and their relative impoverished and
disempowered position. Be that as it may, research in this area remains obsolete or very minimal
and is henceforth worthy of attention due to the urgency of this problem as this paper will show..."
Source/publisher:
Malmö University (Sweden)
Date of publication:
2009-01-14
Date of entry/update:
2021-08-07
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Sanctions, Business and the Military, Sanctions - general, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Human Rights and international relations, Women and Politics in Burma/Myanmar
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"Summary: The situation in Myanmar (Burma) is grave. The Myanmar military, the Tatmadaw, is
continuing its violent crackdown on protestors, which has led to hundreds of deaths and
thousands of disappearances. A crisis of this scale requires swift, coordinated action,
and the many thousands of people who have been displaced by the violence urgently
require humanitarian assistance.
The UK holds a number of unique roles and responsibilities which allow it to lead on
preventing further violence and ensuring essential humanitarian support reaches those
who need it. The Government has taken some strong measures in response to the coup
and the violence, but there is much more that it can do. In this report we recommend a
number of actions the UK Government should take to help reduce the violence against
civilians. At a time when the Government is planning greater engagement with the
Indo-Pacific, Myanmar presents a test of how effective our policy in the region can be.
We recommend that the Government take further steps to secure a binding arms
embargo on Myanmar, widen its sanctions approach to include a much broader range
of people and organisations, provide humanitarian and logistical support to ethnic
advocacy and media organisations, and take steps to ensure that those perpetrating
these crimes will face justice in the future.
Effective mediation in Myanmar requires concrete action. Failure to do so in the past
has led to the crisis we see today. Failure to do so in the future will only lead to further
violence, instability and loss of life.....Introduction: 1. In February 2021, the Myanmar military staged a coup which led to the deposition and
detention of the country’s democratically elected representatives, and the military taking
control of the country. The protests and violence that have followed the coup have led to
hundreds of deaths, thousands of disappearances, and tens to hundreds of thousands of
displaced people. Evidence from diaspora groups paints a harrowing picture: many speak
of family members who have been unlawfully detained and many others who are beyond
contact.1
2. The Tatmadaw2 staged this coup and declared a state of national emergency following
their claims that the 2020 General Election was compromised by mass voter fraud. It
has provided no evidence for these claims.3 The election has been found by international
observers to “reflect the true will of the electorate”.4
3. While there has been much international condemnation of the coup and the military
junta’s violence against protestors, there has been little substantial action taken. Months
on from the coup, clear proof that the junta is committing serious crimes against the
Myanmar people continues to surface regularly. Statements of condemnation have not
and will not prevent these crimes—only clear action will.
4. The need for this action is urgent. Dr Sasa, the Minister for International Cooperation
in the democratically elected National Unity Government (NUG), said:
It is a pivotal movement in our history. The darkest hour in our history
which was heading to the great civil war and genocide. Some 54 million
brave people of Myanmar are facing the cruellest military junta.5
The UK has a unique role to play. As the United Nations Security Council ‘penholder’ on
Myanmar, and as an accepted Dialogue Partner to the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN),6 there are several fronts on which the UK can exert further diplomatic
influence. This crisis is also a major test of the effectiveness of the UK’s tilt to the IndoPacific region, as announced in the Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development
and Foreign Policy.7 If the Government is serious about building its influence in the region
it should show a willingness to take moral leadership and prevent further conflict and loss
of life. This report sets out what more the UK Government could and should do..."
Source/publisher:
House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee
Date of publication:
2021-07-13
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-18
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Human Rights and international relations, National Unity Government (NUG), ASEAN-Burma relations, Sanctions - general, The discussion on humanitarian assistance to Burma, Business and the Military, Sanctions, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"A crucial update has occurred in the developing conflict going on in Myanmar. Following the February 1st military coup of Myanmar’s 10-year-old fledgling democracy, humanitarian concerns have caused the region to become a subject of international focus. While not only violently overthrowing a democratic government and detaining a democratic leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, the Myanmar military has once again resumed the targeted killings of the Rohingya ethnic minority living within the region. These actions, while not only morally reprehensible, have also positioned the new Myanmar Regime directly against the United States and the European Union (EU). The Myanmar Regime’s direct conflict with the EU and the Liberal Hegemony has ultimately resulted in the EU’s third leveling of sanctions against the Southeast Asian nation.
Following the February 1st overthrow, the nation erupted into pro-democracy protests that prompted a military crackdown. While the military junta contests these activist group’s numbers, (suggesting that they are in fact much lower), Reuters cites the group’s observation that 860 people have been killed by the junta since February 1st and over 4500 people have been jailed. This clear and ever-mounting chaos has failed to be stopped by previous EU sanctions and diplomatic efforts, which previously formed a blacklist of various Myanmar military officials and government-owned businesses. While the current update has been expanded to address some 43 officials and six military-owned entities, it is important to note that these particular measures have been crafted to target the timber and gems economic sectors. As both of these sectors are currently under the junta’s control, the EU argues that “by targeting the gems and timber sectors, these measures are aimed at restricting the junta’s ability to profit from Myanmar’s natural resources, while being crafted so as to avoid undue harm to the people of Myanmar.” While the EU has also allocated 20.5 million euros in humanitarian aid to provide support to refugees from the crisis, other groups have begun to be skeptical about whether the European Union is doing enough for the region.
The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) has begun to argue that the EU’s actions while signaling that they will continue to pressure the Myanmar junta are largely symbolic. They note how the three entities added to the list, Myanmar Gems Enterprise, Myanmar Timber Enterprise, and Forest Products Joint Venture Corporation, are only a small part of the regime’s foreign currency revenues. The FIDH instead points to Myanmar’s natural gas reserves which generate approximately an annual one billion U.S. dollars in revenue for the regime, or about one-third of the regime’s total income. This is the largest source of the regime’s income coming from the selling of Myanmar’s natural reserves to oil and gas giants such as Total (France based), Chevron (U.S.), Posco (South Korea), PTT (Thailand), China National Petroleum Corporation (China) or Petronas (Malaysia). It is important to note that of this list, three of the major giants are based in either EU members or close EU allies countries. Going even further, this list of sanctions has also failed to seize the military’s largest foreign stocks, foreign bank accounts, and central bank reserves. Ultimately, the FIDH argues that the EU’s actions are simply too timid, and instead calls for the “EU to work in coordination with like-minded jurisdictions to explore all options available, including the possibility to prohibit all financial transactions whose ultimate beneficiary is the Tatmadaw [Myanmar military].” While certain individuals might be taken aback by the aggressive approach and the potential that it might damage Myanmar’s people unduly, it is important to recognize that the points the FIDH have made challenge the credibility of the EU as an institution that is fully committed to the humanitarian wellbeing of the Myanmar people and Myanmar’s democracy.
While the list of the natural oil reserves was relatively short, it is important to recognize that three of the seven companies are housed in regions with “like-minded jurisdictions”. With that being said, it is fair to argue that such an attempt to limit those three companies directly profiteering from the exploitation of the Myanmar military, would be hindered by the massive political lobbying force that these oil corporations wield. What this means is that once again, the power that massive corporations hold over democratic institutions is obstructing the wellbeing of humanitarian citizens. This argument could also be extended to include the massive influence of private banking interests, and their obstructions to humanitarian aid. While all of that is a lot more speculatory, it must be noted that the current state of EU sanctions on the Tatmadaw is showing to have little effect..."
Source/publisher:
The Organization for World Peace
Date of publication:
2021-07-09
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-09
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"We welcome the Council’s decision to proceed with this important dialogue.
Myanmar once again stands at a precipice, threatening to become an international human rights pariah. Since the February 1 coup, the military junta has arbitrarily detained thousands and killed hundreds, including dozens of children. Legislators from the elected government remain detained incommunicado.
The civilian population lives under a constant fear of arbitrary arrest and detention. Journalists, lawyers, doctors, and students face increased intimidation and threats. Those who had been held in interrogation centers and prisons describe widespread torture and ill-treatment.
The military-controlled State Administration Council (SAC) continues to restrict the internet and has ramped-up phone and internet surveillance, cutting critical information amid a global pandemic and political crisis. The junta has also exploited the political instability to launch new, abusive military operations in ethnic minority areas across the country, displacing hundreds of thousands.
The Special Rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar has issued strong calls for a global arms embargo against the junta alongside targeted sanctions against junta members, and for businesses to reassess their economic dealings with the military.
Concerned states should urgently adopt or enhance targeted sanctions on the junta leadership and on military-owned companies, such as the oil and gas entities that keep the junta in power.
The UN General Assembly has urged member states to halt arms transfers to Myanmar. The UN Security Council should follow through and impose a global arms embargo to help prevent further military abuses.
The only way back from the precipice is the restoration of an elected civilian government that delivers on its commitments to address the root causes of Myanmar’s human rights crisis. These include ensuring equality and non-discrimination for all ethnic groups in Myanmar, notably recognition of Rohingya citizenship and other basic rights.
We encourage the Special Rapporteur and High Commissioner to provide intersessional briefings as needed so that this Council can take all measures necessary to respond to this unfolding crisis..."
Source/publisher:
HRC47: Interactive Dialogue with Special Rapporteur on Myanmar
Date of publication:
2021-07-07
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-07
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Sanctions - general, Sanctions, Human Rights and international relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated 22 individuals connected to Burma’s military regime.
Among the individuals sanctioned today are seven key members of Burma’s military, which continues to repress the pro-democracy movement in the country and use lethal force against the people of Burma, including children and members of ethnic minority groups. The other 15 individuals are the spouses or adult children of previously designated senior Burmese military officials whose financial networks have contributed to military officials’ ill-gotten gains. OFAC designated all these individuals pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 14014, “Blocking Property with Respect to the Situation in Burma.” These sanctions are not directed at the people of Burma.
“The military’s suppression of democracy and campaign of brutal violence against the people of Burma are unacceptable,” said Andrea Gacki, Director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control. “Today’s action demonstrates that the United States will continue to impose increasing costs on Burma’s military and promote accountability for those responsible for the military coup and ongoing violence, including by targeting sources of revenue for the military and its leaders.”
These measures complement new restrictions announced today by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) on four entities that have provided support to Burma’s military. Effective July 2, BIS added the following four entities to the Department of Commerce Entity List set forth in Supp. No. 4 to Part 744 of the Export Administration Regulations, 15 CFR Parts 730-774 (EAR): King Royal Technologies Co., Ltd., a telecommunications company providing satellite communication services to Burma’s military, as well as Wanbao Mining and its two subsidiaries, Myanmar Wanbao Mining Copper, Ltd. and Myanmar Yang Tse Copper, Ltd., copper mining companies that provide support to Burma’s military through revenue-sharing arrangements with Myanma Economic Holdings Limited, which Treasury designated on March 25, 2021 pursuant to E.O. 14014. As a consequence of their addition to the Entity List, a license requirement applies to all items subject to the EAR that are destined for the four entities, and BIS will review any license applications under a review policy of a presumption of denial.
As part of today’s action, the following seven individuals, who are members of Burma’s military regime, are designated pursuant to E.O. 14014 for being foreign persons who are or were leaders or officials of the Government of Burma on or after February 2, 2021:
Saw Daniel, Banyar Aung Moe, and Aye Nu Sein are members of the State Administrative Council (SAC), the body created by the military on February 2, 2021 to support its unlawful overthrow of the democratically elected civilian government, and which Treasury designated on May 17, 2021 pursuant to E.O. 14014;
Chit Naing is the Minister for Information;
Aung Naing Oo is the Minister for Investment and Foreign Economic Relations;
Myint Kyaing is the Minister for Labor, Immigration, and Population; and
Thet Thet Khine is the Minister of Social Welfare, Relief, and Resettlement.
In addition to the individuals identified above, the following 15 individuals are designated pursuant to E.O. 14014 for being a spouse or adult child of a person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to E.O. 14014.
Kyu Kyu Hla is the spouse of SAC Chairman Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, whom Treasury designated on February 11, 2021;
Than Than Nwe is the spouse of SAC Vice Chairman Vice Senior General Soe Win, whom Treasury designated on February 11, 2021;
Thet Thet Aung is the spouse of SAC member General Mya Tun Oo, whom Treasury designated on February 11, 2021;
Than Than Aye is the spouse of SAC member Admiral Tin Aung San, whom Treasury designated on February 11, 2021;
Aung Mar Myint is the spouse of SAC member General Maung Maung Kyaw, whom Treasury designated on February 22, 2021;
Khaing Pa Pa Chit is the spouse of SAC member Lieutenant General Moe Myint Tun, whom Treasury designated on February 22, 2021;
Moe Htet Htet Tun is the adult child of Lieutenant General Moe Myint Tun;
Khaing Moe Myint is the adult child of Lieutenant General Moe Myint Tun;
Yadanar Moe Myint is the adult child of Lieutenant General Moe Myint Tun;
Daw Nilar is the spouse of SAC member Lieutenant General Ye Win Oo, whom Treasury designated on February 11, 2021;
Theit Thinzar Ye is the adult child of Lieutenant General Ye Win Oo;
Ohn Mar Myint is the spouse of SAC member Lieutenant General Aung Lin Dwe, whom Treasury designated on February 11, 2021;
Shwe Ye Phu Aung is the adult child of Lieutenant General Aung Lin Dwe;
Hlaing Bwar Aung is the adult child of Lieutenant General Aung Lin Dwe; and
Phyo Arkar Aung is the adult child of Lieutenant General Aung Lin Dwe.
As a result of today’s OFAC action, all property and interests in property of the persons 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, in the aggregate, 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked.
Unless authorized by a general or specific license issued by OFAC, or otherwise exempt, 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 are prohibited. 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..."
Source/publisher:
United States Department of the Treasury (USA)
Date of publication:
2021-07-02
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-04
Grouping:
Individual Documents
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"A month after its 1 February 2021coup, themilitary junta’s escalation of disproportionate violence and terror tactics, backed bydeployment of notorious military units to represspeaceful demonstrations,underlines the urgent need for substantive international action to prevent massive, destabilizing violence.
The junta’s refusal to receive UN diplomaticand human rightsmissions indicates a refusal to consider a peaceful resolution to the crisis and confrontation sparked by the coup.
In order to avert worse violence and create the space for dialogue and negotiations, the movement in Burmaand their allies urge that:oInternational Financial Institutions (IFIs) immediately freeze existing loans, recall prior loans and reassess the post-coup situation; oForeign states and bodies enact targeted sanctions on themilitary (Tatmadaw),Tatmadaw-affiliated companiesand partners, including a global arms embargo;andoThe UN Security Council immediately send a delegation to prevent further violenceandensure the situation is peacefully resolved.
Thecoup violatedmultiple provisions of the Tatmadaw-designed 2008 Constitution.
The junta’s public statements and information warfare reflect a calculated plan to neutralize domestic democratic forces and pacifythe international community.While portraying themselves as a gentler version of previous juntas, the Min Aung Hlaing regime has already attacked thousands ofunarmed protestors.On 28 February the Tatmadaw killed at least 18, injured dozens more, and arrested at least 479, in a significant escalation of abuses. This brought the total to at least 30 killed, hundreds injured, and 1,132 politicians, activists, journalists, and othersarrested, with most denied access to legal counsel.
The coup also involved a systematic purge of members of the executive and key agencies including the Central Bank of Myanmar. The coup and crackdown havedisrupted the economy, heighteningconcerns that political and economic destabilization will have regional and global impacts, intensifying reputational and operational risks, and resulting in withdrawals and suspensions of investment.
The Tatmadaw has sought to weaken popular opposition by implementing or amending seven laws that violate human rights norms, eliminate privacy and threaten lengthy imprisonment for anybody perceived as an enemy of the junta.
Millionsof civilians continue to protestnationwide—in almost every township in Burma—despite military intimidationand brutal violence.The Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) has been joined byworkers and senior officials from the civil service, police officers, and the private sector..."
Source/publisher:
Altsean Burma, Burma Human Rights Network, Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK, Initiatives for International Dialogue, International Federation for Human Rights, Progressive Voice, US Campaign for Burma, and Women Peace Network
Date of publication:
2021-03-01
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Anti-coup protesters, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar, National Unity Government (NUG), Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), Sanctions - general, Business and the Military, Sanctions
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"His name was scrawled on coffins at mock funerals across the country. People shouted wishes for his death. Myanmar’s poker-faced coup leader stared out from burning pictures.
This is how Myanmar people marked the birthday of Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, who turned 65 on Saturday. In other words, it was how they vented their simmering hatred of him for his seizure of power from the country’s democratically elected government five months ago and his forces’ lethal response to the popular protests against him.
Exactly two weeks ago on June 19, Myanmar people at home and abroad marked the 76th birthday of their elected leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been detained by Min Aung Hlaing since the coup.
The junta chief must be envious of the celebrations held at that time, which were in stark contrast to what Min Aung Hlaing witnessed on Saturday. For the State Counselor’s birthday, smiles and flowers were everywhere. People prayed for her good health and speedy release. Myanmar’s favorite social media, Facebook, was flooded with pictures of people wearing or holding flowers to show solidarity with their leader, who is known for wearing flowers. One user wrote: “Come you Back, Mom…Revolutionary flowers are now in bloom.”
When she learned about it, she thanked the people for her birthday celebration and also wished good health to the people, according to one of her lawyers.
On Saturday, activists in Yangon left free fans at bus stops as part of a mock funeral for the coup maker. It is a common practice to distribute fans at Buddhist funerals. Young people staged flash mob protests, vowing to take revenge for his brutality toward protesters.
In Mandalay, people set coffins bearing his name, along with pictures of him, on fire in the streets, cursing him and calling for his speedy death. Due to the misery he has brought to the country since the coup, people said he should have been stillborn. He is so despised that some people went even further, urinating on pictures of him.
On Facebook, people posted pictures of themselves holding placards with their “birthday wishes” for Min Aung Hlaing. One sign read: “May you die in haste!”
In Ayeyarwady Region, villagers prayed “May your birthday be your death day!”
For Min Aung Hlaing and his wife Daw Kyu Kyu Hla, both known for their superstitious beliefs, the people’s reaction on Saturday must surely make them quite uncomfortable.
Until this year, few in the country would have had any interest in his birthday. Were it not for the coup and his deadly response to the protesters, there would have been no mock funerals for him on Saturday. His predecessor as dictator, Than Shwe, was the subject of similar protests, but largely by activists in exile and not in the sort of nationwide denunciation that Min Aung Hlaing is facing today..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of publication:
2021-07-03
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
The Military's political role, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Military History, Sanctions - general
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Description:
"The military coup in Myanmar in February has reversed or put at risk a decade of gradual economic progress. In the last decade, the Myanmar economy benefited from significant economic and political reforms, achieving above 7 per cent annual growth, reduced poverty and a significant increase in international investment.
These gains are being unwound by the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and, more so, by the coup, with the World Bank forecasting a 10 per cent contraction in GDP in 2021 and the UNDP warning of a possible doubling of the poverty rate.
While there has been attention in the international media on the potential economic impact and effectiveness of international trade sanctions, the biggest economic impacts so far have been driven by internal factors. The anti-coup civil disobedience movement (CDM) drew in millions of public and private sector workers who refused to work until democracy is restored. In doing so they effectively shut down most sectors of the domestic economy.
Transport and internet services have been disrupted. The participation of port workers, truck drivers and officers from various government agencies in the CDM has had a crippling effect on international trade. The military government has imposed periodic shutdowns and limits on internet connections to try to stifle political opposition, which has led to operational difficulties for businesses, as well as grave concerns about human rights.
When banks closed at the height of the CDM, most households and businesses experienced cash shortages. This problem remains even after banks were forced to reopen by the military government. Retail and service-based businesses either shut or drastically reduced their hours of operation because of the CDM, but even businesses that have now reopened find it difficult to access cash to pay wages and suppliers. There are serious risks to the stability of the banking and finance sector. Chief among these is a widely shared loss of trust in the integrity and management of the banking system under military rule. Consumers have rushed to withdraw deposits to purchase US dollars and gold, leading to a rapid depreciation of the Kyat.
With many factories closed and business activities down, employment opportunities and incomes have reduced. In some major industrial zones which have been sites of public protests and violent military repression, hundreds of thousands of workers fled to their homes in rural areas out of fear for their own safety and a lack of jobs and income. Some of these workers have returned but only to eke out a meagre income from insecure and poorly paid daily wage work. Overall, the viability of manufacturing is threatened by the crisis, especially in industries like garment manufacturing, where some global fashion brand buyers suspended orders from Myanmar.
Boycotts have affected military owned or controlled conglomerates across a variety of industries, facilitated by a smartphone app that helps consumers avoid military-linked businesses. Consumers have also boycotted Chinese made goods because of the perception that China backs the junta. There is a lack of reliable data on the impact of the consumer boycotts, but some reports have indicated that sales of Myanmar beer — a dominant military owned beer brand — have declined by somewhere between 80 and 90 per cent since the coup.
For all of its impact, there is now an open question as to whether the CDM can be sustained in the face of pressure from the military to force employees to return to work and businesses to reopen. Many of the movement’s participants are unable to access solidarity income support and are being gradually ground down by economic hardship and the coercion of the military regime.
Yet even if the military succeeds to some degree in normalising economic activity, the economic damage done will be profound and lasting. The destabilisation of politics and governance is also likely to play out in unpredictable and unforeseen ways — including the likelihood of ongoing urban violence and safety risks — and so Myanmar will be a volatile and difficult business environment. Many international businesses will reconsider their investments in the country. Development and infrastructure project funding from donor countries will also be adversely impacted, although the regime may hope that China will fill the void.
The trade sanctions announced by the European Union, the United Kingdom and the United States have thus far targeted military owned enterprises. Meanwhile, the National Unity Government, a parallel government in exile comprised mainly of deposed elected parliamentarians, has asked foreign investors not to pay tax to the military regime government until democracy is restored.
If the military regime prevails and consolidates its rule, Myanmar will almost certainly revert to its historic status as a relatively isolated, underdeveloped and impoverished economy that benefits only a small military elite and their crony business associates. Inevitably, this will mean that the economy and the people will continue to suffer. In a sea of sadness and despair one of the poignant aspects of this crisis is the sense of lost hope — felt most keenly by young people — in a once promising economic future..."
Source/publisher:
"East Asia Forum" (Australia)
Date of publication:
2021-06-23
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-24
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Anti-coup protesters, Business and the Military, Sanctions, Sanctions - general
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"Burma Campaign UK today welcomed the imposition of sanctions on state owned timber and gems enterprises, and on the Myanmar War Veterans Organisation (MWVO).
Timber and gems are significant revenue earners for the military, and the MWVO is part of the military and also has significant business interests, including in transport. Burma Campaign UK has been campaigning for the EU to sanction the timber and gems industry and the MWVO.
“These new sanctions from the EU are very welcome, not only cutting revenue to the military but also letting them know that economic pressure will keep increasing,” said Anna Roberts, Executive Director of Burma Campaign UK. “The EU must now also look at creative ways to stop oil and gas revenue reaching the military. It is vital to continue to systematically identify and cut sources of revenue to the military.”
Almost 900 people have been killed and more than 200,000 people have been forced to flee their homes since the military coup on 1st February.
The EU has also announced sanctions on 8 more individuals, bringing the total to 43..."
Source/publisher:
"Burma Campaign UK" (London)
Date of publication:
2021-06-21
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-22
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Sanctions - general, Business and the Military, Sanctions, Timber extraction, Burma's economic relations with the European Union, Gems, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Description:
"Burma Campaign UK today welcomed new sanctions imposed by the British government on the Burmese military and its economic interests.
The British government has sanctioned two state-owned entities which now provide revenue for the military since the coup. They are Myanmar Timber Enterprise (MTE) and Myanmar Pearl Enterprise (MPE). They have also sanctioned the State Administration Council (SAC), the military appointed body attempting to run government institutions.
“This latest round of sanctions by the British government is very welcome and another step towards cutting the economic lifeline of the military,” said Anna Roberts, Executive Director of Burma Campaign UK. “The British government is following the right approach by continuing to identify and sanction more revenue sources for the military. There is still a lot more that can and must be done, identifying every possible economic pressure point, and working with the EU and USA to help cut oil and gas revenue.”
The British government is taking welcome steps sanctioning the economic interests of the military, and lobbying for more countries to impose arms embargoes. However, there has been no significant progress in British government support for justice and accountability, with Dominic Raab still refusing to support referring Burma to the International Criminal Court, and still refusing to join the Rohingya genocide case at the International Court of Justice..."
Source/publisher:
"Burma Campaign UK" (London)
Date of publication:
2021-06-21
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-22
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Sanctions - general, Business and the Military, Sanctions, Burma's economic relations with the United Kingdom, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
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Sub-title:
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab announced new sanctions against the Myanmar Timber Enterprise, Myanmar Pearl Enterprise and the State Administration Council.
Description:
"measures announced will restrict the military junta’s ability to profit from timber and pearl, key sources of revenue for the regime
UK will maintain suspension on trade promotion in Myanmar and strengthen advice to British businesses following review of Myanmar trade
In the UK’s sixth tranche of Myanmar sanctions, measures announced today will target the Myanmar regime’s economic interest with new designations against the State Administration Council (SAC), the junta’s ruling body, who continue to undermine democracy and brutally suppress Myanmar’s civilians. These sanctions send a clear message to the junta the UK will not allow financial support that props up the military regime following the coup earlier this year.
Additional measures will now be imposed on the Myanmar Timber Enterprise and Myanmar Pearl Enterprise, 2 state owned entities in Myanmar’s extractive sector. These asset freezes will be enforced with immediate effect, and target the junta’s ability to profit from pearl and timber, 2 high-value natural commodities that generate millions in revenue for the military regime.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said:
Alongside our allies, we are placing sanctions on companies linked to Myanmar’s military junta, targeting the finances of this illegitimate regime.
The military has continued its subversion of democracy and brutal killing of civilians. We will continue to hold the Junta to account and sanction those responsible, until democracy is restored.
Today the Foreign Secretary has also announced the conclusion of the UK’s Myanmar Trade Review. In a Written Ministerial Statement in Parliament, he confirmed that the UK will maintain its suspension on trade promotion in Myanmar first imposed following the coup earlier this year.
The UK will also strengthen our Overseas Business Risk guidance to reiterate the message that UK businesses must undertake enhanced supply chain due diligence and should not enter into trading relationships that benefit the Myanmar military.
The Myanmar Trade Review emphasised that UK businesses continue to have an important role to play in Myanmar in job creation and poverty alleviation, but should operate responsibly in order to avoid inadvertently supporting the military regime.
Today’s new sanctions announcement, alongside the similar announcement from the European Union on Myanmar Timber Enterprise, follows the recent G7 communiqué which called on partners and business to exercise due diligence in their trade and investment in Myanmar. Under the UK’s presidency the G7 continues to call for an end to the coup and the immediate adoption of the ASEAN 5-point consensus..."
Source/publisher:
Govt. UK (London)
Date of publication:
2021-06-22
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-22
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Sanctions - general, ASEAN-Burma relations, Sanctions, Business and the Military, Burma's economic relations with the United Kingdom, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
more
Description:
"H.E. Dr. Sasa Union Minister of the MOIC and Spokesperson of the NUG welcomes new EU sanctions against individuals connected to the military regime - H. E ဒေါက်တာဆာဆာ၊ အပြည်ပြည်ဆိုင်ရာပူးပေါင်းဆောင်ရွက်ရေးပြည်ထောင်စုဝန်ကြီး၊ အမျိုးသား ညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ၏ ပြောရေးဆိုခွင့်ရှိသူမှ စစ်အာဏာရှင်များနှင့်ပတ်သက်နေသော ပုဂ္ဂိုလ်များအပေါ် ဥရောပသမဂ္ဂ၏ အရေးယူပိတ်ဆို့မှုများပြုလုပ်ခြင်းအား ကြိုဆိုလိုက်ပါသည်။..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of International Cooperation Myanmar
Date of publication:
2021-06-21
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-22
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), Sanctions, Business and the Military, Sanctions - general
Language:
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579.76 KB
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"H.E. Dr. Sasa, Union Minister of the Ministry of International Cooperation and
Spokesperson of the National Unity Government of Myanmar greatly welcomes the
third round of European Union targeted sanctions against individuals and militarycontrolled
entities in Myanmar. This is another big step in ending the violence and
death across the country. The press release is as follows:
“The Council today imposed sanctions on 8 individuals, 3 economic entities and the War Veterans
Organisation in relation to the military coup staged in Myanmar/Burma on 1 February 2021, and the
ensuing repression against peaceful demonstrators. The EU's restrictive measures are largely aligned
with those of major international partners.
The individuals targeted by sanctions include ministers and deputy ministers, as well as
the attorney general, who are responsible for undermining democracy and the rule of law and
for serious human rights violations in the country. The four entities are either stateowned
or controlled by the Myanmar Armed Forces (Tatmadaw), contributing directly or indirectly
to the military's revenues or activities.
By targeting the gems and timber sectors, these measures are aimed at restricting the junta’s ability
to profit from Myanmar’s natural resources, while being crafted so as to avoid undue harm to the
people of Myanmar.
Restrictive measures, which now apply to a total of 43 individuals and 6 entities, include an asset
freeze and a prohibition from making funds available to the listed individuals and entities.
Additionally, a travel ban applicable to listed persons prevents them from entering or transiting through
EU territory.
Pre-existing EU restrictive measures also remain in place. These comprise an embargo on arms and
equipment that can be used for internal repression, an export ban on dual-use goods for use by the
military and border guard police, export restrictions on equipment for monitoring
communications that could be used for internal repression, and a prohibition on military training for
and military 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 a steadfast supporter of Myanmar/Burma’s people and of the country’s democratic
transition.
The European Union continues to provide humanitarian assistance, in accordance with the principles
of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence. In 2021, it allocated €20.5 million in
humanitarian aid to address the immediate needs of displaced and conflict-affected communities in
the country. It stands ready to cooperate with the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian
Assistance in this respect. The EU stresses the importance for Myanmar/Burma to ensure that all
refugees, displaced persons and people in need have rapid, safe and unhindered access to
humanitarian aid.
The relevant legal acts, including the names of the persons and entities concerned, have been
published in the Official Journal.”
H.E. Dr. Sasa stated:
"Today I would again like to thank the European Union for taking a lead and being an advocate and
voice for the people of Myanmar, and imposing even stronger targeted sanctions against military junta
linked personnel and entities. The EU is a steadfast supporter of our democratic transition, and I want
to extend my most sincere thanks on behalf of the 54 million citizens of Myanmar for the continued
support and solidarity of the European Union with the people of Myanmar.
I continue to appeal to all nations around the globe to join with us, and support us, the people and
rightfully elected National Unity Government of Myanmar and help us end this cruel and unlawful
military junta ('SAC') occupation. We especially urge all nations to completely cease engagement with
the Military and all its entities, both directly and indirectly, and put yet tougher coordinated, targeted
and more widespread sanctions both diplomatically and economically. Every moment that these
tougher measures are delayed, more and more lives are lost, and thousands are displaced from their
homes in Myanmar, losing everything they own. We need your help to stop this now, once and for all,
and together build a true federal democratic union for ALL people of Myanmar.
Thank you for strongly standing with the 54 million brave people of Myanmar in this darkest time in the
history of our nation. The recognition of our voice, and your support, will ensure that we remain as
your faithful allies, friends, and economic partners for generations to come.".....
H.E. Dr. Sasa
Union Minister of the Ministry of International Cooperation
Spokesperson of the National Unity Government of Myanmar
Former Myanmar Special Envoy to the United Nations..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of International Cooperation Myanmar
Date of publication:
2021-06-21
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-22
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), Sanctions - general, Sanctions, Business and the Military
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
42.26 KB
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Description:
"H.E. Dr. Sasa, Union Minister of the Ministry of International Cooperation and
Spokesperson of the National Unity Government of Myanmar greatly welcomes the
further UK sanctions on companies linked to Myanmar’s military regime as
announced by Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab. This will be a huge blow to the
cashflow of the junta by restricting the military junta’s ability to profit from key
resources such as timber and pearl, and is another big step in ending the violence
and bloodshed across the country. The press release is as follows:
“ In the UK’s sixth tranche of Myanmar sanctions, measures announced today will target the Myanmar
regime’s economic interest with new designations against the State Administration Council (SAC), the
junta’s ruling body, who continue to undermine democracy and brutally suppress Myanmar’s civilians.
These sanctions send a clear message to the junta the UK will not allow financial support that props
up the military regime following the coup earlier this year.
Additional measures will now be imposed on the Myanmar Timber Enterprise and Myanmar Pearl
Enterprise, 2 state owned entities in Myanmar’s extractive sector. These asset freezes will be enforced
with immediate effect, and target the junta’s ability to profit from pearl and timber, 2 high-value natural
commodities that generate millions in revenue for the military regime.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said:
Alongside our allies, we are placing sanctions on companies linked to Myanmar’s military junta,
targeting the finances of this illegitimate regime.
The military has continued its subversion of democracy and brutal killing of civilians. We will continue
to hold the Junta to account and sanction those responsible, until democracy is restored.
Today the Foreign Secretary has also announced the conclusion of the UK’s Myanmar Trade Review.
In a Written Ministerial Statement in Parliament, he confirmed that the UK will maintain its suspension
on trade promotion in Myanmar first imposed following the coup earlier this year.
The UK will also strengthen our Overseas Business Risk guidance to reiterate the message that UK
businesses must undertake enhanced supply chain due diligence and should not enter into trading
relationships that benefit the Myanmar military.
The Myanmar Trade Review emphasised that UK businesses continue to have an important role to
play in Myanmar in job creation and poverty alleviation, but should operate responsibly in order to
avoid inadvertently supporting the military regime.
Today’s new sanctions announcement, alongside the similar announcement from the European Union
on Myanmar Timber Enterprise, follows the recent G7 communique which called on partners and
business to exercise due diligence in their trade and investment in Myanmar. Under the UK’s
presidency the G7 continues to call for an end to the coup and the immediate adoption of the ASEAN
5-point consensus.”
H.E. Dr. Sasa stated:
“Today I would again like to express my sincere thanks to the United Kingdom for taking a lead and
being an advocate and voice for the people of Myanmar both in the G7 summit and UN Security
Council, and imposing even stronger targeted sanctions against military junta linked entities and
commodities. The UK is a steadfast supporter of our democratic transition, and I want to extend my
most sincere thanks on behalf of the 54 million citizens of Myanmar for the continued support and
solidarity of the United Kingdom with the people of Myanmar.
I continue to appeal to all nations around the globe to join with us, and support us, the people and
rightfully elected National Unity Government of Myanmar and help us end this cruel and unlawful
military junta ('SAC') occupation. We especially urge all nations to completely cease engagement with
the Military and all its entities, both directly and indirectly, and put yet tougher coordinated, targeted
and more widespread sanctions both diplomatically and economically. Every moment that these
tougher measures are delayed, more and more lives are lost, and thousands are displaced from their
homes in Myanmar, losing everything they own. We need your help to stop this now, once and for all,
and together build a true federal democratic union for ALL people of Myanmar.
Thank you for strongly standing with the 54 million brave people of Myanmar in this darkest time in the
history of our nation. The recognition of our voice, and your support, will ensure that we remain as
your faithful allies, friends, and economic partners for generations to come.".....
H.E. Dr. Sasa
Union Minister of the Ministry of International Cooperation
Spokesperson of the National Unity Government of Myanmar
Former Myanmar Special Envoy to the United Nations..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of International Cooperation Myanmar
Date of publication:
2021-06-22
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-22
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), Sanctions - general, Sanctions, Business and the Military
Language:
Format :
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42.26 KB 596.49 KB
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"The Council today imposed sanctions on 8 individuals, 3 economic entities and the War Veterans Organisation in relation to the military coup staged in Myanmar/Burma on 1 February 2021, and the ensuing repression against peaceful demonstrators. The EU's restrictive measures are largely aligned with those of major international partners.
The individuals targeted by sanctions include ministers and deputy ministers, as well as the attorney general, who are responsible for undermining democracy and the rule of law and for serious human rights violations in the country. The four entities are either state-owned or controlled by the Myanmar Armed Forces (Tatmadaw), contributing directly or indirectly to the military's revenues or activities.
By targeting the gems and timber sectors, these measures are aimed at restricting the junta’s ability to profit from Myanmar’s natural resources, while being crafted so as to avoid undue harm to the people of Myanmar.
Restrictive measures, which now apply to a total of 43 individuals and 6 entities, include an asset freeze and a prohibition from making funds available to the listed individuals and entities. Additionally, a travel ban applicable to listed persons prevents them from entering or transiting through EU territory.
Pre-existing EU restrictive measures also remain in place. These comprise an embargo on arms and equipment that can be used for internal repression, an export ban on dual-use goods for use by the military and border guard police, export restrictions on equipment for monitoring communications that could be used for internal repression, and a prohibition on military training for and military 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 a steadfast supporter of Myanmar/Burma’s people and of the country’s democratic transition.
The European Union continues to provide humanitarian assistance, in accordance with the principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence. In 2021, it allocated €20.5 million in humanitarian aid to address the immediate needs of displaced and conflict-affected communities in the country. It stands ready to cooperate with the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance in this respect. The EU stresses the importance for Myanmar/Burma to ensure that all refugees, displaced persons and people in need have rapid, safe and unhindered access to humanitarian aid..."
Source/publisher:
Council of the European Union
Date of publication:
2021-06-21
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-22
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Sanctions - general, Sanctions, Burma's economic relations with the European Union, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
more
Sub-title:
What Will Emerge From Collapse?
Description:
"Myanmar is at a point of no return. The army’s February coup, meant to surgically shift power within the existing constitutional framework, has instead unleashed a revolutionary energy that will be nearly impossible to contain.
Over the past four months, protests and strikes have continued despite the killing of more than 800 people and the arrest of nearly 5,000 more. On April 1, elected members of parliament from Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD), together with leaders from other political parties and organizations, declared a “national unity government” to challenge the authority of the recently established military junta. And through April and May, as fighting flared between the junta and ethnic minority armies, a new generation of pro-democracy fighters attacked military positions and administrative offices across the country.
The junta could partially consolidate its rule over the coming year, but that would not lead to stability. Myanmar’s pressing economic and social challenges are too complex, and the depth of animosity toward the military too great, for an isolated and anachronistic institution to manage. At the same time, the revolutionaries will not be able to deal a knockout blow anytime soon.
As the stalemate continues, the economy will crumble, extreme poverty will skyrocket, the health-care system will collapse, and armed violence will intensify, sending waves of refugees into neighboring China, India, and Thailand. Myanmar will become a failed state, and new forces will appear to take advantage of that failure: to grow the country’s multibillion-dollar-a-year methamphetamine business, to cut down the forests that are home to some of the world’s most precious zones of biodiversity, and to expand wildlife-trafficking networks, including the very ones possibly responsible for the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in neighboring China. The pandemic itself will fester unabated.
The task now is to shorten this period of state failure, protect the poorest and most vulnerable, and begin building a new state and a freer, fairer, and more prosperous society. A future peaceful Myanmar can only be based on both an entirely different conception of its national identity, free of the ethnonationalist narratives of the past, and a transformed political economy. The weight of history makes this the only acceptable outcome but also a herculean task to achieve. The alternative, however, is not dictatorship, which can no longer achieve stability, but rather ever-deepening state failure and the prospect of a violent, anarchic Myanmar at the heart of Asia for decades to come.....A COLONIAL INHERITANCE: Myanmar is a colonial creation. Over the course of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the United Kingdom conquered the coastline from Bengal to the Malay Peninsula, the valley of the Irrawaddy River (home for a millennium to Burmese-speaking Buddhist kingdoms), and then the surrounding uplands (regions that had never before come under external control). Myanmar—then called Burma—was forged through a military occupation and governed as a racial hierarchy. Imperial census administrators complained that the many and varied identities of its inhabitants were too fluid and contingent and that the country was “a zone of racial instability.” They nonetheless divided everyone into neat racial categories, with some races deemed “indigenous” and others “alien.” The British also established an incredibly unequal and exploitative colonial political economy, based on the large-scale immigration of Indian labor and the export of primary commodities—mainly rice, oil, and timber—to global markets.
Modern Burmese politics emerged a century ago, and at its core was an ethnonationalism rooted in the notion of a Burmese-speaking Buddhist racial identity. In 1937, ten years before Pakistan was partitioned from India along religious lines, the British partitioned Burma from India on the basis of perceived racial difference. After winning independence in 1948, the new Burmese state tried to incorporate those non-Burmese peoples of the country also deemed indigenous, such as the Karens and the Shans, but within a framework of Burmese racial and cultural supremacy. Those peoples categorized as “aliens,” such as the more than 700,000 people from the Rohingya Muslim community viciously expelled to Bangladesh in 2016 and 2017, have fared worse. Myanmar’s nation-building project has failed for decades, leaving behind a landscape of endemic armed conflict and a country that has never truly been whole.
The Burmese army has been the self-appointed guardian of this ethnonationalism. It is the only army in the world that has been fighting nonstop since World War II: against the British and then the Japanese, and, after independence, against an extraordinary array of opponents, including Washington-backed Chinese nationalist armies in the 1950s, Beijing-backed communist forces in the 1960s, drug lords, and ethnic armed forces struggling for self-determination, all the while taking as well as inflicting enormous casualties. Since the 1970s, most of the fighting has been confined to the uplands, where the army became an occupation force imposing central rule on ethnic minority populations. But every now and then, the army would descend into the cities of the Irrawaddy River valley to crush dissent. The ranks of the armed forces have grown to over 300,000 personnel. In recent years, the military has acquired new Chinese and Russian combat aircraft, drones, and rocket artillery. It is led by an officer corps that cannot imagine a Myanmar in which the military is not ultimately in control..."
Source/publisher:
Foreign Affairs
Date of publication:
2021-06-11
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-14
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Anti-coup protesters, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Sanctions - general, Sanctions - general, Business and the Military, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory
Language:
Format :
pdf
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298.24 KB
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Description:
"The international community must take immediate and collective action to end the Myanmar junta’s widespread and systematic killing of unarmed people, said Fortify Rights today. U.N. member states should ensure those responsible are held accountable for their crimes.
The Myanmar military and police shot and killed upwards of 90 women, men, and children today in at least 40 towns and cities throughout the country, according to reports that Fortify Rights has not independently confirmed. Today is Armed Forces Day in Myanmar.
“This ongoing, horrific massacre of unarmed, innocent people is the result of years of impunity, and it must end,” said Matthew Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Fortify Rights. “Governments can no longer sit idly by and watch this attack unfold. Inaction is complicity.”
On March 26, state-run television MRTV broadcast an ominous warning to protesters, saying, “You should learn from the tragedy of earlier ugly deaths that you can be in danger of getting shot in the head and back.” Eyewitness photographs and videos filmed today show dead bodies, including children, and soldiers firing weapons street-level, dragging lifeless victims away, and brutally beating people. One video shows a close-range killing of an unarmed boy on a motorcycle by Myanmar Army soldiers.
The junta’s words and actions indicate coordination in today’s killings and that soldiers were following orders to shoot and kill unarmed protesters, said Fortify Rights.
According to media reports and open-source information, security forces killed and injured protesters in at least Mandalay Region, Yangon Division, Kachin State, Tanintharyi Region, Sagaing Region, and other locations throughout the country today.
As of the end of the day yesterday, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) reported a death toll of 328 since the military coup d’état on February 1. Today’s bloodshed brings that tally to more than 400 women, men, and children. Security forces have also arbitrarily arrested at least 3,000 people, including children, according to AAPP.
On March 26, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar Thomas Andrews called for U.N. member states to hold an “emergency summit,” including the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), China, the U.S., and the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, which comprises elected members of the Myanmar parliament ousted in the February 1 coup d’état.
According to media reports, eight countries sent representatives to the Armed Forces Day military parade in Naypyidaw today, including Russia, China, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand.
Myanmar’s Civil Disobedience Movement continues to lead a non-violent, peaceful resistance to military rule. Millions of people in the country have protested the military takeover, including throngs of peaceful protesters taking to the streets throughout the country on an almost daily basis, defying the junta’s attempts to terrorize the population.
The U.N. Security Council should impose a global arms embargo against the Myanmar military, sanctions against Myanmar military individuals, entities, and assets, and refer the situation in Myanmar to the International Criminal Court. The U.N. General Assembly should also urgently hold an Emergency Special Session to demand collective action in response to the Myanmar military’s widespread and systematic attack on protesters.
On March 25, the U.S. Treasury Department issued new sanctions targeting two Myanmar military holding companies—the Myanmar Economic Holdings Public Company Limited (MEHL) and Myanmar Economic Corporation Limited—and the U.K. Foreign Secretary imposed sanctions against MEHL.
“Strong, targeted sanctions from the U.S., U.K., and other states are important to isolate the junta and deprive it of resources, but they’re not enough,” said Matthew Smith. “ASEAN must take urgent action, and China, Russia, and others must not be allowed to prevent a more coordinated and far-reaching global response to the horrors unfolding in Myanmar.”..."
Source/publisher:
"Fortify Rights"
Date of publication:
2021-03-27
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-13
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, International Relations, Sanctions - general, Business and the Military, Sanctions, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports
Language:
more
Sub-title:
China and US on opposed sides in Myanmar's escalating civil war while Japan, India and ASEAN struggle to strike a middle ground
Description:
" China has declared its support for Senior General Min Aung Hlaing’s military-coup government in Myanmar. The United States and the European Union have implemented sanctions and declared their support for the people’s power movement agitating against the dictatorship.
India and Japan are keeping quiet because they don’t want to push Myanmar further back into the clutches of China. Thailand is too dependent on natural gas imports from Myanmar to dare to condemn or even criticize the coup.
The rest of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, has once again demonstrated that it is wholly incapable of resolving regional crises.
That, in a nutshell, is how the main external actors have reacted to the turmoil that Min Aung Hlaing thrust upon Myanmar when he and his henchmen seized power on February 1.
How this Great Game proxy theater plays out remains to be seen, but it is clear that it has pitted China against the US in a conflict that is escalating into a regional crisis.
Beyond the superpower rivalry, Japan, India and other regional actors are not keen to see Chinese influence grow in a desperate Myanmar.
That desperation is growing. Waves of refugees are beginning to stream to Myanmar’s borders with Thailand and across the frontier into India, representing the front edge of a new humanitarian crisis that could come to rival the country’s earlier Rohinyga exodus.
Economically and financially, the country is on the verge of collapse, driving out many of the Western investors who entered the country in hopes of a democratic transition. But there are growing signs that China sees opportunity in Myanmar’s crisis.
At a regional meeting in Chongqing on June 8, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi assured his Myanmar counterpart Wunna Maung Maung Lwin that bilateral relations have not been affected by what he referred to as “changes in Myanmar’s domestic and external situation.”
Chinese officials also pledged support for ASEAN’s diplomatic initiatives on Myanmar’s crisis, despite the fact the “five point consensus” agreed between Min Aung Hlaing and ASEAN representative at a one-day meeting in Jakarta on April 24 have been largely dead on arrival.
In essence, the “consensus agreement” put equal blame on the Myanmar military’s gunning down of hundreds of peaceful demonstrators, including children as young as five, and the protesters who at that time were armed with little more than slingshots and homemade devices to defend themselves.
From June 4-5, two Bruneian officials, Second Foreign Minister Erywan Yusof and ASEAN Secretary-General Lim Jock Hoi, were sent by ASEAN to Myanmar but they apparently did little more than chat with junta representatives.
A press release uploaded on the official website of the ASEAN Secretariat, which was later removed, mentioned the assumed government leadership titles of Myanmar junta leader General Min Aung Hlaing and others who were present at the meeting, giving ASEAN’s de facto official recognition of the coup-makers and their bloody coup.
That prompted Jakarta Post editor Kornelius Purba to write in a June 9 op-ed: “Asean is now becoming the laughing stock in the eyes of the international community not only because it is failing to address the plights of the Myanmar people but also because it has fallen into the trap of Gen. Min Aung Hlaing.”
It is often forgotten that ASEAN is not a Southeast Asian equivalent of the EU; rather it’s a loose gathering of mainly un-democratic regimes guided by two cardinal principles — non-interference and consensus —that make it perennially impotent to resolve regional crises.
Indonesia is the only ASEAN member that has shown some willingness to address Myanmar’s problems and how they are spilling over into the wider region.
After holding talks with EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell in Jakarta on June 2, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said that her country is continuing to communicate with ASEAN’s chair — now Brunei — and other member states to demand an immediate end to killings and the release of over 4,000 political detainees.
ASEAN’s inaction is likely to China’s liking. While Beijing may be concerned with Myanmar’s rising internal strife and intensified civil war — which now includes not only traditional ethnic armies but also a multitude of local forces in areas that have not seen fighting for decades — it has shown time and again that it can work together with Myanmar’s generals.
China has big geostrategic interests to protect in Myanmar and Beijing has always sided with the political camp that appears to have the upper hand. For now, that’s Min Aung Hlaing’s unpopular junta.
Myanmar is the only neighboring country that provides China with direct access to the Indian Ocean. That allows Chinese shipments of fuel and other key imports to bypass the disputed waters of the South China Sea and the Malacca Strait chokepoint that Beijing fears could be blocked in any conflict scenario with the US.
The US is on the other side of the political divide in post-coup Myanmar. Starting in June, the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) announced that its two media networks, the Voice of America and Radio Free Asia, will launch a new 24-hour video channel for Myanmar.
According to a June 9 USAGM press release, the channel will be available on two different direct-to-home TV satellites covering Myanmar and is being launched in response to the junta’s “shutdown of independent media and its intermittent blocking of mobile phone services since the military’s February 1 coup.”
Civil society organizations inside the country and in exile will also get support from the US. But other than keeping hope alive among the general public, it is hard to see how this will affect the staying power of a military regime that is willing to brutally mow down civilians to survive.
An estimated 861 protesters had been shot dead by the Myanmar military since the coup until June 11, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, an independent rights group. AAPP released the names of 21 people who are known to have been tortured to death by the police and military since the coup.
Security and other analysts argue that neither civil disobedience nor armed struggle in frontier areas is likely to bring down the military. Only a crack within the military would do that, but there are few signs of any such significant dissent within the officer corps.
Still, it is in Washington’s strategic interest to strengthen the forces that are opposed to Myanmar’s military to avoid the country once again becoming a dependent client of China.
According to internal Myanmar army documents reviewed by Asia Times, it was top brass concern about the nation’s dependence on China and the need to counterbalance that with improved relations with the West that led to their introduction of a more open society in 2011-2012.
Relations with the West improved until the Myanmar army drove hundreds of thousands of Muslim Rohingyas over the border to Bangladesh in 2017 and pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi refused to condemn the atrocities.
While the US and EU have openly condemned the democratic reversal, Japan’s and even more so India’s responses to the upheaval have been less overtly critical. Japan has not joined the West in imposing new sanctions or even come out to strongly condemn the killings and torture of opponents to Min Aung Hlaing’s regime.
For the same reason, India now faces a huge dilemma and is particularly averse to China making deeper post-coup inroads into Myanmar. New Delhi doesn’t want to antagonize the Myanmar military, with which it has recently improved ties including through a submarine sale, at the same time it is the only country that so far has received a significant number of refugees.
According to local sources, there are now 21,000 refugees in the northeastern state of Mizoram and an unknown number in adjacent areas in Manipur.
Both states border Myanmar and the Mizos are closely related to the Chins across the border so local authorities have ignored appeals from the central government in New Delhi not to accept refugees from Myanmar. Chin state is one of the parts of Myanmar where armed conflict rages between the military and local resistance forces.
India and the US — both democracies with common strategic interests vis-à-vis China — should be natural allies in this otherwise unfathomable imbroglio. But that may not happen as China could seek to revive its old support for ethnic insurgents from India’s northeast who have sanctuaries across the border in Myanmar from where they launch occasional raids into India.
In the past, China provided mainly Naga, Manipuri and Assamese resistance groups with assistance. After India signed a trade pact with Taiwan in October last year, Beijing said it could retaliate by revitalizing such support.
Four months after Myanmar’s coup, the resulting crisis is no longer a mere internal affair. But what happens next in Myanmar is a question not even its most famous soothsayers and astrologers — nor Western political and military analysts — dare to predict.
The only certain thing is that Min Aung Hlaing did not anticipate the scale, scope and longevity of resistance to his democracy-suspending coup, a miscalculation that has exposed his country to new great power machinations and interventions that will further fuel the instability he stoked and can’t extinguish..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of publication:
2021-06-12
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-13
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Sanctions - general, Business and the Military, Sanctions, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Human Rights and international relations, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory
Language:
more
Description:
"Within a few days of the Feb. 1 coup, attention focused on pressuring the military coup-makers by blocking the military’s access to hard currency. There was a flurry of news about the US freezing Myanmar’s account at the Federal Reserve and Singapore’s banking authority stating that its checks had found “no significant funds from Myanmar companies and individuals” in Singapore banks. These statements presaged or coincided with US sanctions targeting members of the State Administration Council (SAC), their children, military enterprises and other parties that the US authorities deem responsible for the coup and the ongoing violence.
The list of sanctioned individuals and entities continues to expand. Interestingly, the SAC ruling body is now listed separately on the US Treasury’s sanctions list in addition to the individual listing of council members. Unless the US Treasury clarifies that this designation of SAC does not apply to the government ministries and departments that are now acting at its behest, the implication is that the entire government is now sanctioned.
As I previously wrote in this publication, US sanctions prohibit not only US individuals and companies from dealing with the sanctioned parties, but also prohibit financial transactions that involve US dollars or transit the US financial system, even if the party dealing with the sanctioned party is not a US individual or entity.
The effectiveness of sanctions therefore depends greatly on compliance by international banks. Despite assured statements from Singapore banking authorities, it is almost certain that banks in Singapore, a global financial center and the source of most foreign investment in Myanmar, hold sizable deposits of sanctioned Myanmar citizens and entities. There are also reports that Singaporean banks hold sums of Myanmar’s foreign reserves. Myanmar banks, including military-owned Myawaddy Bank, also have correspondent relationships with Chinese, Korean, Malaysian, Singaporean, Taiwanese and Thai banks.
In general, banks are the weak links in the sanctions regime and are some of the worst offenders, as evidenced by recent penalties of over US$15 billion imposed on the likes of BNP Paribas and HSBC. Despite implementing compliance programs and putting “know your customer” internal systems in place to screen transactions, banks may not always have the motivation to do rigorous checks.
By now, the measures taken by those wanting to evade sanction controls are well documented. These include falsifying and manipulating financial payment documents and using intermediaries to hide the parties to the transaction. For Myanmar sanctions compliance, banks should also update their compliance programs with “negative news” research of individuals and companies known for dealings with sanctioned parties. Banks should also be vigilant about not aiding the informal remittance networks (hundi) that are widely used to transfer money in and out of Myanmar.
Sanctioned individuals and entities are considered threats to the national security and foreign policy of the US, and consequently the US Treasury will aggressively pursue violations. Through its enforcement arm OFAC, the US Treasury has several resources to aid its work. Financial institutions may voluntarily disclose violations, possibly reducing potential penalties. OFAC also relies on information sharing with government agencies including the State Department, FBI, CIA and NSA. Whistleblowing from employees is another asset, and under federal law rewards of up to $1.6 million may be claimed if the bank has a presence in the US.
Banks are now on notice that any failure to conduct thorough checks and properly vet sanctioned parties may be tantamount to “trading with the enemy” of the US. After the record penalties totaling $15 billion on BNP Paribas ($8.9 billion), HSBC ($1.9 billion) and UBAF ($4.1 billion), OFAC is once again aggressively taking action against financial institutions. In January 2021 alone, OFAC imposed billion-dollar penalties on Saudi Arabia-based and France-based financial institutions for conducting business in US dollars on behalf of sanctioned parties. Similar actions are expected to increase under the Biden administration.
International financial institutions are now under the spotlight and face a clear choice: either fully commit to sanctions compliance or risk crippling penalties and losing access to the US financial system..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of publication:
2021-06-12
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-12
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Sanctions - general, USA-Burma relations, Banking, Business and the Military, Sanctions, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
more
Sub-title:
Experts say the EU's new sanctions against Myanmar raise questions over a contradiction in policy, which calls on ASEAN to take the lead in mediation. There is also concern over how effective the sanctions will be.
Description:
"Questions have been raised over the EU's exact objectives regarding Myanmar, after its foreign affairs chief, Josep Borrell, last Thursday said that a third round of sanctions will soon be imposed on the country's military and economic interests.
Following its February 1 coup, which overthrew the recently reelected civilian government headed by national icon Aung San Suu Kyi, the military is believed to have killed at least 845 people, the majority of whom were civilians who participated in nationwide pro-democracy protests.
The coup has also escalated the country's seven-decade-old insurgencies, with several ethnic militia groups now cooperating to oppose the junta. The National Unity Government, an underground government composed of opponents of the military junta, including ousted parliamentarians, also recently announced the creation of their own militia, the People's Defense Force.
As tensions continue to escalate, the majority of foreign powers, including the EU, have publicly backed the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bloc in taking the lead to mediate a resolution to the conflict.
Situation beyond ASEAN's reach
However, the situation now appears to be beyond the reach of ASEAN, for whom the Myanmar crisis represents its biggest and most difficult test in decades.
The junta's continued violence and repression go against the five-point consensus it agreed to with ASEAN in April. And Myanmar's pro-democracy movement now says it doesn't trust ASEAN's interlocutors, especially as there appears to be little chance that the bloc can mediate a deal that allows the now-banned National League for Democracy (NLD) to return to power, or even to politics.
Moreover, accusations have been made that the EU is sanctioning the same Myanmar officials that ASEAN may soon confer legitimacy upon, if the bloc's eventual resolution allows the junta to remain in power until new elections are held, which are likely to be rigged by the military.
The EU first agreed to impose sanctions on several officials in Myanmar's military junta and its aligned companies in mid-February. But it took several weeks for the measures to be formally adopted.
A second round of sanctions in April targeted a dozen more junta officials, as well as key military-owned conglomerates, Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited and Myanmar Economic Corporation.....A hazy relationship with oil companies: However, one notable exception so far from the sanctions list is the Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), a state-owned enterprise with close connections to the military's business assets.
"It is imperative that the EU sanctions Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise and junta-controlled banks to cut the flow of revenue financing the military's international crimes," said Yadanar Maung, spokesperson for Justice for Myanmar, a research activist group.
"The most significant single source of revenue for the military is from oil and gas, channeled through offshore accounts belonging to state-owned banks," Maung added. "This is wealth that belongs to the people of Myanmar, who have made clear their absolute rejection of the coup."
In late May, petroleum giants Total SA and Chevron — French and American-owned, respectively — announced that they had terminated cash payments to the junta, the dividends they derive from transporting gas from Myanmar's offshore Yadana field to the mainland and to neighboring Thailand.
Both international firms are majority owners of Moattama Gas Transportation Company, the pipeline company that transports the gas. MOGE owns a 15% share.
Maung also called on the EU to push for a global arms embargo on Myanmar. Brussels has frozen the sale and transfer of weapons to the country, while the United Nations earlier introduced a non-binding resolution for an arms embargo. However, the ASEAN bloc has opposed the UN resolution.
It remains to be seen whether MOGE, as well as other lucrative military-run entities, will be part of the new sanctions promised by Borrell last week during his visit to Jakarta.....'A comprehensive and balanced approach': Nabila Massrali, EU Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said she "would not speculate" on what the new sanctions will entail as they are still being discussed in Brussels.
Massrali described the bloc's measures as "a comprehensive and balanced approach," adding that: "These measures have been carefully crafted to avoid a further negative impact on the Myanmar population. They send a strong signal to the military junta that the EU holds them accountable for their actions and they impose clear costs on their behavior."
Given that EU sanctions were only imposed in March and April, she said it is "too soon to assess the impact of these measures."
In early May, a study made by 10 foreign chambers of commerce in Myanmar found that 13% of surveyed companies had ceased business activity in the country since the coup, and a third reported at least a 75% reduction in their activity.
According to some commentators, however, sanctions may have dented the military's coffers but are almost certain not to force it to its knees. After all, the military, known locally as the Tatmadaw, ruled Myanmar as a hermetic state from 1962 until 2011, when it tentatively accepted a democratic shift and allowed the NLD to form a civilian government after a resounding victory at the 2015 general election.
'No evidence' that sanctions are effective
"There is no evidence so far that the sanctions have caused any change within the military junta, which continues to use violence and imprisonment to silence democratic opposition," said Htwe Htwe Thein, an associate professor of international business at Curtin University in Perth.
In part, this is because almost none of the military's financial assets is held in EU bank accounts, and the majority of large foreign companies doing businesses in Myanmar aren't European. "Of course, there are travel and visa bans for key officials — so officials and their families cannot plan to go to Paris on holiday," Thein noted.
On the one hand, she added, EU sanctions have "symbolic effects" in supporting international condemnation of the junta's actions, and may also pressure other governments to follow suit. "Therefore, they are more effective than they seem," she said.
Yet many other nations haven't followed the EU's example. Singapore, the largest investor in Myanmar, has opposed sanctions, as have other major investors Japan and China.
Who is in charge of mediation?
Confusing matters further, the EU is ramping up its sanctions against Myanmar's junta, but at the same time, is trusting the ASEAN bloc to mediate a solution that may end up conferring legitimacy on the same people that Brussels has targeted.
The EU "should be very careful and discerning in allowing ASEAN to lead the diplomatic efforts and set agendas," said Thien.
When announcing further sanctions on a visit to Jakarta last week, EU foreign policy chief Borrell reiterated that efforts "to find a political solution for the Myanmar situation belongs to ASEAN." He added that the regional bloc's interlocutors are "doing the best possible job."
Not everyone agrees. Even Thailand, whose current ruling party and prime minister came to power through a military coup in 2014, said this week it was concerned that Myanmar's junta is not sticking to the five-point "consensus" it agreed to with ASEAN in April, which committed the military to ending violence and opening political talks with other groups.
Following the visit last week by two ASEAN envoys to Naypyitaw, the National Unity Government said, "we no longer have any faith in ASEAN's efforts, and we have no expectation."
Last weekend, pro-democracy protesters in Mandalay, Myanmar's second-largest city, set fire to ASEAN flags to show their anger at the bloc's ongoing talks with the junta.
Brussels may have backed itself into a corner by imposing sanctions, yet intimating that it will support an ASEAN-led resolution to the crisis.
'A compromised solution'
"If ASEAN finds a 'solution' it would be a very compromised solution — such as scarcely believable promises of future 'free and fair elections' and an end to military violence against pro-democracy supporters," said Thein.
"Chances are that the EU wouldn't be able to accept such false 'solutions,' given the EU's democratic values and policies. What to do then?," she added.
Indeed, if Brussels follows an ASEAN outcome that essentially accepts the junta as the legitimate government of Myanmar, then the EU will presumably have to end its sanctions. If not, and sanctions remain, Brussels will be seen as disagreeing with ASEAN's resolution.
The EU spokesperson did not directly address this issue when asked by DW.
"Violence and repression will not grant legitimacy to the military junta. Only a credible political dialogue, aimed at restoring the democratic institutions and which takes into account the will of Myanmar's people, as expressed in last November's elections, can ensure sustainable peace and a credible democracy," Massrali said, referring to the NLD's victory at a general election last year, which the military argued was rigged.
"The EU will monitor closely the developments and re-assess its policy, including in relation to sanctions, based on the situation on the ground."
Source/publisher:
"DW News" (Germany)
Date of publication:
2021-06-09
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-10
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Sanctions - general, European Union-Burma relations - European Parliament, Sanctions, Business and the Military, ASEAN-Burma relations, Burma's economic relations with the European Union, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, National Unity Government (NUG)
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Description:
"Last week, in a public letter, Human Rights Watch called on the leaders of the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany, and Japan to take concrete and decisive action facing the unprecedented challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic and global warming, as well as by worrying developments in China, Israel/Palestine, Belarus, Russia, and Myanmar, ahead of the G7 Summit on June 11-13. G7 members should use this Summit to collectively reaffirm and demonstrate their commitment to international human rights law and deliver on its promise to build back better.
June 2, 2021
Dear G7 leaders,
As the world undergoes profound changes, the forthcoming G7 Summit meeting to be held on 11-13 June should deliver on its promise to build back better. The respect and advancement of human rights are intrinsic to building back better, yet human rights are facing unprecedented challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic and global warming, as well as by worrying developments in China, Israel/Palestine, Belarus, Russia, and Myanmar.
The G7 Summit should be an opportunity for the assembled Heads of State and Government to collectively reaffirm and demonstrate their commitment to international human rights law through concrete and decisive actions.
In that regard, I am writing to draw your attention to recommendations made by Human Rights Watch that we urge the G7 to adopt at the Carbis Bay summit.
Covid-19
The Covid-19 pandemic has precipitated human rights crises across the globe, with widespread and devastating social and economic consequences. While the scale and severity of the pandemic’s public health threat justified some restrictions on rights, many governments ignored public health guidance and even used the pandemic as a pretext to abusively strengthen their grip on power. Meanwhile, rich governments have made opaque deals and prebooked the vast majority of vaccine supplies, exacerbating inequalities and largely opposing measures that could ensure poorer countries’ quicker and more affordable access to vaccines. Human Rights Watch calls on G7 members to urgently change course and ensure a rights-respecting exit from this public health crisis by:
Supporting India’s and South Africa’s proposal at the World Trade Organization (WTO) to temporarily waive certain intellectual property rights under the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). While we applaud the US government's decision to support a waiver and Japan's announcement that it would no longer obstruct text-based negotiations at the WTO’s TRIPS Council, we deeply regret that negotiations on the proposal remain stalled because other G7 members are still undecided or in opposition. Human Rights Watch is among the hundreds of civil society organizations around the world urging support for the TRIPS waiver to expand access to lifesaving vaccines and other health products. The measure has received increasing support ever since its initial proposal in October, including by 175 Nobel laureates and former Heads of State and Government, and the Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO); and
Boosting manufacturing capacity in the developing world. While we welcome G7 leaders' attention to purchasing and distributing vaccine doses through the COVAX facility, which is worryingly underfunded, we urge the countries attending the G7 summit to go further by committing financial and logistical resources to develop a plan of action to scale up manufacturing and to use their regulatory powers and funding clout to enable technology transfers and sharing of data, know-how, and other intellectual property through open and non-exclusive licensing.
Human Rights Watch also calls on G7 members to support all governments’ ability to provide urgent economic relief to people whose livelihoods have been devastated by the pandemic, including by:
Exercising their outsize voting power on the boards of the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and regional development banks to enable robust investment in public health systems and bottom-up economic relief. Members should use all avenues available to them to promote transparent and accountable use of pandemic-related funding. At the same time, they should oppose conditionalities that harm rights, such as imposing fiscal targets that force governments to cut spending on health, education, housing, and social protection;
Increasing and directing development assistance to scale up social protection systems. Such assistance could help co-finance social protection floors during the time of crisis, and provide financial and technical support to put in place more permanent structures; and
Supporting debt relief where it interferes with governments' ability to provide economic relief essential to people's rights or to procure Covid-19 vaccines or other health products.
Climate Change
Since 2016, the G7 governments have all committed to phase out “inefficient” fossil fuel subsidies by 2025, a commitment reiterated last week by the G7 Climate and Environment Ministers. To fulfill this commitment, Human Rights Watch encourages the G7 to:
Deliver time-bound and transparent action plans this year detailing how G7 members will meet stated commitment to phase out fossil fuel subsidies by 2025; and
Immediately commit to no new international public finance for coal, oil, or natural gas projects, and to deliver time-bound and transparent action plans this year detailing how they will eliminate existing support for fossil fuels from international public finance institutions by 2025, including indirect support such as through related infrastructure, advisory services, technical assistance, or financial intermediaries.
China
The Chinese government is deepening repression in mainland China as well as Hong Kong, and is seeking to muzzle critics abroad. It is arbitrarily detaining human rights defenders and lawyers, tightening control over civil society, media, and the internet, and deploying invasive mass surveillance technology. The government imposes particularly heavy-handed control in the ethnic minority regions of Xinjiang and is responsible for serious, widespread and systemic violations against Uyghurs and other Muslims that amount to crimes against humanity. In this regard, Human Rights Watch urges the G7 to:
Call on the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to proceed with an investigation into grave abuses in Xinjiang, -even absent access to China, noting Beijing’s intransigence with regard to access and cooperation;
Pursue G7-wide coordinated targeted sanctions against officials responsible for abuses. An obvious target should be Chen Quanguo, the Chinese Communist Party Secretary of Xinjiang, and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (only the US has sanctioned these two; other recent sanctions have focused on lower-level officials);
Insist that those responsible for crimes against humanity in Xinjiang should be held accountable and face justice; and
Support and commit to work for the establishment of a standing mandate at the UN Human Rights Council to monitor and report on human rights violations across China.
Israel-Palestine
Israel maintains entrenched discriminatory systems that methodically privilege Jewish Israelis and discriminate against Palestinians. To maintain Jewish Israeli control over demographics, political power, and land, Israeli authorities have dispossessed, confined, forcibly separated, and subjugated Palestinians by virtue of their identity to varying degrees of intensity. In certain areas, the deprivations perpetrated by the Israeli government against the Palestinian population are so severe that they amount to the crimes against humanity of apartheid and persecution. Considering these crimes, Human Rights Watch calls on the G7 to:
Urge the Israeli government to ensure without delay to Palestinians in the occupied territory protection of the civil rights that they are entitled to, using as a guide the protections it ensures for its own citizens; and to assess Israel’s conduct on this basis;
Issue statements expressing concern about the Israeli government’s practice of apartheid and persecution;
Vet agreements, cooperation schemes, and all forms of trade and dealing with Israel to screen for those directly contributing to the commission of the crimes of apartheid and persecution against Palestinians, mitigate the human rights impacts, and, where not possible, end the activities and funding found to facilitate these crimes;
Support the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in its ongoing investigation into crimes committed in Palestine, including into individuals credibly implicated in the crimes against humanity of apartheid and persecution; and
Urge Israel to reverse its policy of denying access to the Gaza Strip to human rights organizations seeking to investigate violations of human rights and international humanitarian law.
Russia
Repression in Russia is the most severe than it has ever been in the post-Soviet era and targets political opposition, critical media, peaceful protesters, independent groups, foreign organizations, and internet traffic. Russia is also responsible for assassinations and assassination attempts of Russians abroad. Human Rights Watch, therefore, urges the G7 to:
Jointly and publicly condemn the unprecedented crackdown on human rights defenders and civil society and restrictions on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly, association and expression;
Jointly call on Russia to repeal the “foreign agents” legislation and the law on “undesirable” organizations, to amend the vague and overly broad extremism legislation, to end politically motivated prosecutions, and to stop all forms of persecution and harassment of human rights defenders, lawyers, journalists, and other civil society activists; and
Urge Russia to release Alexey Navalny, drop abusive charges against him, drop the extremism court case against his organization, ensure effective investigation of the credible allegations that Federal Security Service officers poisoned him with Novichok nerve agent in 2020, and stop harassing, intimidating, detaining, and persecuting his supporters and other peaceful civic activists.
Belarus
In Belarus, the political opposition, democracy activists, lawyers, human rights groups, and independent media face severe abuses, including arbitrary arrests, bogus charges and trials, enforced disappearances, torture, and dismissals by the authorities. A shocking illustration of this repression occurred on May 23, when the government forced a civilian plane traveling between two EU member state capitals to land in Minsk and arbitrarily arrested prominent activist and journalist Raman Pratasevich and his girlfriend, Sofya Sapega. In the face of such acts, Human Rights Watch calls on the G7 to:
Continue to jointly and consistently condemn the widespread, brutal crackdown on rights and peaceful protesters in Belarus, the politically motivated arrests of key opposition figures, and efforts to intimidate and silence dissenters, workers, students, journalists, human rights activists, and others peacefully exercising their rights to free expression and assembly;
Condemn in the strongest terms the actions that led to the arbitrary arrest and detention of Pratasevich and Sapega, and convey serious concerns that they are at grave risk of torture and face long prisons terms on spurious charges;
Press the Belarusian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release all prisoners held arbitrarily such as for political reasons, including all those arrested in relation to the protests against the August 2020 presidential elections, journalists, media workers, bloggers, and human rights defenders;
Use all means possible, including further targeted sanctions against individuals and entities involved in the crackdown and continued impunity, to put pressure on the Belarusian authorities to put an end to gross and widespread human rights violations committed in the country since August 2020;
Condemn the continued impunity for grave violations of international human rights law, including torture, ill-treatment, sexual violence, enforced disappearances, and killings by security forces, as well as the disproportionate and lethal use of weapons; and
Insist that those responsible for serious violations of international law must face justice, and pledge G7 support for the UN Fact-finding mission established by the Human Rights Council, and for the Accountability Platform supported by a large group of states from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to gather, analyse, and preserve evidence of human rights violations in Belarus with a view to support justice for grave crimes.
Myanmar
In Myanmar, on top of the hundreds of killings and thousands of arrests since the 1 February coup, of increasing concern are attacks on the media, including the arrests of journalists who are citizens of G7 countries. The military has raided the offices of newspapers and online media and banned media outlets and satellite television. More than 70 journalists have been arrested since the coup, of whom at least 48 remain in detention. Meanwhile, the escalation of armed conflict in ethnic minority areas has forced almost 60,000 people to flee their homes. The country’s humanitarian situation is worsening across the board, with food and economic security plummeting. The United Nations Development Programme has warned that half of Myanmar’s population, about 25 million people, could be living below the national poverty line by early 2022. Despite the desperate situation, the people of Myanmar continue to protest and actively oppose the military. Civil society, protest leaders, and representatives of the democratically elected government are all continuing to call on the international community to impose economic sanctions on the companies that benefit the Myanmar military. They are calling on the G7 to act. Human Rights Watch consequently appeals to the G7 to:
Adopt a tougher position on imposing economic sanctions and other economic measures to target the Myanmar military and its leaders. Sanctions imposed so far — on military leaders and companies, including MEC and MEHL and the gemstone and timber enterprises — are an important step forward. But governments now need to better target the massive foreign currency revenues that are bankrolling the military and giving it the capacity to purchase weapons and other items on the international market — transactions that are almost entirely conducted in currencies of G7 members. Every month, hundreds of millions of US dollars are paid to entities that are either already sanctioned by most G7 members or controlled by sanctioned entities. This flow of funds can and should be stopped. The G7 should announce new measures to target those revenues, focusing more on financial institutions that process payments that benefit sanctioned entities;
Adopt a common position, or state unilaterally, that they support efforts to table a UN Security Council draft imposing a global arms embargo on Myanmar; and
Signal that they will pursue all possible avenues for international justice, which include support for investigative efforts by UN bodies, referral of the situation to the International Criminal Court, and, where applicable, investigation under domestic law under universal jurisdiction laws. It is essential that G7 governments demonstrate to the junta that its abuses — and unwillingness to engage meaningfully with the UN and outside actors about restoring democratic rule — is coming at a severe cost to its economic interests and standing on the international stage, and that engaging in atrocities with impunity will result in international efforts to hold its leadership criminally liable.
Hoping for concrete and decisive action by the G7 at the Corbis Bay summit, I remain at your disposal should you require any further information.
Yours sincerely,
Kenneth Roth
Executive Director
Human Rights Watch..."
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Watch (USA)
Date of publication:
2021-06-08
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-09
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Human Rights Watch Reports on Burma/Myanmar, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Sanctions - general, Human Rights and international relations, Business and the Military, Sanctions
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Sub-title:
Crisis Group Asia Briefing N°166
Description:
"The Myanmar military took the world by surprise on 1 February, staging a coup d’état that abruptly curtailed the country’s democratic transition and has sparked mass protests that could lead to deadly violence. The generals say their move is con-stitutional, alleging fraud in November 2020 elections that saw the National League for Democracy (NLD) defeat the military-backed party. These claims lack substantiation. The detention of civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, as well as her anointed president, Win Myint, has generated immense popular anger. Foreign governments are now grappling with how to respond. Some (largely Western) governments threaten sanctions to punish democratic backsliding; the U.S. has already imposed some re-
strictions. Asian powers that have expressed concern focus on the risk of instability. Governments that impose sanctions should adopt measures that target coup leaders and insulate Myanmar’s people and broader economy from their effects. Regional governments should consider such steps to protect regional stability. All external actors should cooperate to prevent violence. Complicating efforts by foreign governments to react is a dynamic situation on the ground. The new regime has tried to tamp down protests by issuing a curfew order
that prohibits public gatherings of five or more people, rolling back some reforms that protected civil liberties and using heavy-handed crowd control devices such as water cannons and rubber bullets (compounded, some reports suggest, by live fire in some instances). Still, demonstrations show no sign of abating. Indeed, the junta’s
sharp response, which resulted in the reported killing of at least one person, appears to have drawn even more people onto the streets, including in the capital city of Naypyitaw, suggesting significant support among government workers. The security forces’ approach could take an even darker turn fast. Soldiers and armoured vehicles
have begun to reinforce the police lines and, should the generals become impatient with the status quo, could easily become the sharp end of a bloody crackdown, as has happened in the past.
Responses around the world have varied. Many governments denounced the military takeover. The UN Security Council issued a press statement expressing “deep concern” about the “arbitrary detention” of members of the government, calling for the release of those detained and emphasising the need to “uphold democratic
institutions and processes, refrain from violence, and fully respect human rights, fundamental freedoms and the rule of law”. For Western governments invested in Myanmar’s democratic transition, initial statements were only an opening salvo. U.S. President Joe Biden has already approved sanctions on coup leaders, their business
interests and close kin, and redirected more than $40 million of aid from the Myanmar government to civil society. New Zealand rejected “the legitimacy of the militaryled government” and suspended high-level military and political contacts. Asian governments and commentators have been more muted; many expressed concern for regional stability, but prominent voices have cautioned against a severe international reaction unlikely, in their eyes, to sway the generals.Western leaders will have to thread a needle. Targeted sanctions and the like can serve as a signal to the generals in Myanmar and others similarly inclined elsewhere.
Sanctions might impose costs that will not reverse the coup but could offer modest leverage or deterrence in the future. Some measures, such as cutting off weapons shipments, can also help ensure those governments previously supplying arms are not complicit should the military again use force against Myanmar’s people. Yet sanctions should be formulated with a clear grasp of their shortfalls. Prior to Myanmar’s transition that began in 2010, the U.S., EU and others imposed ferocious sanctions that, alongside the junta’s economic mismanagement, harmed the population.
The sanctions alienated Myanmar’s neighbours, which saw them as disproportionate, creating an unhelpful West-versus-East dynamic that inhibited cooperation.
Sanctions did not play a decisive role in Myanmar’s 2011 democratic opening. Steering a policy course today requires humility about and historical perspective on external actors’ limited sway over internal developments. Still, outside powers can take useful steps. Governments wanting to signal the importance of a return to democracy should – as the U.S. has done – adopt tailored
measures that seek to punish those responsible for the 1 February actions but avoid penalising the country’s population who are the coup’s victims and, in many cases, are risking their lives protesting it. Such punitive measures could include sanctions on military-owned enterprises, provided they do not hurt the broader economy and
the people. Myanmar’s neighbours should join these efforts – whether or not, given their own systems, they are concerned about democracy in Myanmar – to help push the generals onto to a more stable path. All governments should suspend delivery and sales of weapons and other defence and dual-use equipment during this volatile period and maintain this policy until genuine civilian government is restored..."
Source/publisher:
International Crisis Group (Belgium)
Date of publication:
2021-02-16
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-08
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Human Rights and international relations, Anti-coup protesters, Sanctions - general, Sanctions, Business and the Military, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory
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Sub-title:
Washington has choices, from imposing no-fly zones to tightening sanctions.
Description:
"While the U.S. Congress is considering modifications of the Biden administration’s modest sanctions on Myanmar’s military junta, some voices among the protesters have called on the United States and the international community to consider armed intervention. Myanmar’s ambassador to the United Nations for the pre-coup Union Government, Kyaw Moe Tun, who continues to oppose the junta from abroad, asked the U.N. Security Council to enforce a no-fly zone over the country and impose a global arms embargo.
The United States has had a unilateral arms embargo on trade with Myanmar since 1988, and Congress has placed restrictions on U.S. relations with the country’s military since 2011. In addition, there are a range of options on the table for harder interventions, although some are more plausible than others.
This article does not advocate or endorse any U.S. military action in Myanmar in response to the Feb. 1 coup; the goal is to provide a brief overview of the options and examine the merits of each option. Given the impending end to two decades of U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan, military options in Myanmar are unlikely to be popular with either the Biden administration or Congress. Yet, as opposition calls for aid grow, it’s worth examining what the scope of U.S. military action could be.
The most dramatic—and unlikely—option would be a full-scale invasion of Myanmar, either unilaterally (like the U.S. invasion of Panama in December 1989) or multilaterally (like the 1990 war against Iraq). Such an invasion would probably focus on the nation’s central axis along the Irrawaddy River, including the key cities of Mandalay, Naypyidaw, and Yangon. Because of the presence of anti-junta ethnic armed organizations in the seven ethnic minority states of Myanmar (Chin, Kachin, Kayah, Kayin, Mon, Rakhine, and Shan) that have long fought the central government, U.S. forces would probably see limited actions in those parts of Myanmar.
Although Myanmar’s military has reportedly purchased some advanced military equipment and supplies from China, Israel, Russia, and Ukraine, advancing U.S. troops would be unlikely to face sustained resistance. Myanmar’s military has sustained serious casualties in the last two years in fighting against ethnic militias—such as the Arakan Army, the Kachin Independence Army, and the Karen National Liberation Army—which do not possess the resources of the U.S. military. Not surprisingly, morale among Myanmar’s security forces is reportedly low, with many soldiers wishing to resign or defect to the anti-junta opposition.
While an actual invasion might be relatively simple, an occupation would be much more difficult. The recent unity in Myanmar in opposition to the Feb. 1 coup does not extend to any consensus on what form of government should be established after the removal of the military junta. For example, the proposed National Unity Government announced by the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, a small group of largely National League for Democracy politicians who were supposed to become members of the legislature before the coup overturned the election results, has received lukewarm support from the major ethnic armed groups and the civil society organizations behind the civil disobedience movement. Following an invasion, the Biden administration could find itself responsible for a politically fractious nation—and face a wary reaction from some of the ethnic armed organizations.
A U.S. invasion of Myanmar also would likely be condemned by China, Russia, Thailand, and other nations. China would perceive the presence of U.S. forces in a neighboring country as a serious security threat and increase its military forces along the border. Thailand would certainly be concerned, given that its current government is the result of a similar military coup in 2014. Without the support of other nations, the United States could find itself isolated and subject to widespread international criticism.
Another military option that has been suggested is for the United States to establish a no-fly zone over Myanmar to prevent the Myanmar military from using its fixed-wing aircraft and attack helicopters against the ethnic militias and the local groups known as civil defense forces that are springing up in various parts of the country. A no-fly zone would rebalance the fighting to the advantage of the civil and ethnic armed groups, possibly leading to the defeat of the Myanmar military.
One of the main challenges of this proposal would be establishing and maintaining the logistical support to sustain the no-fly zone. An aircraft carrier off the coast of Myanmar in the Bay of Bengal could be sufficient to provide the air coverage, but some form of land-based supply system would also be necessary, especially if the no-fly zone became a sustained effort.
It would be difficult to find a nearby nation willing to allow the United States to set up such a logistical support center. India is not a likely candidate; nor is Thailand. Australia and Japan are probably too far away to be practical alternatives.
Also, while the elimination of air support for Myanmar’s troops would alter the situation on the battlefield, Myanmar’s military would still be able to deploy its artillery and other heavy land equipment. As such, it is unclear how significant a change the establishment of a no-fly zone would be in the balance of power in Myanmar’s ongoing and intensifying civil war.
The creation of a blockade off of Myanmar’s coast is another military option. Such a blockade could include shutting down Myanmar’s natural gas and oil production, which is a major source of international revenue for the military junta.
From a military perspective, the maintenance of a blockade would involve less resources than a no-fly zone. Myanmar does not have a blue-water navy of any size or capability to challenge a U.S. blockade. Yet most of Myanmar’s international trade is conducted by land, not by sea. Myanmar’s major trading partners are China and Thailand, and most of the goods are exchanged by land, thereby evading such a blockade. Both China and Thailand might be willing to assist Myanmar’s military junta by permitting blocked goods to enter Myanmar via their territory.
The U.S. military could also conduct a limited number of airstrikes against key Myanmar military installations to undermine its ability to use its air force in the fighting against the ethnic armed groups and civil defense forces. It also could target Myanmar’s weapons and munitions factories. For many years, Myanmar’s military has been producing most of its light weapons and equipment in military-run factories. Airstrikes against Myanmar’s military air bases and/or its weapons factories could seriously compromise the junta’s ability to continue the civil war.
An advantage of limited airstrikes over an invasion or the maintenance of a no-fly zone is it would involve a relatively discrete amount of time and resources, but it could seriously weaken the military. Also, U.S. casualties would be minimal, as the number of airstrikes necessary to seriously damage Myanmar’s air force and weapons production is fairly small given Myanmar’s minimal air defense capabilities.
There would undoubtably be some international criticism of the airstrikes, most likely from China, Russia, and Thailand. It is unlikely that China would attempt to intercept the U.S. airstrikes, given the risk of direct confrontation. The airstrikes might also provide moral support for Myanmar’s opposition movement, as it would be a clear demonstration of U.S. opposition to the military junta.
Yet there are downsides. First, the U.S. military would probably have to return periodically to attack the air bases and weapons factories again, after repairs had been made. Second, the damage caused by the airstrikes might not be sufficient to alter the military balance of power in favor of the opposition armed groups. Limited U.S. airstrikes in other nations, such as Libya and Syria, have not always proved to be as effective as hoped.
A less discussed option is providing military assistance and training to the ethnic armed organizations and civil defense force in support of their war against the military junta. This could involve the provision of arms and military equipment to the major ethnic militias and the newly established civil ones, as well as combat training for their officers.
Such a program would be a significant change in U.S. policy, which has denied such assistance and training to Myanmar’s military for more than 30 years. It would also clearly place the United States behind the opposition movement, which may not win the war against the Myanmar military.
China, in contrast, has been a major provider of military assistance and training for both the Myanmar military and some of the major ethnic armed groups for decades. The provision of U.S. support to the ethnic militias would improve U.S. relations with those groups, but it may antagonize China in the process, unless there is an agreement between the two nations.
Another important consideration is the long-term implications of U.S. military support for anti-government opposition forces. Recent U.S. experience with such endeavors has been rather mixed. In some cases, what were at one time allies became enemies, such as in Afghanistan. Given the history of disagreements between Myanmar’s ethnic armed organizations, supplying them with weapons and military training may precipitate an outbreak of these groups fighting each other after the defeat of the Myanmar military.
A final option to consider is the further international isolation of Myanmar’s military, especially its commissioned officers. This could involve an international arms embargo, the freezing of military financial assets overseas, a travel embargo on the Myanmar military’s commissioned officers, and/or the instigation of criminal charges against the heads of the junta. Bertil Lintner, a renowned expert on Myanmar, recently wrote an article advocating the extraterritorial prosecution of the junta’s leaders as an alternative to the types of sanctions being implemented by the Biden administration and other governments.
Previous efforts in the U.N. Security Council to impose an arms embargo on Myanmar have been blocked by China and Russia. The U.N. General Assembly is supposed to consider a non-binding resolution calling for a global arms embargo on Myanmar; a proposal backed by the Biden administration.
But in addition, the Biden administration could apply indirect pressure on nations to join the United States in isolating the Myanmar military. For example, it could make the continued provision of U.S. military assistance and training contingent on severing any ties to the Myanmar military. Alternatively, the U.S. Treasury could ban any American financial institution from providing financial services that involve the transfer of funds to accounts owned or controlled by the Myanmar military or its officers, as well as restrict financial services to foreign financial institutions that provide financial services to the Myanmar military. In its relative simplicity, and in following on from similar measures against Iran, this may be the most appealing option to the Biden administration and Congress—even if it doesn’t match the hopes of the opposition..."
Source/publisher:
"Foreign Policy" (USA)
Date of publication:
2021-05-24
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-07
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, USA-Burma relations, Sanctions - general, Business and the Military, Sanctions, Anti-coup protesters, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory
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Description:
"Pressure is growing on foreign governments as elected parliamentarians and campaign groups push for sanctions on Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE) and state banks, which are now under junta control.
On Tuesday, 40 French parliamentarians called on their government to advocate for EU sanctions against MOGE, describing it as a “significant financial windfall for the junta”.
The parliamentarians also demanded official recognition for the National Unity Government and Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw.
In April, six US senators wrote to US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken urging for sanctions on MOGE.
“History shows that when the junta was previously in place in the 1990s, gas revenues from Total and Chevron/Unocal helped them to withstand international sanctions as their reserves dwindled. This time, we believe that the Tatmadaw must be entirely prevented from accessing a steady stream of international resources,” the senators wrote.
In the same month, the Washington Post published an editorial advocating for action on oil and gas revenue flows to the junta.
“The Biden administration can break this impasse by enacting sanctions on MOGE. These could be tailored to allow Total and Chevron to continue gas production — provided they do not transfer profits. Alternatively, the Treasury department could sanction the bank accounts in Thailand and Singapore that MOGE uses to collect royalties,” the paper proposed.
Civil society pressure
Campaign groups have stepped up efforts in recent weeks.
On May 25, Daniel Eriksson, CEO of global anti-corruption organisation Transparency International sent a letter to European Commission Vice-President Josep Borrell Fontelles calling for EU action on oil and gas revenue flowing to Myanmar’s military junta.
“The junta will likely use [oil and gas] revenues to sustain its control of the government apparatus, finance atrocities against the local population, purchase arms and seize portions for private gain,” Daniel wrote.
The letter called for EU sanctions on MOGE, Myanma Foreign Trade Bank and Myanmar Investment and Commercial Bank, the intermediary banks that collect oil and gas revenue.
Campaigners intensified calls for sanctions in response to an announcement by TotalEnergies and Chevron to suspend dividend payments from the Yadana pipeline project, costing the junta tens of millions of dollars.
On Friday, 408 civil society organisations issued a statement demanding that TotalEnergies and Chevron “support targeted sanctions rather than lobbying for exemptions as you have in the past.”
TotalEnergies Chairperson Patrick Pouyanné told its shareholder meeting last week that the company would comply with any further sanctions.
Human Rights Watch responded to TotalEnergies and Chevron announcement, stating that a suspension of pipeline profits is not enough without targeted sanctions.
“Chevron and Total’s recent decision is a step in the right direction, but it affects less than 5 percent of the natural gas revenue the Myanmar junta receives,” said John Sifton of Human Rights Watch. “To have real impact, governments and companies need to go further to stop the junta from receiving funds or accessing bank accounts that receive payments.”
Human Rights Watch has also drawn attention to the role played by Thai oil company PTT and called ongovernments that have sanctioned military conglomerates to push Japan, Singapore and Thailand to adopt similar measures.
Global Witness called for targeted sanctions and for oil and gas funds to be kept in a protected account, echoing an earlier demand from the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw.
“In order to capture the remainder of these revenues the international community must place targeted economic sanctions on the military’s economic interests in the oil and gas industry. This will ensure that all payments related to the sale of Myanmar’s natural gas are held for the benefit of a future, legitimate government rather than funding the military regime,” said Keel Dietz of Global Witness.
Myanmar was forecast to earn 2,305 billion kyat (about US$1.4 billion) from oil and gas in the year to March 2022, according to a Myanmar budget document drawn up before the coup. The sector is expected to contribute just over 10% of total government revenues this year..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2021-06-05
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-06
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Sanctions - general, Sanctions, Business and the Military, Oil and gas, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Description:
"The Special Advisory Council for Myanmar (SAC-M) is launching a live record of actions taken since the attempted coup in Myanmar by States, businesses, and other entities – including sanctions, operation suspensions and divestments – that contribute to cutting the junta’s finances. SAC-M is calling for a global ‘Three Cuts’ strategy against the junta in Myanmar: cut the weapons, cut the cash, cut the impunity.
The live record can be found here: https://specialadvisorycouncil.org/cut-the-cash/
The junta in Myanmar – once the Myanmar military – is infamous for having a long-established and complex web of commercial interests composed of military-linked companies and subsidiaries, State-owned enterprises, and private crony companies. The wealth generated through this corrupt system that spans Myanmar’s economy creates immense personal wealth for the junta’s leadership and enables its forces to carry out massive human rights violations across the country.
“The junta relies heavily on revenues from domestic and foreign business deals to support its operations and insulate its leaders from the extreme economic hardship they are forcing on the rest of the country” says Chris Sidoti of SAC-M. “Cutting off the junta’s multi-million-dollar income is essential to support the people’s Civil Disobedience Movement, halt the junta’s massive human rights violations and hold the perpetrators accountable. This live record is intended to highlight who has taken action and who has not.”
Since launching a coup on 1 February 2021, the junta’s forces have murdered at least 840 people – including dozens of children – abducted and detained thousands, and committed brazen acts of torture, sexual and gender-based violence and other forms of extreme brutality. The junta has launched airstrikes and fired heavy artillery into towns and villages in rural areas. Tens, or even hundreds, of thousands of people are newly displaced from their homes both in the cities and towns and along Myanmar’s western and eastern borders.
Responding to the many calls from Myanmar civil society organizations, States, businesses and other entities have begun taking action against the junta such as with targeted sanctions, operation suspensions and divestments. SAC-M acknowledges and welcomes the efforts and actions taken so far and will continue to track future actions as well as their implementation.
“States and business enterprises have international legal obligations to respect human rights and must do the utmost to avoid that their activities and businesses cause adverse human rights impacts,” says Marzuki Darusman of SAC-M. “In view of these obligations, as part of the UN Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar, we called in 2019 for complete economic disengagement from the Myanmar military, military leaders and their families, and corporations and businesses owned or controlled by the military. Those calls remain critical today.”
SAC-M maintains that economic sanctions will work in Myanmar insofar as they are targeted at cutting the junta’s finances. Besides economic disengagement from the Myanmar military, the Fact-Finding Mission also called for the promotion of economic ties and engagement with non-military companies in Myanmar as a means of building the non-military sector of the economy.
The inescapable fact is that at the moment it is impossible to do business in Myanmar. Under the current circumstances, businesses should be supporting the anti-coup resistance by suspending all operations in Myanmar apart from essential humanitarian operations.
However, in time the removal of the junta from the economy will create the legal and economic environment where corruption can be addressed seriously for the first time. It will open up greatly expanded opportunities for non-military businesses, local and foreign. Private business will be needed for the long-delayed economic development of Myanmar.
With the live record, SAC-M intends to provide an overview of actions taken so far by States, businesses and other financial entities since 1 February 2021 towards cutting all direct or indirect financial support to the junta. The record is intended as a living document that SAC-M will continue to maintain and update as necessary. SAC-M encourages business enterprises, including those that may not be mentioned in this record, to inform SAC-M of any relevant action undertaken with regard to their economic activities in Myanmar.
The record lists business enterprises that have proactively taken actions against the junta as a result of the coup and the ensuing human rights violations committed against civilians, who have resisted the unlawful attempted takeover of power. It does not include companies that had to suspend their business activities because of actions of the Civil Disobedience Movement.
“There are already signs that these collective cuts to the junta’s finances are starting to bite,” says Yanghee Lee of SAC-M. “It is essential that we continue to build the pressure. A priority is coordinated international sanctions on the junta’s extractive industry so-called State-owned enterprises – including Myanmar Timber Enterprise, Myanmar Gems Enterprise, and of course, Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise. I first raised my concerns over these entities as UN Special Rapporteur in 2019. They are central to the junta’s finances, and it will use them to exploit every last inch of Myanmar’s natural wealth while oppressing the people and driving the country to ruin.”
Cutting the junta’s finances is part of a global ‘Three Cuts’ strategy that SAC-M is calling for: cut the junta’s arms supply through comprehensive arms embargos, cut the cash flow through targeted economic sanctions, and cut the junta’s impunity through referral to the International Criminal Court and other accountability mechanisms. The progress of all ‘Three Cuts’ will be tracked on SAC-M’s website..."
Source/publisher:
Special Advisory Council for Myanmar
Date of publication:
2021-06-04
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-05
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Human Rights and international relations, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Sanctions - general, Business and the Military, Sanctions, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Description:
"The European Union will impose a new round of sanctions on Myanmar's military junta and its economic interests in the coming days, EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell told Reuters on Thursday.
In an interview in Jakarta after meetings with Southeast Asian diplomats, Borrell said the fresh sanctions from the EU would be the third batch introduced since the military ousted Myanmar's democratically-elected government on Feb. 1.
"There is a third row of sanctions in preparation that will be approved (in) the coming days (targeting) personnel of the military junta and also the entity that represents the economic interests of the military," he said.
Since the coup, EU sanctions have frozen assets or applied travel bans on 21 military and civilian members of Myanmar's junta. European citizens and companies are also forbidden from making funds available to those sanctioned.
The bloc's last round of sanctions in April targeted military-owned conglomerates Myanma Economic Holdings Limited (MEHL) and Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC), barring EU investors and banks from doing business with them.
The EU sanctions, along with those of other Western powers, have yet to persuade the junta to cede to their demands to restore democracy, release political detainees or begin dialogue with members of the ousted government, many of whom are imprisoned.
The coup plunged Myanmar into crisis after 10 years of tentative steps toward democracy. Mass demonstrations have met with a deadly crackdown by security forces and the economy has collapsed. A refugee crisis is growing and some of Myanmar's many ethnic armed groups are taking up arms against the junta.
While in Jakarta, Borrell met with envoys from countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Thursday. The headquarters of ASEAN, which includes Myanmar as one of its 10 members, is based in the Indonesian capital.
Borrell said he told the Myanmar representative to ASEAN: to "end repression and go back to normal political behaviour through free and fair elections".
He said he wanted ASEAN to continue to lead the global diplomatic effort to restore stability and democracy to Myanmar, even though the group has been criticised by human rights groups, opponents of the junta and experts for being too slow and too meek in responding to the coup.
"They are doing the best possible job," said Borrell.
As first reported by Reuters, two senior ASEAN officials are heading to Myanmar this week to meet with the junta, the first visit by the bloc's representatives since the coup was launched.
ASEAN has also said it opposed a non-binding United Nations resolution for an arms embargo on Myanmar. The EU already has a freeze on the sale and transfer of weapons to the country.
A further 14 high-ranking Myanmar military officials were sanctioned by the EU for serious human rights abuses against the Rohingya minority after some 700,000 of the Muslim ethnic group were violently expelled from Buddhist-majority Myanmar by security forces in 2017..."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK)
Date of publication:
2021-06-03
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-04
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Sanctions - general, Business and the Military, Sanctions, Muslims in Burma, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Sub-title:
Punitive sanctions policies should be recalibrated
Description:
"International calls for the restoration of democracy in strategically located Myanmar obscure an important divide between that country's neighbors and the West.
The sanctions-centered approach of the United States and the European Union has sought to punitively isolate Myanmar, while neighboring countries favor a policy of constructive engagement with the military junta.
After a gradual, decadelong democratization process, Myanmar's military, or Tatmadaw, seized power on Feb. 1 and began cracking down on those peacefully protesting the coup. The continuing unrest has carried important international implications, including the flight of political dissidents and ordinary refugees to neighboring countries.
The cross-border impacts explain why neighbors view engagement as essential, including urging Myanmar's military rulers to address the domestic unrest through political reconciliation.
Myanmar's land frontiers are porous, with cross-border ethnic linkages with communities in India and Thailand making the transboundary movement of people common. Trade, investment and counterinsurgency cooperation also link Myanmar with the countries that surround it.
Can anyone imagine the U.S. seeking to isolate and squeeze its southern neighbor Mexico? U.S. President Joe Biden, in fact, is relying on the Mexican government to address the present border crisis precipitated by the tide of mainly Central American refugees trying to enter the U.S. since he took office.
Likewise, it is inconceivable that Myanmar's immediate neighbors, saddled with a refugee influx since the coup, would embrace the punitive approach adopted by the U.S. and the EU. Yet, the Biden administration initiated a sanctions campaign against Myanmar without consultations with neighboring countries.
There is truth in the common diplomatic view that the farther a country is from Myanmar, the more likely it will favor a punitive approach, while those nearby will keep the channels of communication open through calibrated engagement. The history of sanctions shows that punitive actions have rarely worked without some form of engagement.
In this light, the presence of junta leader Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing at the Apr. 24 in-person Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Jakarta -- and the carefully nuanced summit statement on Myanmar that emphasized the "ASEAN family" -- represented a rebuff to the U.S.-led approach to isolate Myanmar.
According to the five-point consensus that emerged from the summit, ASEAN will mediate to help resolve the crisis. This is, however, easier said than done. ASEAN, for example, has failed to resolve the crisis in Thailand, where the leader of the 2014 coup remains ensconced in power -- in civilian garb -- by cracking down on pro-democracy protesters, including using a feared lese-majeste law to imprison those who insult the royal family.
More broadly, the retreat of the Myanmar spring exemplifies how democracy is under siege around the world. The wave of rollback of democracies highlights the growing threat from a fusion of autocratic politics and crony, state-guided capitalism.
Today, all the countries of continental Southeast Asia -- Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam -- are under authoritarian rule, like their giant northern neighbor, China. In fact, only two of ASEAN's 10 members are true democracies with judicial independence and free media.
Still, Myanmar's generals are discovering the hard way that rolling back democratic freedoms once people take them as their right carries enduring challenges. Although Myanmar had been under military rule for 50 of its 73 years since independence, the continuing protests show that many of its citizens are unwilling to accept a return to military rule.
Only the military can return Myanmar to the path of democratization. After all, it was the military that voluntarily ushered in the country's democratic transition that began in 2011. It is thus critical for outside states, including in the West, to maintain lines of communication with Myanmar's top generals.
One of the world's most ethnically diverse countries, Myanmar has long been an easy sanctions target because it has remained a weak, divided state torn by ethnic insurgencies. Its failure to construct an inclusive national identity has allowed old ethnic rivalries to fester, stifling the resource-rich country's potential.
As past experience has shown, however, an uncompromisingly harsh approach toward Myanmar has had the perverse effect of weakening America's hand while strengthening China's.
China values Myanmar as a strategic gateway to the Indian Ocean. Like India, Myanmar has long complained about the flow of Chinese arms to guerrilla groups, accusing Beijing of backing several of them as levers against it. The nationalistic military is wary of reliance on China. But international isolation could leave it with no choice.
As Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen told Nikkei's Future of Asia 2021 conference earlier this month: "If I don't rely on China, who will I rely on? If I don't ask China, who am I to ask?" Cambodia is a cautionary tale of how international isolation pushes an economically vulnerable nation into China's arms. Myanmar could be next, unless the U.S. recalibrates its sanctions policy.
The international divide over how to deal with Myanmar also represents a division between Western and Asian values. In contrast to the West's interventionist impulse and democratic evangelism, the Asian way of standing up for one's principles and beliefs does not extend to imposing them on others through coercive activism.
Today, with little prospect that the West could engineer a color revolution in Myanmar, friendly conversations with that country's generals to persuade them to halt their crackdown and release political prisoners are likely to make more headway toward influencing future events than the current heavy-handed approach..."
Source/publisher:
"Nikkei Asian Review" (Japan)
Date of publication:
2021-06-01
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-01
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, ASEAN-Burma relations, Sanctions - general, Business and the Military, Sanctions, Human Rights and international relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"Statement to TOTAL'S Press Release, stopping MGTC's dividend payments: In my capacity as Minister of Planning, Finance, and Investment of Myanmar's civilian-led democratic National Unity Government, I welcome the recent decision made by TOTAL and others to suspend the distribution of dividend payments to all shareholders of the Moattama Gas Transportation Company Ltd (MGTC). These distributions are a part of the oil and gas revenues are now being used to finance the military's campaign of terror and gross human rights abuses against the people of Myanmar, under
the illegitimate State Administration Council (SAC).
We welcome this action as a step in the right direction, with both TOTAL and Chevron having now acknowledged that it is wrong to continue supporting the military. The SAC steals from the people of
Myanmar to fund its crimes against the same people of Myanmar.
TOTAL was right to condemn the violence and human rights abuses perpetrated by the Myanmar military. I also note TOTAL'S affirmation that the company will comply with applicable sanctions
issued by EU and US authorities. We welcome both TOTAL and Chevron have now publicly acknowledged that facilitating such
payments is at odds with their commitment to responsible business practices that respect the law. protect human rights, and benefit the communities in which they work. However suspending cash distributions to pipeline shareholders will deny the military only a
small portion of the substantial revenues that the military receives from TOTAL'S ongoing operations in Myanmar.
Based on recent financial data, the dividend payment amounts to roughly USD 40 million per year. This is a very small portion of overall revenues flowing to MOGE and state institutions under
SAC's control from the Yadana project operated by TOTAL. In 2020/2021 FY, for instance, an estimated 400 million USD will flow to state institutions that are now under the direct control of the
SAC. It must also be noted that other offshore oil/gas projects provide significant revenue streams to the military, the combined payments from these projects to the MOGE amount to over USD 1 billion
per annum. Despite the action announced by TOTAL. SAC will still receive the vast majority of revenue that accrues to state institutions from the Yadana project, and from the other projects that export of
Myanmar's natural resources. This constitutes single most significant flow of funds to SAC. allowing it to use such funds procure weapons, jet fuel, and other strategic necessities as part of its campaign of terror and gross human rights abuses. It does not stop payments that are now accruing to the military through SAC from Myanmar's natural resources, including royalties, production shanng payments and tax obligations. It bears repeating - while the National Unity Government and I do welcome this decision, it must be understood that this step does little to stop most payments that are now accruing to the military
from Myanmar’s natural wealth, including royalties, production sharing payments, and tax obligations. Yet. with actions such as these, the tides are now turning. Cracks are emerging. Some of the
largest companies in the world have now acknowledged that it is unacceptable to provide material support that directly benefits the Myanmar military through its present control of the state apparatus.
We are not calling for production to stop, but for payments to be withheld from institutions that are presently under the military's control. This is, in fact, the only way for the oil and gas contractors to
honor their obligations to the people of Myanmar. By acknowledging this reality — that providing financial resources to military-controlled
institutions conflicts with their commitment to responsible business practices — TOTAL and Chevron have set a precedent for cutting the junta’s access to crucial funds. All who continue to fund the
military can and must follow this approach, out of basic respect for human dignity. With new US government sanctions announced on May 17, 2021, oil and gas companies should be on notice that of there are legal and reputational risks arising from their failure to stop payments to MOGE and other state institutions under the control of the SAC. There is still a long way to go to protect the people of Myanmar from a military regime which has illegally attempted to seize power from the legitimate government of Myanmar. Denying them funds will ensure that they are unable to maintain their illegal and illegitimate regime. This work is just beginning, but we are confident we will succeed..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of Planning, Finance and Investment - NUG
Date of publication:
2021-05-30
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-30
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), Human Rights and international relations, Business and the Military, Sanctions, Sanctions - general, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"ကြေညာချက် (၄/၂၀၂၁)
မေလ ၃၀ ရက် ၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ်။
===============
TOTAL ကုမ္ပဏီက မုတ္တမဓာတ်ငွေ့သယ်ယူပို့ဆောင်ရေးကုမ္ပဏီလီမိတက် ( MGTC) ၏ အမြတ်ငွေခွဲဝေမှုအားဆိုင်းငံ့လိုက်ကြောင်း ကြေညာခြင်းနှင့် စပ်လျဉ်း၍ သဘောထားမှတ်ချက်ထုတ်ပြန်ခြင်း။
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၁။ ဒီမိုကရေစီနည်းလမ်းတကျ ရွေးကောက်တင်မြှောက်ဖွဲ့စည်းထားသော ပြည်ထောင်စုသမ္မတမြန်မာနိုင်ငံ အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေး အစိုးရအဖွဲ့၊ စီမံကိန်း၊ ဘဏ္ဍာရေး နှင့် ရင်းနှီးမြုပ်နှံမှုဝန်ကြီး အနေဖြင့် TOTAL နှင့် မိတ်ဖက်ကုမ္ပဏီများ စုပေါင်းဖွဲ့စည်းထားသည့် မုတ္တမဓာတ်ငွေ့သယ်ယူပို့ဆောင်ရေး ကုမ္ပဏီလီမိတက် (MGTC) က အစုရှယ်ယာရှင်များအား အမြတ်ငွေခွဲဝေမှု ဆိုင်းငံ့လိုက် ခြင်းအပေါ် ကြိုဆိုပါသည်။
၂။ အဆိုပါအမြတ်ငွေများသည် မြန်မာပြည်သူလူထုအပေါ် အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီက ကျုးလွန်နေသည့် အကြမ်းဖက်သတ်ဖြတ် မှုများနှင့် ဆိုးရွားလှသည့် လူ့အခွင့်အရေးချိုးဖောက်မှုများအတွက် အဓိက အထောက်အပံ့ပြုနေသော ရေနံနှင့်သဘာ၀ဓါတ်ငွေ့မှ ရရှိသည့် စုစုပေါင်းဝင်ငွေ၏ အစိတ်အပိုင်းတစ်ရပ်ဖြစ်သည်။
၃။ အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီအား ဆက်လက်ထောက်ပံ့ပေးနေခြင်းသည် မှားယွင်းသည့် လုပ်ရပ်ဖြစ်သည်ဟု TOTAL နှင့် CHEVRON ကုမ္ပဏီတို့က တရားဝင်ထုတ်ဖော်ပြောဆိုလျက် ယခုကဲ့သို့ မှန်ကန်သော ရွေးချယ်ဆုံးဖြတ်မှုအတွက် ကြိုဆိုပါသည်။ အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီသည် ၎င်းတို့ ခိုးဝှက်ယူထားသည့် ပြည်သူ့ဘဏ္ဍာငွေများအား ပြန်လည်သုံးစွဲ၍ ပြည်သူလူထုအပေါ် ရာဇဝတ်မှုကျူးလွန်နေသည့် အဖွဲ့အစည်းသာဖြစ်သည်။
၄။ TOTAL ကုမ္ပဏီအနေဖြင့် အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီ၏ လူ့အခွင့်အရေးချိုးဖောက်မှုများနှင့် အကြမ်းဖက်မှုများအား ပြစ်တင် ရှုံ့ချရန် တာဝန်ရှိသည့်အပြင် EU နှင့် US တို့၏ ပိတ်ဆို့အရေးယူမှုများနှင့်အညီ လိုက်နာဆောင်ရွက်သွားမည်ဟု အတိအလင်း ထုတ်ဖော် ပြောဆိုထားမှုအားလည်း မှတ်တမ်းတင်စောင့်ကြည့် နေပါသည်။
၅။ အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီထံသို့ ဘဏ္ဍာငွေများ ပေးဆောင်နေခြင်းသည် တာဝန်ယူမှု၊ တာဝန်ခံမှုရှိသော စီးပွားရေးလုပ်ငန်းမျာ ၏ စံတန်ဖိုးများဖြစ်သည့် ဥပဒေကိုလေးစားလိုက်နာမှု၊ လူ့အခွင့်အရေးကို ကာကွယ်စောင့်ရှောက်မှုနှင့် လုပ်ငန်းတည်ရာဒေသရှိ လူမှုအသိုက်အဝန်း၊ ဒေသခံပြည်သူများအပေါ် အကျိုးကျေးဇူး ဖြစ်ထွန်းစေမှု စသည့်အချက်များနှင့် ဖီလာဆန့်ကျင်လျက်ရှိသည် ဟု TOTAL နှင့် CHEVRON ကုမ္ပဏီတို့က တရားဝင် ထုတ်ဖော်ပြောဆိုသည့်အတွက်လည်း အသိအမှတ်ပြုပါသည်။
၆။ သို့သော် ယခုဆိုင်းငံ့လိုက်သည့် အမြတ်ငွေခွဲဝေမှုသည် TOTAL ကုမ္ပဏီထံမှ အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီရရှိနေသည့်စုစု ပေါင်းဝင်ငွေနှင့် နှိုင်းယှဉ်လျှင် မပြောပလောက်သည့် ပမာဏသာဖြစ်ကြောင်း စိစစ်တွေ့ရှိရသည်။
၇။ ယခုအခါ အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီ၏ ထိန်းချုပ်မှုအောက် လုံးလုံးလျားလျား ရောက်ရှိနေသည့် မြန်မာ့ ရေနံနှင့်သဘာဝဓာတ် ငွေ့လုပ်ငန်း (MOGE) ထံသို့ TOTAL ကုမ္ပဏီ၏ ရတနာ သဘာဝဓါတ်ငွေ့တူးဖော် ထုတ်လုပ်ရောင်းချရေးစီမံကိန်းမှ နှစ်စဉ် ပေးဆောင်နေရသည့် ဘဏ္ဍာငွေပမာဏမှာ တရားဝင် ကိန်းဂဏန်း အချက်အလက်များအရ ၂၀၂၀/၂၀၂၁ ဘဏ္ဍာရေးနှစ် အတွက် ခန့်မှန်းခြေ အမေရိကန် ဒေါ်လာ သန်း ၄၀၀ ခန့်ရှိပြီး၊ ဆိုင်းငံ့လိုက်သည့် အမြတ်ငွေခွဲဝေမှုသည် အမေရိကန်ဒေါ်လာသန်း ၄၀ ခန့်သာ ရှိပါသည်။
၈။ အထူးသတိပြုရန်မှာ အခြား ရေနံနှင့် သဘာဝဓာတ်ငွေ့ ဆိုင်ရာ နိုင်ငံတကာ ကုမ္ပဏီကြီးများကလည်း လွန်စွာများပြား လှသည့် ဝင်ငွေပမာဏကို အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီအတွက် ဖန်တီးရှာဖွေပေးနေသည့် အချက်ဖြစ်သည်။ TOTAL ကုမ္ပဏီအပါအဝင် အဆိုပါ ကုမ္ပဏီကြီးများထံမှ စစ်ကောင်စီလက်အောက်ခံ မြန်မာ့ရေနံနှင့် သဘာ၀ဓါတ်ငွေ့လုပ်ငန်း (MOGE) က နှစ်စဉ်ရရှိနေသည့် ဝင်ငွေစုစုပေါင်းမှာ အမေရိကန်ဒေါ်လာ သန်းပေါင်း ၁၀၀၀ ကျော် ရှိပါသည်။
၉။ ထို့ကြောင့် ယခုကဲ့သို့ TOTAL ကုမ္ပဏီမှ အမြတ်ငွေခွဲဝေမှုအား ဆိုင်းငံ့ထားလိုက်သည်ဟု ကြေညာသည့်တိုင် အကြမ်းဖက် စစ်ကောင်စီသည် ပုံမှန်ရရှိမြဲ ဝင်ငွေအများစုအား ဆက်လက်ရရှိနေမည်ဖြစ်ပြီး ယင်းဝင်ငွေများဖြင့် ၎င်းတို့၏ အကြမ်းဖက်ယန္တရား သက်ဆိုးရှည်စေရန် အဓိကလိုအပ်သည့် စစ်လက်နက်များ၊ လေယာဉ်ဆီများ ဝယ်ယူခြင်း အပါအဝင် အခြားစစ်အသုံးစရိတ် များစွာအတွက်လည်း ဆက်လက်ဖြည့်ဆည်း သုံးစွဲနိုင်မည်သာ ဖြစ်သည်။
၁၀။ ထပ်လောင်း ပြောကြားလိုသည်မှာ ကျွန်ုပ်တို့ အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ အနေဖြင့် သဘောဝဓာတ်ငွေ့သယ်ယူ ပို့ဆောင် ရေးကဏ္ဍ၏ အမြတ်ငွေခွဲဝေမှုအား ဆိုင်းငံ့လိုက်သည့် ဆုံးဖြတ်ချက်အားကြိုဆိုပါသည်။ ယင်းဆုံးဖြတ်ချက်မှ အစပြု၍ သယံဇာတ ထုတ်ယူမှုကဏ္ဍမှ အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီရရှိနေသည့် အခြားများပြားလှသော ဝင်ငွေများဖြစ်သည့် ခိုင်ကြေးများ၊ ထုတ်လုပ်မှုအပေါ်ခွဲဝေခြင်းများ နှင့် အခွန်အကောက်များကိုပါ အလားတူဆိုင်းငံ့ရန် ထပ်တိုးဆောင်ရွက်သွားနိုင်မည်ဟု နားလည် ယုံကြည်ပါသည်။
၁၁။ ယခုအခါ ကမ္ဘာ့အကြီးဆုံး ကုမ္ပဏီတချို့သည် အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီ၏ ထိန်းချုပ်စီမံမှု အောက်တွင်ရှိနေသော လက်အောက်ခံအဖွဲ့အစည်း၊ ယန္တရားများမှတဆင့် အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီထံ တိုက်ရိုက်အကျိုးဖြစ်ထွန်းစေသည့် ဆောင်ရွက်ချက်နှင့် ထောက်ပံ့ကူညီမှုမှန်သမျှကို လက်မခံနိုင်ကြောင်းနှင့် ပေးအပ်ရန်မသင့်ကြောင်း ပြတ်ပြတ်သားသား အသိပေး ထုတ်ဖော်ပြောကြားလျက် ရှိပါသည်။
၁၂။ ကျွန်ုပ်တို့ အစဉ်တစိုက် တောင်းဆိုနေသည်မှာ ရေနံနှင့်သဘာဝဓာတ်ငွေ့ တူးဖော်ထုတ်လုပ်ရောင်းချသည့် ကုမ္ပဏီများ၏ ထုတ်လုပ်မှုအား ရပ်ဆိုင်းထားရန် မဟုတ်ဘဲ ပြည်သူ့ဘဏ္ဍာငွေများအား အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီ ထံသို့ ၎င်း၏လက်အောက်ခံ အဖွဲ့အစည်းများမှတဆင့် စီးဝင်မှုမရှိစေရေး တားဆီးထိန်းသိမ်းထားရန်သာ ဖြစ်သည်။
၁၃။ TOTAL ကုမ္ပဏီနှင့် CHEVRON ကုမ္ပဏီတို့အနေဖြင့် ကျွန်ုပ်တို့တောင်းဆိုသည့်အတိုင်း အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီ ထိန်းချုပ် ထားသော အဖွဲ့အစည်းများသို့ စီးဝင်လျက်ရှိသည့် ဘဏ္ဍာရေးအရင်းအမြစ်အားလုံးအား ဖြတ်တောက်ခြင်းသည် မိမိတို့၏ တာဝန်ယူမှု၊ တာဝန်ခံမှု ရှိသော စီးပွားရေး ကျင့်ဝတ်များအား လိုက်နာကျင့်သုံးခြင်းသာဖြစ်ပြီး အခြားအလားတူ နိုင်ငံတကာ ကုမ္ပဏီများ အတွက်လည်း အတုယူ လိုက်နာကျင့်သုံးရန် စံနမူနာကောင်း တစ်ခုအဖြစ် ပေါ်ထွန်းလာစေမည် ဖြစ်သည်။
၁၄။ ရေနံနှင့်သဘာဝဓာတ်ငွေ့ကုမ္ပဏီများ အနေဖြင့် မြန်မာ့ရေနံနှင့်သဘာဝဓာတ်ငွေ့လုပ်ငန်း (MOGE) အပါအဝင် အခြားအလားတူ အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီလက်အောက်ခံ အဖွဲ့အစည်းများသို့ ငွေကြေးလွှဲပြောင်းမှုများ ဆက်လက်လုပ်ဆောင်နေခြင်းသည် အမေရိကန် အစိုးရ၏ ၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ် မေလ ၁၇ ရက်တွင် ချမှတ်ကြေညာခဲ့သည့် အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီအပေါ် အရေးယူပိတ်ဆို့ ကန့်သတ်မှုများအရ မိမိတို့အဖွဲ့အစည်း၏ ကျင့်ဝတ် ဂုဏ်သိက္ခာပိုင်းအရသော်လည်းကောင်း၊ နိုင်ငံတကာဥပဒေရေးရာအရ သော်လည်းကောင်း အရင်းအနှီးကြီးမားစွာ ပေးဆပ်၍ စွန့်စားလုပ်ဆောင်ရာကျနေကြောင်းကို အထူးသတိပြုစေလိုပါသည်။
၁၅။ အကြမ်းဖက်ကာ နိုင်ငံ၏ ကြွယ်ဝမှုများအား ခိုးဝှက်ယူနေသော တရားမဝင် အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီ၏ ရန်မှ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံသူနိုင်ငံသားများအား ကာကွယ်နိုင်ရေးသည် ခရီးရှည်တစ်ရပ်ဖြစ်နိုင်ပါသည်။ အဆိုပါ အကြမ်းဖက် စစ်ကောင်စီအား မည်သည့်ဘဏ္ဍာရန်ပုံငွေမျှ မရရှိစေခြင်းသည် ၎င်းတို့ ကျရှုံးစေရေးအတွက် လွန်စွာ အရေးပါသော လုပ်ငန်းစဉ်တစ်ရပ်ဖြစ်ပါသည်။ ယခု ခြေလှမ်းသည် အစကနဦးသာဖြစ်သော်လည်း အောင်မြင် ရမည်ဟု ကျွန်ုပ်တို့ ခိုင်ခိုင်မာမာယုံကြည်ပါသည်။..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of Planning, Finance and Investment - NUG
Date of publication:
2021-05-30
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-30
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), Business and the Military, Sanctions, Human Rights and international relations, Sanctions - general, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Sub-title:
Energy boss says revenue goes to the state – not the generals
Description:
"Energy giant, Total was forced to justify its response to the Myanmar coup to shareholders yesterday amid growing pressure from international campaigners to halt payments to the military regime.
Speaking at the company’s annual general meeting, Total’s chairman and chief executive Patrick Pouyanné said the company “condemned violence and the human rights violations that have taken place in Burma”.
Pouyanné said he was outraged by the coup.
He argued the “only way to stop the flow of cash going to the state of Burma is to stop production”.
“But as a company we have to abide by the law,” he concluded.
Total shareholders heard Pouyanné say the company was obliged to maintain production from its Yadana gas fields to honour contracts signed with PTT, its partner in Thailand which buys much of the gas produced there.
“If we decide to stop paying taxes we are not abiding by the law,” he said. “It is a criminal risk and I cannot expose the collaborators of Total in Burma to jail sentences. In this country there is also forced labour in force. So I cannot expose them to this risk.”
But the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw and opposition campaigners have called for Total not to suspend gas production, but to put the regime’s share of gas revenues into a protected account until democracy is restored, so that the regime does not have access to the money.
Offshore
Two days before the AGM, Total and its co-investor Chevron announced that the immensely profitable pipeline which carries Yadana’s gas to Thailand would “suspend” dividend payments to its shareholders.
“We listen to the stakeholders. And we have taken the call to limit the income going to the military junta. We have tried everything to reduce this,” the French oil boss told shareholders.
The state-owned Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE) is likely to lose about US$40 million a year in dividends as a result. This is because MOGE owns 15 per cent of the company which owns the pipeline, the Bermuda-based Moattama Gas Transportation Company (MGTC).
But campaign group, EarthRights International estimates that the suspension of Yadana pipeline dividends amounts to less than 10% of state revenue generated from Total’s Yadana gas project and described the move as “a small step in the right direction.”
“A more comprehensive action would be a complete shut-down of revenue-sharing with MOGE - its accounts are controlled by the regime,” EarthRights International wrote in a response on Twitter.
Pouyanné rejected suggestions that Total was paying money “offshore” to the military junta, despite the company locating MGTC in Bermuda. He said that Myanmar receives most of its share of gas revenue from Yadana via banks in Thailand.
Taxes
Total also told investors it stopped developing new potential projects in Myanmar, but the Total boss rejected calls to stop paying taxes to Myanmar while the junta is in charge of the country.
“When we pay taxes we don’t pay this to the army. We pay it to a state. We’ve been paying these taxes to the state for 20 years and we continue to do so. And we did so when Madam Aung San Suu Kyi was at the head of Burma.”
Pouyanné said it was not accurate for media reports to suggest that by partnering with MOGE it means it is paying Myanmar’s generals.
“When you read these newspapers, it sounds like the income is falling right into the pockets of these generals. It is not the case. The state obtains the income. (MOGE) was still in place when democracy was back in Burma.”
But campaigners have pointed out that MOGE – like all government agencies in Myanmar – is now under the control of the junta and has to obey its orders.
Total, now renamed TotalEnergies, would comply with any sanctions imposed by the United States or European Union, Pouyanné confirmed.
Sophie Brondel, coordinator of France-based campaign group Info Birmanie, told Myanmar Now: “Total continues to fund a junta labelled as a murderous criminal enterprise by a UN expert. This has to stop.”..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2021-05-29
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-30
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Oil and gas, Business and the Military, Sanctions, Sanctions - general
Language:
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Topic:
Myanmar/Burma, China, ASEAN, sanctions, pariah states, authoritarian transitions, Aung San Suu Kyi
Topic:
Myanmar/Burma, China, ASEAN, sanctions, pariah states, authoritarian transitions, Aung San Suu Kyi
Description:
"Abstract: Myanmar’s liberalizing reforms since late 2010 have effectively shed the country’s decades-long “pariah state” status. This article evaluates competing explanations for why Myanmar’s leaders made the strategic decision to pursue reform and opening. We examine whether the strategic decision was motivated by fears of sudden regime change, by socialization into the norms of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), or by the geopolitics of overreliance on China. Drawing on newly available materials and recent field interviews in Myanmar, we demonstrate how difficult it is for international actors to persuade a pariah state through sanctions or engagement, given the pariah regime’s intense focus on maintaining power. However, reliance on a more powerful neighbour can reach a point where costs to national autonomy become unacceptable, motivating reforms for the sake of economic and diplomatic diversification.....Acknowledgments: We gratefully acknowledge the participation of interviewees in Yangon, Naypyidaw, Seoul, and Washington, DC. Research assistance was provided by Andrew Choi, Esther Pau Sann Cing, Li Xuan, Li Zimeng, Wang Qichao, Wu Shangwei, Zhang Xiaorui, and Zhou Xin. We also wish to thank the editor, three anonymous reviewers, and participants at the 2014 Murdoch-Macau Colloquium on Political Change and Governance in Asia, whose comments greatly improved this article. We thank the Asan Institute for Policy Studies for supporting Leif-Eric Easley’s research travel to Myanmar in 2014. Research for this article was funded in part by a grant from the University of Macau (SRG2013-00057-FSS). For over two decades, Myanmar suffered the reputation of an international pariah. After the 1988 coup that inaugurated 22 years of military rule under the State Law and Order Restoration Council / State Peace and Development Council (SLORC/SPDC),1
Myanmar incurred international condemnation and sanctions for human rights violations, including annulling the National League for Democracy’s (NLD) electoral victory in 1990; detaining opposition leaders, including NLD General Secretary Aung San Suu Kyi; killing civilians during military campaigns against armed ethnic
minority groups; violently suppressing civil protests in the 2007 “Saffron Revolution”; and muzzling free speech and the press.2
The junta appeared unmoved by sanctions and international exhortations to pursue reform and opening. Its apparent steps toward ending military rule under the 2003 “Roadmap to Discipline-Flourishing Democracy” were often marred by process irregularities, lack of inclusiveness and transparency, and restrictions
on and sometimes violent repression of opposition parties. Though the SPDC held landmark elections for a civilian government in November 2010, supporters of democracy were not encouraged when the pro-military Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) swept the polls and elevated Prime Minister Gen. Thein Sein to the presidency.
Many were surprised, however, when Thein Sein initiated extensive
reforms in 2011: releasing political prisoners, loosening media and civil
society restrictions, and allowing Aung San Suu Kyi and other opposition members to run for parliament. Myanmar’s pariah status quickly abated as a parade of foreign leaders visited the country and eased sanctions. In November 2015, Myanmar’s first general election under nominally civilian rule saw the NLD defeat the USDP in a landslide, marking a new era in Myanmar’s politics.3
The manner in which Myanmar pursued transformative reforms raises
important questions. Why did the SPDC pursue reform and opening when it did? What motivated the strategic decision to pursue transformative policies? Several scholars have argued that domestic factors drove Myanmar’s reforms. Jones maintains that the junta’s co-optation of ethnic militias allowed it to resume a democratization process it had begun and aborted in 1990 and again in 1996.4 Bünte, along with Croissant and Kamerling, emphasizes
the aging SPDC leaders’ desire to manage succession politics through institutionalization.5 Roger Lee Huang argues that the junta sought to retain political control but did not foresee the extent of reforms under Thein Sein, an assessment shared by MacDonald.6 Other scholarship emphasizes international factors as primary catalysts
for reform. One argument is that Myanmar’s leaders implemented domestic reforms to pursue rapprochement with the European Union, the United States, and other sanctions-imposing countries, and to counterbalance China’s growing political and economic influence.7
Another possible factor behind Myanmar’s transition is the socializing role of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and more generally, Myanmar’s desire for international prestige.8
While more than one of these factors may have motivated Myanmar’s reforms, an “all of the above” answer leaves the country’s political transformation over-determined and under-examined.
This article weighs the theoretical logic and empirical evidence for three competing explanations for Myanmar’s strategic decision to pursue transformative policies: first, junta leaders’ desire to maintain power and avoid sudden regime change; second, socialization into ASEAN norms; and third, the desire to reduce China’s political and economic influence over Myanmar.9 We base our research on numerous interviews with key informants in or engaged with Myanmar, as well as on primary documents. We find that
while multiple factors motivated Myanmar’s strategic decision, the most important driver was concern about China’s growing influence.
To frame the analysis, the next section defines pariah states and what it means to make a strategic decision to pursue transformative policies and exit pariahdom. We then briefly outline our interview methodology before discussing the timing of Myanmar’s transformative reforms. Subsequent sections review theoretical bases and empirical support for each of the three competing explanations. In the conclusion, we summarize our findings and discuss possible implications for other pariah states and for Myanmar’s political future..."
Source/publisher:
Pacific Affairs (Canada)
Date of publication:
2016-09-00
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-28
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Sanctions - general, ASEAN-Burma relations, China-Burma relations, Business and the Military, Sanctions, Burma's economic relations with China, About Aung San Suu Kyi, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Articles on the NLD, Military History, Political History
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Description:
"Energy giant TotalEnergies(TOTF.PA) said on Friday it had gone as far as it could for now to limit the revenues going to the military junta in Myanmar while staying within a legal framework and assuring power supplies.
Total and U.S. energy company Chevron (CVX.N) earlier this week said they were suspending some payments from a gas joint venture that would have reached the junta, earning praise from pro-democracy activists for taking an important first step.
International companies doing business in the country have come under pressure from rights groups and Myanmar's parallel civilian government to review their operations to stop payments flowing to a military government that seized power on Feb. 1.
TotalEnergies Chairman and Chief Executive Patrick Pouyanne told a shareholder meeting on Friday that the only way to fully stop all revenues flowing to the junta would be to halt production in the Yadana gas fields, which supply power plants in Thailand and Myanmar's domestic market.
The company has rejected this option for now, saying it would expose workers and the group to legal threats and penalise the region in terms of energy access.
"First of all, the bulk of revenues come from the fact there's a client that buys that production, which is Thai company PTTEP ... and then there are the taxes," Pouyanne said.
"Deciding to not pay taxes would mean we would be in breach of the law, there's a criminal risk attached.".....SANCTIONS: Total would comply with any further sanctions imposed on Myanmar, including by the United States and the European Union, Pouyanne added.
Earlier this week shareholders in the Moattama Gas Transportation Company (MGTC) - led by Total and Chevron and which also includes Thailand's PTTEP and Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE) - voted to suspend all cash distributions.
That move will curtail revenues going to MOGE.
But MOGE, which is a state energy firm, is also an operator of the Yadana gas field, meaning it receives revenues from there.
Pouyanne said no revenues flowing to Myanmar state coffers went through offshore accounts, even though MGTC, the gas transportation company, is domiciled in Bermuda.
He said MOGE received its payments from Thai group PTTEP through bank accounts set up by the Myanmar state in Thailand, and that payments to MGTC were also made via Thai bank accounts.
A spokesman for Myanmar's military junta did not answer phone calls seeking comment on the issue.
MGTC paid its taxes in Myanmar, Pouyanne added..."
Source/publisher:
Total SE ( Paris)
Date of publication:
2021-05-28
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-28
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Oil and gas, Business and the Military, Sanctions, The Burmese military's role in the economy, Sanctions - general
Language:
more
Sub-title:
Total and Chevron halt some payments to military in wake of coup but advocacy groups say more needs to be done
Description:
"Advocacy groups have called on French fossil fuel giant Total and US company Chevron to further cut ties with Myanmar’s military, after announcing they would suspend dividend payments to the junta from a large gas project in the wake of February’s coup.
“Total condemns the violence and human rights abuses occurring in Myanmar and reaffirms that it will comply with any decision that may be taken by the relevant international and national authorities, including applicable sanctions issued by the EU or the US authorities,” the company said in a statement.
But advocacy groups said 90% of the money the junta makes from the Yadana gasfield joint venture with Total and Chevron – as well as the gas itself – continues to flow.
Since the military deposed Aung San Suu Kyi’s government, more than 5,400 people have been arrested, according to monitoring group AAPP Burma, with the majority still in detention, often in unknown locations. At least 824 people have been killed by the junta, including dozens of children, sparking global outcry and calls for international companies to cut their business ties with the military.
Total told a shareholder meeting this month that Moattama Gas Transportation Company Limited (MGTC) – a joint venture that pipes gas from the Yadana field in the Andaman sea to Myanmar – had decided to stop making dividend payments to the junta.
The resolution was put forward by Total, which owns 31.24% of MGTC, and Chevron, which owns 28.26% of MGTC – shareholdings that give the two multinationals a controlling stake.
The rest of MGTC is owned by PTTEP, which is controlled by the Thai state (25.5%) and Myanmar government company Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (15%).
However, advocacy group Justice for Myanmar pointed out oil was still flowing through the pipeline and the vast majority of payments to the junta have not been affected.
The junta, which seized power on 1 February, still earns the state’s share of gas revenue, royalties and cost recovery from the Yadana gas field operation and corporate income tax from the MGTC.
MGTC’s suspension of dividends accounts for a tiny proportion of the estimated US$1.5bn Myanmar earns annual from offshore oil and gas projects.
Spokesperson for Justice For Myanmar Yadanar Maung said the decision to suspend dividend payments would curb one source of revenue for the illegitimate military government in Myanmar.
“Total and Chevron have made enormous profits in Myanmar in the past while simultaneously bolstering brutal military regimes … [they] have made the right choice by finally acknowledging that MOGE [Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise] is under the control of the military and finances the junta’s crimes.”
Anti-corruption group Publish What You Pay Australia said Total and Chevron’s decision to stop dividends was “a positive first step in supporting the people of Myanmar and will begin to limit the murderous Myanmar military regime’s access to vital foreign currency”.
“We urge them to stop the other 90% of payments flowing to the military from the pipeline,” the group’s director, Clancy Moore, said.
He said that in the 2017-18 financial year, MGTC paid $141m to MOGE in taxes and dividends, made up of $41m in dividends and $100m in taxes.
“Total and Chevron must stop financing the military generals who have blood on their hands and put payments into escrow accounts,” he said.
Chevron said it was aware of calls to shut off the gas and put all payments due to MOGE into an escrow account instead of paying the regime.
“Any actions should be carefully considered to ensure the people of Myanmar are not further disadvantaged by unintended and unpredictable consequences of well-intentioned decisions,” it said in a statement.
“Gas produced by the Yadana project is used to supply electricity for approximately half the population of Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city, and also for people in Thailand.
“Effectively turning off the power to half of Yangon’s homes, schools and hospitals – in the middle of a state of emergency and a pandemic – risks creating even more hardship.”
In its statement, Total did not address the other payments made to the junta. “Total continues to act as a responsible operator of the Yadana field, maintaining the production of gas in accordance with applicable laws, so as not to disrupt the electricity supply that is vital to the local populations of Myanmar and Thailand,” it said..."
Source/publisher:
"The Guardian" (UK)
Date of publication:
2021-05-27
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-27
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Oil and gas, Business and the Military, Sanctions, Sanctions - general, Human Rights and international relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
more
Sub-title:
Oil and Gas Firm PTT Should Cut Ties with Military Enterprises, Abusive Cronies
Description:
"Thailand’s majority state-owned oil and gas company, PTT, is partnering with military-linked companies to expand its engagement in Myanmar, Human Rights Watch said today. This growth comes on top of the half a billion dollars PTT already pays annually to junta-controlled enterprises through its existing operations in Myanmar’s gas fields.
A 2019 PTT joint venture is paying the military conglomerate Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC) nearly US$1 million in annual rent for the construction of a fuel terminal on land seized from farmers. The United States, United Kingdom, European Union, and Canada have sanctioned MEC and the other military conglomerate, Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited (MEHL), for their role in generating vast revenues that help fund the military’s abuses and enshrine its impunity.
PTT should end ties with Myanmar’s military enterprises and suspend all new investment in the country until a democratic government is established. Foreign governments should also adopt measures to block direct or indirect payments to the State Administration Council (SAC) junta from oil and gas projects operated by PTT and other companies.
“By expanding business ties with the Myanmar military as it carries out a bloody crackdown, the Thai state-owned PTT has shown little regard for the lives and freedom of Myanmar’s people,” said Shayna Bauchner, Asia researcher. “PTT’s leadership should respect international sanctions and cut ties with the junta to avoid being complicit in its crimes.”
Since the February 1, 2021 coup that overthrew the duly elected government, Myanmar’s military has responded with increasing brutality to nationwide pro-democracy protests. State security forces have killed over 820 people and detained an estimated 4,300 activists, journalists, civil servants, and politicians.
PTT has conducted oil and gas exploration and production in Myanmar since 1989, paying Myanmar state-controlled entities billions of dollars for gas in fees, taxes, royalties, and revenues. But with production declining in recent years, the company has ramped up its midstream and downstream investments in the country, with the stated goal of becoming the “top Myanmar provider” of petroleum products. Human Rights Watch wrote PTT on May 11, inquiring about the company’s operations in Myanmar, but received no response.
The Indian company Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone was recently removed from the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices due to “heightened risks to the company regarding their commercial relationship with Myanmar’s military,” following a campaign by groups Justice for Myanmar, the Australian Centre for International Justice, and Market Forces. Like PTT, Adani had acquired land from MEC. PTT and four subsidiaries are listed on the same sustainability index. Human Rights Watch contacted S&P Dow Jones Indices requesting that they review PTT according to the same standard as Adani.
PTT’s plans for growth are outlined in part in a March 2017 memorandum of understanding, recently leaked by transparency collective DDoSecrets, with the military-aligned Kanbawza Group (KBZ). The company later announced plans to invest over $200 million in its partnership with KBZ.
In 2019, PTT Oil and Retail (PTTOR, a PTT subsidiary) and KBZ began a joint venture to build a jetty, fuel oil storage terminal, and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) filling plant in the Thilawa area of Kyauktan township, Yangon Region, with a stated investment of $150 million. The terminal will be largest in the country, according to PTT, with a reported capacity of one million barrels of oil and 4,500 metric tons of LPG. It was originally slated for completion in 2021.
KBZ, a major Myanmar conglomerate owned by a longtime military crony, Aung Ko Win, runs the country’s largest bank and dozens of companies across mining, manufacturing, technology, trade, and other industries. KBZ maintains close personal, financial, and commercial ties to the military that benefit and enable the security forces. In 2019, the United Nations-backed Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar found that KBZ donated US$4.7 million to the 2017 security force operations against the ethnic Rohingya in Rakhine State, and concluded that KBZ officials should be investigated and prosecuted as appropriate for having “aided, abetted, or otherwise assisted in the crimes against humanity of persecution and other inhumane acts.”
KBZ has also partnered with the military-conglomerate MEHL for over two decades in jade and gems mining ventures. The EU sanctioned Kanbawza Bank, Aung Ko Win, and his family members until 2012 for their engagement with the prior military junta. Human Rights Watch wrote KBZ on May 11 but received no response.
To develop the fuel terminal, the PTTOR and KBZ joint venture, Brighter Energy, is leasing land from MEC and the Ministry of Defense under a build-operate-transfer (BOT) agreement, according to leaked Myanmar Investment Commission documents. PTT bought a 35 percent stake in Brighter Energy from KBZ in 2019.
The BOT agreement covers 168.5 acres of land owned by MEC near its shipbreaking factory in Thilawa and is valid for 50 years following a two-year construction period, with the option to renew for two additional 10-year terms. Lease payments to MEC include a $1,685,000 land use premium fee and $808,800 annual rent, for a total of $42 million over the contract period. All fuel terminal structures and fixtures are to be transferred to MEC at no cost when the lease ends. The agreement is signed by Thant Swe, MEC managing director, who was recently sanctioned by the UK, and Brighter Energy directors.
The authorities acquired the land in Kyauktan’s Thida Myaing ward by seizing it from farmers who had worked there for decades, nongovernmental organizations EarthRights International and Namati reported. In 2014, MEC filed a criminal trespass complaint against 33 farmers based on a 1996 illegal confiscation attempt by military government officials. The farmers were found guilty in 2018. That year, MEC filed land record forms of the area in an application to use 168.5 acres for “buildings and storage tanks.”
PTT and KBZ will also pay a significant amount in taxes to the junta-controlled Internal Revenue Department. In an annex to the contract, the combined commercial and income tax over the first 20 years is estimated at $1.36 billion. Brighter Energy lists the terminal’s estimated net profit as $65.7 million in the first year of operation and $104 million annually after 10 years, with an additional $63 million per year from oil and gas sales.
The fuel terminal project is just one example of PTT’s planned expansion in Myanmar. In December 2020, PTT signed an agreement to invest $2 billion in a new gas-to-power project for domestic use with the Ministry of Electricity and Energy, now led by SAC Minister Aung Than Oo, who was sanctioned by the EU for his role in the previous military junta. A PTT executive, Phongsthorn Thavisin, told reporters in March that the project was not affected by the coup and would move ahead, saying the company was politically neutral. PTT sought tenders in May for a drilling rig in the project location.
PTT already pays Myanmar over $500 million a year through its projects with the Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE) in three of the country’s four major gas fields. The company reported paying $125 million in taxes in 2019 to the Ministry of Planning, Finance, and Industry, now led by SAC Minister Win Shein, recently sanctioned by the US.
PTT’s human rights standards state that the company is guided by international human rights treaties and other internationally accepted standards on human rights applicable to companies, including the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
Since the coup, the State Administration Council has seized control of all government ministries and state-owned enterprises – as well as their bank accounts – including those involved in PTT’s projects. The junta has also overhauled the Myanmar Investment Commission, responsible for facilitating all foreign investment, installing as chair Lt. Gen. Moe Myint Tun, also a member of the junta. The US, UK, EU, and Canada have sanctioned Moe Myint Tun for committing serious human rights violations, both as a member of SAC and in his previous role as army chief of staff overseeing operations against the Rohingya in 2017. As with other military leaders, Moe Myint Tun is a director of both MEC and MEHL.
Foreign governments should block payments to the junta and state-owned enterprises from foreign-financed oil and gas projects, such as those operated by PTT, Total, and Chevron. Such measures can be designed to target the junta’s access to foreign accounts while allowing for the continued production of gas and electricity.
Thai financial authorities should cooperate with governments that have imposed sanctions and instruct Thai banks processing foreign currency transactions to comply with other countries’ economic measures and sanctions.
Governments that have sanctioned MEC and MEHL should encourage Thailand, Japan, Singapore, and other countries with significant investment in Myanmar to adopt similar measures.
“PTT’s investments in Myanmar provide hundreds of millions of dollars to the military,” Bauchner said. “Concerned governments should zero in on these sources of funds as a prime target for sanctions to make it much harder for coup leader Min Aung Hlaing, the junta, and other generals to benefit from their atrocities.”..."
Source/publisher:
"Human Rights Watch" (USA)
Date of publication:
2021-05-26
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-26
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Thailand-Burma relations, Sanctions - general, Sanctions, Business and the Military, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
more
Description:
"UN Special Rapporteur Tom Andrews on Thursday urged all countries to follow the path taken by the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada.....Ramp up sanctions: “It is imperative that the international community ramp up the size and scope of sanctions as the junta ramps up its repression of the people of Myanmar”, he said.
Myanmar’s military leaders, known as the State Administrative Council (SAC), seized power in a coup in February and have launched brutal crackdowns against pro-democracy demonstrators.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres has repeatedly called on the military to respect the will of the people, and his Special Envoy, Christine Schraner Burgener, continues ongoing dialogue with key stakeholders in the region.....‘A new blow’: Mr. Andrews particularly highlighted the US decision to target the SAC and 16 individuals, announced on Monday, which freezes their assets and bars US nationals from providing funds, goods or services that benefit the coup leaders.
“This week the United States has taken one of the most significant steps to date against the Myanmar junta, first by sanctioning not only individuals but the State Administrative Council itself; and second, by opening the door to targeting those who continue to do business with the junta and therefore aid and abet their relentless attacks against the people of Myanmar,” he said.
“The designation of the SAC strikes a new blow to the junta’s finances. It is a significant step in the right direction.”.....A wake-up call: Mr Andrews added that the naming of the SAC paves the way for further designations of individuals or entities determined to have “materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to” the Council.
“This is a warning to all those who are willing to conduct business as usual with the junta,” he said. “Those who continue to aid and abet this murderous enterprise — be they international businesses, banks, arms traffickers, or government entities providing financial, technological or other support — are now on notice that they themselves could face sanctions.”
The rights expert added “I am hopeful that this action will be a wake-up call. Not only is doing business with the junta morally reprehensible, it could now mean being cut off from the U.S. financial system and/or facing criminal or civil penalties in the United States. If doing the right and just thing is not a factor in one’s decision making, then perhaps protecting one’s self interest will be.”.....Step up now: Mr Andrews also welcomed fresh sanctions imposed on Monday by the UK and Canada, including those which target the military from profiting from the timber and gems trade.
“The coordination of these sanctions by the US, UK, and Canada is a welcome development”, the UN expert said. “Hopefully it will lead to a tough, fully coordinated multilateral sanctions regime that enables nations to deliver the most powerful blow possible against the horror that is being inflicted on the people of Myanmar.”
He said, however, more must be done, and quickly.
“The revenue that they continue to seize from the oil and gas sector has become a lifeline for the junta. Profits from this sector are estimated to be close to what is needed to supply the forces that are keeping them in power,” he said.
“We know the junta’s sources of funds are limited and that the income from oil and gas sales helped previous juntas withstand international sanctions. The people of Myanmar cannot afford for history to repeat itself.”
Mr Andrews also called for other nations to take action. “I urge those countries that have yet to impose costs on the junta for its illegal coup and its systematic atrocities and human rights violations to reconsider,” he said. “Now is the time to step up.”.....Role of Special Rapporteurs: Special Rapporteurs, like Mr. Andrews, are appointed by the UN Human Rights Council to monitor specific countries or thematic issues.
They serve in their individual capacity and are not UN staff, nor are they paid by the Organization..."
Source/publisher:
UN News
Date of publication:
2021-05-20
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-21
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Human Rights and international relations, Sanctions - general, Economic activities of the Myanmar Military, Business and the Military, Sanctions, The UN and Burma - news and commentary
Language:
more
Description:
"Today I would like to express my most sincere thanks to the Government of Canada for designating 16 individuals and 10 entities with strict sanctions who are supporting the killing of innocent civilians nationwide, most recently in Mindat, Chin State.
I would also like to reiterate my sincere thanks to the People and Government of Canada for standing in solidarity and being a strong voice for the people of Myanmar. I also want to express my gratitude for the efforts of the Canadian Government on coordinating targeted sanctions against key tatmadaw personnel, tatmadaw linked companies and enterprises such as MEC, MGE and MEHL together
with the United States and Great Britain. Additionally, I would like to further thank the Government of Canada for taking a strong leadership role in the UN and G7 summits on behalf of the people of Myanmar, and for the recognition of CRPH and NUG as important voices of many in this nation. The official press release is as follows:
May 17, 2021 - Ottawa, Ontario - Global Affairs Canada
“The Honourable Marc Gameau, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today announced additional sanctions against 16 individuals and 10 entities under the Special Economic Measures (Burma) Regulations in response to the military’s ongoing brutal repression of the people of Myanmar and their refusal to take steps to restore democracy.
These actions are taken in coordination with the United Kingdom and the United States, and align with measures recently imposed by the European Union. They are also consistent with our G7 commitment to continue to take action should the Tatmadaw fail to reverse its course. This latest step demonstrates our unwavering determination to hold the Tatmadaw accountable and help restore democracy as
demanded by the people of Myanmar. Canada will continue to take additional actions, in coordination with our partners, should the Tatmadaw refuse to reverse course. Canada urges other countries to impose similar measures, including arms embargos. For more than 100 days, the people of Myanmar have demonstrated
impressive resilience and determination in the face of a violent military regime. Canada stands in solidarity with the people of Myanmar and their desire for a peaceful, inclusive and democratic future.
We acknowledge and appreciate the central role of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in responding to the crisis in Myanmar. Canada is ready to work with ASEAN to advance the swift implementation of the 5-point consensus. We urge the Tatmadaw to cooperate unconditionally and immediately with ASEAN and the UN.
“Despite numerous international calls for the Tatmadaw to end its violence against its own people in Myanmar, it is clearly showing its unwillingness to change its course of action. Canada stands ready to lend our support to ASEAN and UN efforts to initiate an inclusive political dialogue to end the crisis and restore democratic, civilian governance. Canada stands with the people of Myanmar as they
continue to fight to restore democracy and freedom in their country and we will not hesitate to take further action.” - Marc Garneau, Minister of Foreign Affairs” We urge the international communities to help us put more financial pressure on the junta. Ideally, this would come through coordinated international action following
passage of a strong resolution by the UNSC. Unfortunately, that is not likely to happen, so it is critical for all the nations of the world who stand with us to band together in a coordinated campaign of further sanctions that would cut the flow of revenue and weapons sales to this murderous regime. If stricter and tougher sanctions are not imposed right away, it won’t be long before strife and bloodshed break out across this nation as the tatmadaw terrorist forces unleash more inhumane cruelty against innocent and defenseless citizens. We
once again appeal to the International Communities which have the power to end this nightmare - this reign of terror, especially all like-minded free and democratic countries around the world to come together to put targeted, coordinated, stronger sanctions on the murderous regime of the terrorist junta in Myanmar. I am therefore
asking the Government of Canada and the International communities to place sanctions against Myanmar Oil and Gas and all state-owned enterprises as quickly as possible. We once again urge all children and families of the terrorist junta 'SAC' to help end your parent's reign of terror on the 54 million people of Myanmar. Nearly 800
National Heroes, including 52 children have been murdered by your parents. H.E. Dr. Sasa Union Minister of the Ministry of International Cooperation & NUG Spokesperson.."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of International Cooperation Myanmar
Date of publication:
2021-05-18
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-20
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Canada-Burma relations, Sanctions - general, Economic activities of the Myanmar Military, Business and the Military, Sanctions, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Description:
"Thousands of residents of a hill town in northwest Myanmar were hiding in jungles, villages and valleys on Monday after fleeing an assault by state troops, witnesses said, as the army advanced into the town after days battling local militias.
Mindat, about 100 km (60 miles) from the Indian border in Chin state, has seen some of the most intense fighting since a Feb. 1 coup that has led to the emergence of ragtag local armies that are stifling the junta's bid to consolidate power.
Martial law was declared in Mindat on Thursday before the army launched its assault, using artillery and helicopters against a newly formed Chinland Defence Force, a militia armed mainly with hunting rifles, which said it had pulled back to spare civilians from being caught in the crossfire.
Several residents reached by Reuters said food was in short supply and estimated as many as 5,000 to 8,000 people had fled the town, with roads blocked and the presence of troops in the streets preventing their return.
"Almost everyone left the city," said a volunteer fighter who said she was in a jungle. "Most of them are in hiding."
A representative of the local people's administrative group of Mindat said he was among some 200 people, including women and children, who had trekked across rocky roads and hills carrying blankets, rice and cooking pots.
He said the group was attacked with heavy weapons when troops spotted smoke from their cooking fires.
"We have to move from one place to another. We cannot settle in a place in the jungle," he told Reuters by phone.
"Some men were arrested as they went into town to get more food for us. We cannot get into town currently. We are going to starve in few days."
The Chinland Defence Forces in a statement on Monday said it had killed five government troops in Hakha, another town in Chin State.
The United Nations children's fund UNICEF in a tweet urged security forces to ensure safety of children in Mindat, the latest international call for restraint after human rights groups, the United States and Britain condemned the use of war weapons against civilians.
MULTIPLE FRONTS
The United States, Britain and Canada on Monday announced more sanctions against businesses and individuals tied to the junta. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged more countries to follow suit. read more
Myanmar has been in chaos since the coup, with the military battling armed and peaceful resistance on multiple fronts, adding to concerns about economic collapse and a humanitarian crisis from old conflicts reigniting in border regions.
The fighters in Chin State say they are part of the People's Defence Forces of the shadow government, which has called on the international community for help.
In an effort to coordinate the anti-junta forces, the shadow government on Monday issued a list of instructions to all the civilian armies, which it said must operate under its command and control.
Aid groups in direct contact with residents of Mindat made urgent calls on social media on Monday for donations or food, clothing and medicine.
Salai, 24, who has been organising an emergency response, said she had spoken to people hiding in a valley and on farmland who had fled the advance of soldiers.
"They looted people's property. They burned down people's houses. It is really upsetting," said Salai.
"Some in the town were injured by gunshots, including a young girl. She cannot get medical treatment."
A military spokesman did not answer calls or messages seeking comment.
In its nightly news bulletin, state-run MRTV said security forces returned fire after coming under attack from insurgents in Mindat, who fled, and that government troops had been attacked elsewhere in Chin State.
So far, 790 people have been killed in the junta's crackdown on its opponents, according to the activist group the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.
The military disputes that figure. Reuters cannot independently verify arrests and casualty numbers.
The military says it intervened after its complaints of fraud in a November election won by Aung San Suu Kyi's party were ignored.
An international monitoring group on Monday said the results of that election "were, by and large, representative of the will of the people of Myanmar"..."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK)
Date of publication:
2021-05-18
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-19
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Chin State, Chin (Zo) discussion groups, Human Rights and international relations, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Sanctions - general, Humanitarian assistance - emergencies, UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund), Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
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Sub-title:
Myanmar's peaceful protests are morphing into a hit-and-run resistance movement against military rule
Description:
"Another military airbase has come under rocket attack in central Myanmar, a shadowy but strategic assault that even tightly censored, military-controlled media felt compelled to report.
On May 15, three 107mm rockets were fired at Toungoo airbase, situated just 95 kilometers from the capital Naypyitaw, according to the state mouthpiece Global New Light of Myanmar. The rocket attack follows similar assaults on air bases at Magwe and Meiktila in late April.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, but they come after recent Tatmadaw aerial bombardments in Kayin and Kachin states, where ethnic armies are battling the military and anti-coup protesters have recently taken refuge from rising, lethal military violence in urban areas.
Myanmar’s civil wars, until now confined mainly to relatively remote ethnic frontier regions, are now spreading to the country’s heartland and urban areas. Rather than ethnic army fighters, recent attacks have more likely been launched by new-age militants from the ethnic Bamar majority.
Shadowy attacks on military soft and hard targets are mounting. On May 18, a local junta-appointed official was assassinated in Yangon’s Lanmadaw district after two bomb blasts at his office. According to Yangon-based sources, the official was known to be a key military informant and his actions had led to the arrest of several pro-democracy protesters.
Bombs have also detonated in various towns in Sagaing and Mandalay Regions and in Shan, Mon and Chin states. When the coup leader, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, visited Sagaing City on May 18 a bomb exploded even there despite tight security.
A clear example of this new resistance to military rule was recently seen in Mindat, a town in Chin State but close to the border with the central region of Magwe. The Chinland Defense Force (CDF), a newly formed local militia, took over the town and retreated only after heavily armed Tatmadaw units counterattacked with artillery and helicopter gunfire.
Before those reinforcements arrived, local militants armed with only hunting rifles and homemade bombs killed several Tatmadaw soldiers. Until now, Chin state is the only ethnic state in Myanmar that has not seen widespread insurgency. (The ceasefire Chin National Front was never a formidable force.)
What began as peaceful, even joyful demonstrations against coup leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing’s democracy-suspending February 1 coup is now morphing into shadowy armed resistance across the country. The list of anti-military counterattacks is growing by the day.
For instance, a bomb exploded at the Daik-U township’s education office in the Bago Region on May 16. That same day, another bomb detonated at the Mogok township general administrator’s office in the Mandalay Region.
On May 17, the Htone Bo Ward administration office in Sagaing township was burned down. On May 18, a truck carrying food supplies for Myanmar army soldiers was torched on the Mogaung-Tanai Ledo road in Kachin State.
The shift from peaceful to violent protest came only after demonstrators were violently and lethally attacked by soldiers and police, with snipers shooting teenagers and even killing children as young as five, according to news reports.
Nearly 800 people have been killed by the police and Tatmadaw since Min Aung Hlaing seized power from an elected government. Close to 5,000 have been arrested, including politicians, journalists, lawyers and community workers. An unknown number are now in hiding or have fled to border areas or across the border into exile.
Yangon residents say the persistent unrest appears to be taking a toll on the mental health of front-line police and soldiers who are ordered by their superiors to use lethal force against the general population.
“They are staying inside hospitals, schools, police stations and secluded compounds and when they venture out of those, local activists inform their comrades in other parts of Yangon,” one Yangon-based source said.
Three and a half months after the coup, anti-coup demonstrators are still marching in the streets in defiance. Many others, sources say, are getting ready for more violent action.
They say the assassination of the official in Lanmadaw is probably only the beginning of what could quickly turn into urban warfare scenarios in major cities nationwide. According to some reports, automatic weapons and grenades have already been sent to activists in Yangon.
Myanmar may not become a full-blown failed state — much of the economy is and has always been run underground and thus not measured in official statistics — but the nation is definitely now a failing state.
Tens of thousands of health workers and teachers have been fired for taking part in the so-called Civil Disobedience Movement. Banks are reportedly running out of cash as people — if they are lucky — withdraw their savings. Many have imposed fees of 8%-9% to withdraw funds or imposed outright limits on the amount that can be taken out.
A brain drain has also begun as many well-educated people have leveraged various channels to leave the country. What happens next is not clear, but Min Aung Hlaing’s power-grab is measuring up as perhaps the most unsuccessful military coup in modern Asian history.
To be sure United States (US) and European Union (EU) sanctions have so far had no deterrent effect on the military’s onslaught. The severest action that can be taken by the United Nations (UN) would be a resolution calling for an “immediate suspension” of weapons transfers to the junta.
Although recently introduced by the tiny European principality of Liechtenstein, which is not an EU member, and supported by the EU, UK and US, it will inevitably be vetoed at the UN Security Council by permanent members China and Russia.
What is clear, however, is that Min Aung Hlaing has ruined his chance of becoming a credible political leader. As military commander-in-chief, he traveled more widely than any of his predecessors on what the Tatmadaw called “goodwill missions.”
According to a study compiled by the Tagaung Institute of Political Studies, a Yangon-based think tank, his trips took him to China, Russia, Vietnam, Thailand, India, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Cambodia, Laos, Nepal, Japan, South Korea, Israel, Belarus, Serbia, Brunei, Pakistan and even Belgium, Austria, Germany and Italy.
He won’t likely be welcome again in many of those countries. His future standing in Myanmar is also on shaky ground, with critics and commentators saying he has single-handedly destroyed his legacy as an armed forces commander while making the military even more an object of contempt in the public’s eye.
But even if the Tatmadaw moved to oust him from his positions of power in a face-saving counter-coup – for now, more wishful thinking than likely scenario – there is no guarantee that his military successors would be in favor of the kind of openness Myanmar enjoyed from 2011 until this year’s disastrous coup..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of publication:
2021-05-19
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-19
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Anti-coup protesters, Spring Revolution, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Human Rights and international relations, Sanctions - general, Business and the Military, Sanctions, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
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Description:
"Burma Campaign UK today welcomed an announcement by the British government that they are imposing sanctions on Myanmar Gems Enterprise (MGE). MGE manages the gemstones industry in Burma, which will be a significant source of revenue for the military now that it has seized control of government ministries.
MGE is a state-owned enterprise under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation. MGE was sanctioned by the USA on 8th April 2021.
The UK sanctions follow previous sanctions on two military-owned conglomerates, Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd (MEHL) and Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC).
Since the military coup on 1st February 2021 around 800 people have been killed, more than 5,000 arrested and more than 60,000 displaced from their homes by the Burmese military. It is essential that the British government uses all tools at its disposal, economic, legal, diplomatic and building an arms embargo coalition, in order to maximise pressure on the Burmese military.
“Today’s new sanctions are another positive step by the British government towards cutting revenue going to the military,” said Anna Roberts, Executive Director of Burma Campaign UK. “The government now needs to moves swiftly to ban imports of gems from Burma, and expand sanctions to the timber industry as well.”
Burma Campaign UK is also calling on the European Union to sanction Burma’s timber and gems industries, now that the military is the main beneficiary of revenue from these industries..."
Source/publisher:
"Burma Campaign UK" (London)
Date of publication:
2021-05-17
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-18
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Sanctions - general, UK-Burma relations, Economic activities of the Myanmar Military, Business and the Military, Sanctions, Gems - mining and trade, Gems
Language:
more
Description:
"The Honourable Marc Garneau, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today announced additional sanctions against 16 individuals and 10 entities under the Special Economic Measures (Burma) Regulations in response to the military’s ongoing brutal repression of the people of Myanmar and their refusal to take steps to restore democracy.
These actions are taken in coordination with the United Kingdom and the United States, and align with measures recently imposed by the European Union. They are also consistent with our G7 commitment to continue to take action should the Tatmadaw fail to reverse its course. This latest step demonstrates our unwavering determination to hold the Tatmadaw accountable and help restore democracy as demanded by the people of Myanmar. Canada will continue to take additional actions, in coordination with our partners, should the Tatmadaw refuse to reverse course. Canada urges other countries to impose similar measures, including arms embargos.
For more than 100 days, the people of Myanmar have demonstrated impressive resilience and determination in the face of a violent military regime. Canada stands in solidarity with the people of Myanmar and their desire for a peaceful, inclusive and democratic future.
We acknowledge and appreciate the central role of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in responding to the crisis in Myanmar. Canada is ready to work with ASEAN to advance the swift implementation of the 5-point consensus. We urge the Tatmadaw to cooperate unconditionally and immediately with ASEAN and the UN..."
Source/publisher:
Global Affairs Canada
Date of publication:
2021-05-17
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-18
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Canada-Burma relations, Sanctions - general, ASEAN-Burma relations, Economic activities of the Myanmar Military, Business and the Military, Sanctions
Language:
more
Description:
"Today I would like to express my most sincere thanks to the Government of the United Kingdom for designating Myanmar Gems Enterprise (MGE) with strict sanctions as a company that is directly supporting the killing of innocent civilians by supplying huge revenue streams to the terrorist regime forces.
I would also like to reiterate my sincere thanks to the People, Parliament and Government of the United Kingdom for standing in solidarity and being a strong voice for the people of Myanmar. I also want to express my gratitude for the efforts of the UK on coordinating targeted sanctions against key tatmadaw personnel, tatmadaw
linked companies and enterprises such as MEC and MEHL, and for providing extra funding to the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar. Additionally, I would like to further thank the UK government for taking a strong leadership role in the UN and G7 summits on behalf of the people of Myanmar, and for the recognition
of CRPH and NUG as important voices of many in this nation.
The UK has announced additional measures targeting the Myanmar regime today (17 May), with new sanctions imposed against Myanmar Gems Enterprise (MGE). These latest sanctions aim to cut off a key source of funding for the military junta, which is responsible for serious human rights violations against the people of Myanmar, including the killing of children. Foreign Secretary of UK, Dominic Raab, said:
“The military junta in Myanmar continues to crush democracy and attack its own people with brutal ferocity. We are working with our allies to impose sanctions that hit the junta’s access to finance, and deliver a return to democracy.” The asset freeze imposed by the sanctions prevents anyone from dealing with funds
or economic resources which are owned or controlled by MGE and held in the UK. It also blocks others from providing funds or economic resources to MGE..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of International Cooperation Myanmar
Date of publication:
2021-05-17
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-18
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Sanctions - general, UK-Burma relations, Economic activities of the Myanmar Military, Business and the Military, Sanctions, Gems - mining and trade, Gems, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, National Unity Government (NUG)
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Description:
"Today I would like to express my most sincere thanks to the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control for designating 16 individuals and one entity (the 'SAC') with strict sanctions who are supporting the killing of innocent
civilians nationwide, most recently in Mindat, Chin State.
I would also like to reiterate my sincere thanks to the People and Government of the United States of America for standing in solidarity and being a strong voice for the people of Myanmar. I also want to express my gratitude for the efforts of the U.S. on
coordinating targeted sanctions against key tatmadaw personnel, tatmadaw linked companies and enterprises such as MEC, MGE and MEHL. Additionally, I would like to further thank the United States government for taking a strong leadership role in
the UN and G7 summits on behalf of the people of Myanmar, and for the recognition of CRPH and NUG as important voices of many in this nation. The official press release is as follows:
"WASHINGTON - Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated 16 individuals and one entity connected to Burma’s military regime. Thirteen of the individuals sanctioned today are key members of Burma’s military
regime, which is violently repressing the pro-democracy movement in the country and is responsible for the ongoing violent and lethal attacks against the people of Burma, including the killing of children. The other three individuals are adult children
of previously designated senior Burmese military officials. The entity is the State Administration Council (SAC), the body created by the military to support its unlawful overthrow of the democratically elected civilian government. These designations today are made pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 14014, “Blocking Property with
Respect to the Situation in Burma.” These sanctions are not directed at the people of Burma. In concurrent actions, the U.K. and Canada also sanctioned persons and/or entities in relation to the on-going coup in Burma. “Burma’s military continues to commit human rights abuses and oppress the people of Burma. Today’s action demonstrates the United States' commitment to work with
our international partners to press the Burmese military and promote accountability for those responsible for the coup and ongoing violence," said Andrea Gacki, Director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control. As a part of today’s action, the State Administrative Council (SAC) is designated for being a political subdivision, agency, or instrumentality of the Government of Burma. The SAC, which is the official name of the military government in Burma, was
formed by Burma’s military on February 2, 2021. It is largely made up of military officials and led by Commander-in-Chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, whom Treasury designated on February 11, 2021 pursuant to E.O. 14014. The following four individuals are designated pursuant to E.O. 14014 for being foreign persons who are or were leaders or officials of the Government of Burma on or after
February 2, 2021: Mahn Nyein Maung is a member of the SAC;
Thein Nyunt is a member of the SAC; • Sai Lone Saing is a member of the SAC; and Khin Maung Swe is a member of the SAC.
The following nine individuals, who are members of the military regime, are designated pursuant to E.0.14014 for being foreign persons who are or were leaders or officials of the Government of Burma on or after February 2, 2021: Ko Ko Hlaing is the Minister of International Cooperation; Tun Aung Myint is the Minister for Ethnic Affairs; • Tun Tun Naung is the Minister of Border Affairs;
• Than Nyein is the governor of the Central Bank of Burma;
• Pwint San is the Minister of Commerce; Win Shein is the Minister for Planning, Finance, and Industry; Thein Soe is the chairman of the military-appointed Union Election Commission, the regime’s electoral body; Thet Khaing Win is the Minister of Health and Sports; and
• Khin Maung Yi is the Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation. In addition to the individuals identified above, the following three individuals are designated pursuant to E.O. 14014 for being a spouse or adult child of a person
whose property and interests in property are blocked.
• Hein Htet is the adult child of SAC member General Maung Maung Kyaw, whom Treasury designated on February 22, 2021 pursuant to E.O. 14014; Kaung Htet is also an adult child of General Maung Maung Kyaw; and Yin Min Thu is the adult child of SAC member Admiral Tin Aung San, whom Treasury designated on February 11, 2021 pursuant to E.O. 14014..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of International Cooperation Myanmar
Date of publication:
2021-05-18
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-18
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), USA-Burma relations, Sanctions - general, Economic activities of the Myanmar Military, Business and the Military, Sanctions, Chin State, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
72.93 KB
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Description:
"Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated 16 individuals and one entity connected to Burma’s military regime.
Thirteen of the individuals sanctioned today are key members of Burma’s military regime, which is violently repressing the pro-democracy movement in the country and is responsible for the ongoing violent and lethal attacks against the people of Burma, including the killing of children. The other three individuals are adult children of previously designated senior Burmese military officials. The entity is the State Administration Council (SAC), the body created by the military to support its unlawful overthrow of the democratically elected civilian government. These designations today are made pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 14014, “Blocking Property with Respect to the Situation in Burma.” These sanctions are not directed at the people of Burma. In concurrent actions, the U.K. and Canada also sanctioned persons and/or entities in relation to the on-going coup in Burma.
“Burma’s military continues to commit human rights abuses and oppress the people of Burma. Today’s action demonstrates the United States’ commitment to work with our international partners to press the Burmese military and promote accountability for those responsible for the coup and ongoing violence,” said Andrea Gacki, Director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control.
As a part of today’s action, the State Administrative Council (SAC) is designated for being a political subdivision, agency, or instrumentality of the Government of Burma. The SAC, which is the official name of the military government in Burma, was formed by Burma’s military on February 2, 2021. It is largely made up of military officials and led by Commander-in-Chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, whom Treasury designated on February 11, 2021 pursuant to E.O. 14014.
The following four individuals are designated pursuant to E.O. 14014 for being foreign persons who are or were leaders or officials of the Government of Burma on or after February 2, 2021:
Mahn Nyein Maung is a member of the SAC;
Thein Nyunt is a member of the SAC;
Sai Lone Saing is a member of the SAC; and
Khin Maung Swe is a member of the SAC.
The following nine individuals, who are members of the military regime, are designated pursuant to E.O.14014 for being foreign persons who are or were leaders or officials of the Government of Burma on or after February 2, 2021:
Ko Ko Hlaing is the Minister of International Cooperation;
Tun Aung Myint is the Minister for Ethnic Affairs;
Tun Tun Naung is the Minister of Border Affairs;
Than Nyein is the governor of the Central Bank of Burma;
Pwint San is the Minister of Commerce;
Win Shein is the Minister for Planning, Finance, and Industry;
Thein Soe is the chairman of the military-appointed Union Election Commission, the regime’s electoral body;
Thet Khaing Win is the Minister of Health and Sports; and
Khin Maung Yi is the Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation.
In addition to the individuals identified above, the following three individuals are designated pursuant to E.O. 14014 for being a spouse or adult child of a person whose property and interests in property are blocked.
Hein Htet is the adult child of SAC member General Maung Maung Kyaw, whom Treasury designated on February 22, 2021 pursuant to E.O. 14014;
Kaung Htet is also an adult child of General Maung Maung Kyaw; and
Yin Min Thu is the adult child of SAC member Admiral Tin Aung San, whom Treasury designated on February 11, 2021 pursuant to E.O. 14014.
As a result of today’s action, all property and interests in property of the persons 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, in the aggregate, 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked.
Unless authorized by a general or specific license issued by OFAC, or otherwise exempt, 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 are prohibited. 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..."
Source/publisher:
United States Department of the Treasury (USA)
Date of publication:
2021-05-17
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-18
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Burma relations, Sanctions - general, Economic activities of the Myanmar Military, Business and the Military, Sanctions, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
more
Sub-title:
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab announces sanctions on Myanmar Gems Enterprise (MGE), a state-owned enterprise under the military junta’s control.
Description:
"Foreign Secretary announces new sanctions against Myanmar Gems Enterprise
the move will deprive the junta of a key source of funding – the gem trade is a multi-billion dollar business for Myanmar
the UK has already sanctioned senior Myanmar military officers and their economic interests following February’s military coup
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has announced additional measures targeting the Myanmar regime today (17 May) with new sanctions imposed against Myanmar Gems Enterprise (MGE).
MGE is a state owned enterprise which oversees all gemstone activities in Myanmar and is now under the junta’s control following the military coup on 1 February.
The designation against MGE will cut off a key source of funding for the military junta, which continues to subvert democracy and is responsible for the violent repression and serious human rights violations against the people of Myanmar, including the killing of children. Myanmar is one of the world’s largest producers of rubies and jade – trade in jade for example is a multi-billion dollar business for the country.
Enforced with immediate effect, the sanctions are the first since the UK laid new Myanmar sanctions regulations in parliament on 29 April. They demonstrate the UK’s commitment to targeting the military junta’s funding streams to put pressure on them to immediately end the coup.
Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab, said:
The military junta in Myanmar continues to crush democracy and attack its own people with brutal ferocity. We are working with our allies to impose sanctions that hit the junta’s access to finance, and deliver a return to democracy.
The asset freeze imposed by the sanctions prevents anyone from dealing with funds or economic resources which are owned or controlled by the designated entity and held in the UK. It also blocks others from providing funds or economic resources to the designated individual or entity – in this case MGE.
Today’s announcement, made in conjunction with the United States and Canada, follows the recent G7 and ASEAN meetings which reiterated the strong and united view of the international community in opposition to the actions of the military junta in Myanmar. The UK, alongside the G7, is urging all countries to immediately suspend arms sales to Myanmar and welcomes the recent suspension of sales by Japan and the Republic of Korea.
The UK is clear that ASEAN has a central role to play in resolving the crisis and that the military regime must implement the ASEAN Five Point Consensus without delay. The UK calls for all companies to cut ties with military-linked businesses with direct effect..."
Date of publication:
2021-05-17
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-18
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Sanctions - general, UK-Burma relations, Economic activities of the Myanmar Military, Sanctions, Gems - mining and trade, Gems
Language:
more
Description:
"I am delighted and grateful to learn today that the USA and UK have once again shown strong global leadership targeting coordinated sanctions on the illegitimate military regime in Myanmar.
The military regime has stolen democracy and freedom from our people and then poured out atrocities against innocent civilians. I would like to express my deepest appreciation to the USA and UK, who have taken a stand for the people of Myanmar who have suffered so much and for so long. These sanctions target the source of wealth and income of military Generals who have killed innocent people and committed ethnic cleansing against the Kachin, Karen, Kayah, Shan, Mon, Rakhine, Chin and Rohingya. These same Generals are guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity. They have repeatedly committed these crimes over many years. Specifically, in 1988 and 1997 when they killed hundreds of innocent unarmed students. In 2007 when they stood against peace-loving Buddhist monks during the Saffron revolution. In 2017 against the Rohingya population and now again in 2021, where they have killed more than 300 on the streets of Myanmar and illegally detained more than 2500 including democratically elected leaders, our State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and our President, U Win Myint.
These same military Generals have stolen both our country's wealth and our freedom by their smoking guns. These two holding companies, Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC) and Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited (MEHL) have for many years been the means by which the military Generals have plundered our nation's riches and wealth for their own advantage. They continue to use this wealth to kill, destroy and wipe out the people of Myanmar.
We have been calling on the world to take targeted coordinated tougher sanctions, both economically and diplomatically. Without these, the military Generals will never understand what they have done. They have no regard for the sanctity of life, human rights, democracy, justice and international law. They have turned the military into a project to protect themselves rather than the people. They have used the armed forces to keep themselves in power at the expense of the people. They are content to live in a nation where they can murder people on the streets, and as long as they are in power, my people, the people of Myanmar, have no future.
The international community must continue to use all the power it has to weaken and stop the Tatmadaw military Generals, whose illegitimate actions cannot be allowed to be repeated again and again in the history of Myanmar. The threat to their personal finances, to the world and to their income, matters more to them than the freedom of our people, peaceful and courageous people of Myanmar
Through stronger, tougher, coordinated, targeted sanctions, the military Generals, their families and their supporters will finally start to bear some of the consequences of their crimes.
I therefore, urge all heads of governments and states around the world, to please follow the leadership of the USA and the UK, cooperating together and imposing targeted, stronger and tougher sanctions against the illegitimate military regime, the individuals in charge, the military companies and their subsidiaries, including sanctions on their business on financial , insurance services, oil and gas, timber and Jemstone..."
Source/publisher:
Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH)
Date of publication:
2021-03-26
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-17
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), Racial or ethnic discrimination in Burma: reports of violations against several groups, Sanctions - general, USA-Burma relations, UK-Burma relations, Sanctions, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
Format :
pdf pdf
Size:
132.73 KB 39.32 KB
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Description:
"Myanmar is on the brink of collapse. Its armed forces are continuing a brutal crackdown—arresting, torturing and killing protesters—as Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s de-facto leader, is detained. Our experts answer your questions..."
Source/publisher:
The Economist
Date of publication:
2021-05-11
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-16
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Human Rights and international relations, Racial or ethnic discrimination in Burma: reports of violations against several groups, China-Burma-India relations, Russia-Burma relations, Sanctions - general, Political History, Economic activities of the Myanmar Military, Business and the Military, Sanctions, Spring Revolution
Language:
more
Sub-title:
Myanmar nationals continue ‘social punishment’ campaigns and lobby lawmakers abroad to blacklist the adult children of junta members
Description:
"The National Unity Government (NUG) is planning to work with foreign countries to introduce and expand sanctions against the overseas relatives of Myanmar’s coup council members, according to the NUG’s human rights minister.
The NUG is the interim government formed in late April by lawmakers ousted in Myanmar’s February 1 coup.
“We will coordinate with foreign affairs and immigration departments to sanction the [adult] children of those who are blacklisted,” NUG’s Minister of Human Rights Aung Myo Min said.
Aung Myo Min was a prominent rights activist before taking a Cabinet position within the NUG.
Following widespread killings of protesters by the regime’s armed forces, the US and European Union (EU) are among the international actors who imposed sanctions on members of the military junta and those related to them.
Since the coup, the US has announced sanctions against key junta leaders, the members of two Light Infantry Divisions, and two adult children of military chief Min Aung Hlaing. They are banned from the country, their American assets have been frozen and American citizens are prohibited from working with them.
The EU has imposed similar sanctions against 35 people in Myanmar, including members of the military, its council, and collaborating civilian politicians.
The Myanmar public both at home and abroad have been carrying out “social punishment” campaigns, identifying and exposing the family members of junta members and supporters online. The campaigns call for these individuals to be ostracised from the Myanmar community.
Myanmar nationals held protests in front of Japan’s Toyo University in March calling for the “social punishment” of Nan Lin Lae Oo, a student at Toyo and the daughter of Lt-Gen Kyaw Swar Lin, head of the Myanmar military’s Central Command.
Kyaw Swar Lin is accused of ordering soldiers to open fire on anti-regime protesters in Mandalay. The resulting crackdowns killed several civilians in February and March.
Nan Lin Lae Oo reportedly left Japan following the protests outside her university.
“We were told that Kyaw Swar Lin’s daughter has returned to Myanmar. We do not know exactly how, but she is no longer at the school,” Myat Thu Aung, who is working in Japan, told Myanmar Now.
He said that other Myanmar nationals in the country are lobbying Japanese lawmakers to back sanctions against family members of those behind the coup.
“Our message has arrived inside the Japanese parliament. There are some discussions going on among parliament members who are deciding what to do about those individuals,” Myat Thu Aung said.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported in early May that the Australian government’s department of home affairs had launched investigations into 22 relatives of Myanmar’s military council living in Australia, “amid concerns they are either harbouring assets or receiving financial support in the wake of the military coup.”
In the US, Myanmar activists are coordinating with state governments and representatives to gather information about the family members of the coup council members and their American finances.
“There are many steps left regarding action that can be taken by the US government. We are currently working with lawyers and lawmakers,” US-based Myanmar national Nay Tin Myint told Myanmar Now.
The NUG’s human rights minister Aung Myo Min said that his cabinet is also documenting the violence perpetrated by the junta with the aim of filing complaints against military members at the International Criminal Court.
“The consequences would have an impact on many future generations,” he said of an international prosecution.
The military’s armed forces have killed at least 781 people since it seized power from the elected civilian government in a coup on February 1, according to a tally compiled by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP)...."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2021-05-11
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-11
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), Sanctions - general, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Sanctions, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
more
Topic:
Chevron, collapse, Coup, earners, Exports, financial, flows, foreign currency, forestry, Imports, inflows, junta, lifeline, Military, Mining, NLD, NUG, Oil and Gas, regime, revenue, rule, SAC, Sanctions, Shipping, support, textiles, Total, Tourism
Topic:
Chevron, collapse, Coup, earners, Exports, financial, flows, foreign currency, forestry, Imports, inflows, junta, lifeline, Military, Mining, NLD, NUG, Oil and Gas, regime, revenue, rule, SAC, Sanctions, Shipping, support, textiles, Total, Tourism
Description:
"Tougher action is urgently needed to cut off foreign currency flows to the Myanmar military regime, suggested local and foreign financial experts, who argued that severing its financial lifeline would hasten the collapse of military rule.
“The largest inflows of foreign currency to the military are from the oil and gas and mining sectors. We need to totally shut off the flow of foreign currency that is keeping the junta alive,” a local economist who asked not to be named told The Irrawaddy.
“The international community must pressure all the parties that sustain military rule in Myanmar. It is critical to act before it is too late,” he said.
Last week, an anonymous group, Independent Economists for Myanmar (IEM), suggested that effective sanctions limiting the ability of the regime’s State Administrative Council (SAC) to collect revenue from natural gas, mining, forestry, shipping including port fees and airlines could change the military’s calculus.
It estimated that such measures would cut off roughly US$2 billion per year in financing for the military.
Earnings from natural gas, jade, metallic minerals, land rentals, telecommunications fees and businesses involved in trade such as port operators, transport and logistics companies, and Myanmar National Airlines provide the largest inflows of foreign currency to the military, totaling around $2.5 billion per year.....Cash in hand: IEM estimated that that military’s “access to foreign currency is significant but constrained,” saying it controls at least $4 billion, roughly two-thirds of Myanmar’s stock of foreign currency. However, it also controls about half of the inflows that remain following the collapse of several sectors that generated foreign currency, such as textiles and tourism.
Additionally, around $1 billion of foreign assets are held at the US Federal Reserve and were frozen by the US government in early February.
Foreign currency is important for the military since it not only pays for military equipment like tanks and guns, as well as supplies like fuel, but is also needed to service military-owned companies that rely on foreign inputs. Military-owned factories rely on foreign equipment to keep functioning, while military hospitals purchase medication from abroad.
IEM said that prior to the coup, Myanmar had enough foreign reserves to maintain imports for three months. However, since then, exports have shrunk, import demand has crashed, and the military has confiscated much of the country’s foreign reserves.
Myanmar imports roughly $28 billion worth of goods and services in an average year, including $3 billion in fuel, more than $500 million in medication, $1 billion in cooking oil, and $1.2 billion in meat and vegetables. Myanmar’s official exports have shrunk by more than 20 percent and imports by more than 35 percent since October 2020.
Before the coup, the textile and footwear industries generated a quarter of all foreign currency inflows for the country, but almost all of their operations have dried up since the Feb. 1 military takeover. Moreover, none of the military-owned companies are known to hold significant foreign assets.
The scarcity of foreign exchange is evident in the 20 percent depreciation of the kyat versus the US dollar between Feb. 1 and April 19, despite limits on kyat withdrawals and hoarding of cash, the economists said.
Subsidiaries of Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC) and Myanma Economic Holdings Limited (MEHL)—two military owned conglomerates—normally earn roughly $200 million annually from domestic sales. These include Dagon Beverages Company, Myawaddy Bank, Mytel, Aung Thitsa Oo Insurance and Bandoola Transportation Company.
However, both MEHL and MEC are likely to suffer financially, with Myanmar Brewery, Myawaddy Bank and Mytel expected to see declines in revenue of 80 to 90 percent due to domestic consumer boycotts. The combined effect could be to reduce MEHL and MEC’s domestic revenue by between $100-150 million, the economists estimated.
Many of the Myanmar state’s most valuable assets were sold off in the 1990s and 2000s, meaning the SAC regime cannot raise much capital from asset sales. Further, widespread instability and insecurity are depressing asset prices and the National Unity Government—a shadow government formed by elected lawmakers ousted by the coup—considers void any investment agreements signed between domestic or foreign companies and the SAC, IEM said.
“In short, without new foreign currency inflows, the military will soon need to ration foreign currency. The SAC regime will need to choose between purchasing fuel, medication, equipment and food for itself and providing foreign exchange liquidity for the rest of the population,” it said.
Even without forceful targeted sanctions in place, the military is already being forced to choose between its own priorities and providing financing to import the fuel and equipment needed to generate the electricity and food, fertilizers and medications people need to survive, IME said.
The military has already starved public services and the private sector of foreign exchange, so further reductions in its access to foreign currency are likely to predominantly impact the military rather than civilians, the IME said.
“Such actions, and preventing military businesses from accessing foreign inputs, could help pressure the military to compromise on its own needs,” the economists suggested.....Bankrolling crimes: Foreign currency inflows from natural resources—oil, gas, minerals, gems and forestry products—represent more than a third of Myanmar’s export earnings, according to official records. The oil and gas sector, in which many international energy giants have invested, has become a target of rights groups, which are demanding an end to foreign firms’ financing of the military’s crimes. Since the military takeover, at least 769 civilians have been killed and 4,734 people arrested by the regime.
On Tuesday, Myanmar’s ambassador to the United Nations urged the US Congress to play a decisive leadership role in resolving the Myanmar crisis.
Ambassador U Kyaw Moe Tun, a representative of elected lawmakers from the National League for Democracy (NLD), urged the US to impose “targeted, coordinated and tougher sanctions” on the Myanmar military and its businesses such as Myawaddy and Innwa banks, the state-owned Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank (MFTB) and Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE).
“I wish to stress that Myanmar is not just witnessing another major setback to democracy, but also the crisis is threatening the regional peace and security,” U Kyaw Moe Tun said.
Oil and gas revenues earned Myanmar $1.5 billion in annual income in fiscal 2019-20, with around 80 percent of that income derived from the offshore natural gas sector, according to official figures. Recently, US senators urged the Biden administration to impose sanctions on MOGE.
Natural gas joint ventures involving companies such as France’s Total, the US’s Chevron, South Korea’s POSCO, Thailand’s PTT, Malaysia’s Petronas and China’s CNPC are currently the most significant sources of foreign exchange revenue for Myanmar. MOGE collects income through its joint ventures and revenue sharing agreements with international corporations.
US giant Chevron has a longstanding partnership with MOGE. The two companies are joint investors in the Yadana offshore gas project, located off the southwest coast of Myanmar, which accounts for 42 percent of all oil and gas production from Myanmar’s offshore projects.
Chevron paid around $50 million to Myanmar between 2014 and 2018, according to the Myanmar Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative report (MEITI). Total reported that it paid $257 million in taxes and other payments to Myanmar in 2019.
Petronas’s Yetagun gas project paid $208 million to the government in 2018, while the Shwe project, run by South Korea’s POSCO, paid $194 million, according to MEITI. The Zawtika gas project, run by Thailand’s PTT, paid $41 million in 2018.
International and local pro-democracy supporters have repeatedly pressured oil and gas companies to cut ties with the military or pay revenue into a trust or protected account either to be held until such time as Myanmar has a legitimate and democratically elected government or to be used for humanitarian purposes.
Elected lawmakers from the NLD sent a final notice in March calling on foreign-owned oil and gas companies operating in Myanmar to suspend business ties with the military regime, warning that the money from sales of the oil and gas would be used to reinforce human rights violations in the country.
However, both Total and Chevron remain reluctant to follow those demands. A New York Times report revealed that Chevron has intensively lobbied the US State Department and key congressional offices against sanctions, warning that they could disrupt its joint ventures in Myanmar.
An investigation by France’s Le Monde newspaper published on Tuesday revealed that Total’s gas operation in Myanmar has been propping up the military junta by diverting funds from gas sales to offshore accounts instead of the government. According to documents accessed by the French newspaper and released after the military coup, the Yadana gas field, which supplies gas to local markets in Myanmar and Thailand, is diverting revenue to the MOGE, which is managed by army executives and retired officers.
Human rights group Justice for Myanmar (JFM) said on Wednesday that Total’s CEO claimed his company is continuing to do business as usual in Myanmar for humanitarian reasons. However, their business conduct in Myanmar and deep ties to the military suggest otherwise, JFM said.
“We demand Total to immediately suspend all payments to the military junta and place funds in a protected account until democracy is restored in Myanmar,” JFM said.
Another foreign currency earner is the mining sector, which generates about $470 million a year. The gems sector accounts for $300 million. Legally, the state should collect approximately 10 percent in royalties and taxes on jade, but 60 to 80 percent of gemstones produced in Myanmar bypass the formal trading and export system. The forestry industry officially generated between $350 million and $1.65 billion per year in exports over the last decade.
In a bid to deprive the military government of funds, the US Treasury Department in April imposed sanctions on a Myanmar state-owned gems enterprise, as well as Myanmar Timber Enterprise and Myanmar Pearl Enterprise. MEHL and MEC have also been sanctioned by the US and UK.
“In terms of blocking revenue from timber and gems, the US alone is not enough. We need collective action from the international community,” a local economist said.
The state also earns foreign currency through port fees, shipping and Myanmar National Airlines sales. However, each of these is controlled by an off-budget state-owned enterprise that retains 55 percent of profits and does not submit financial information to the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Industry. Net foreign earnings from these entities remain unknown.....Stepped-up sanctions: Another local financial expert who asked not to be named told The Irrawaddy that Myanmar’s largest trading partners in the region including Singapore, China, India, Indonesia, Japan and Thailand should consider imposing trade sanctions.
“It is a very unlikely scenario. Most of them have historically close ties with the military. But if they can do it, it would be very effective in reducing foreign currency inflows,” he said.
In March, the US imposed trade sanctions against Myanmar’s ministries of Defense and Home Affairs as well as MEC and MEHL.
“I would say that the steps taken against the regime by the international community are still modest. Myanmar needs more effective sanctions targeted at blocking foreign currency flows to the regime,” the local financial expert said.
“They should identify, target and freeze all foreign currency revenues and foreign exchange reserves held in accounts outside of Myanmar,” he said.
The independent economists from IEM said the popular Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), in which civil servants and some private sector workers are refusing to work under the regime, is unlikely on its own to convince military leaders to negotiate or give up power.
“Cutting the SAC regime off from foreign credit could also be key, but would require substantial international agreement,” the economists said..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of publication:
2021-05-05
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-06
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma and the Geopolitics of Oil and Gas, Sanctions - general, Anti-coup protesters, Spring Revolution, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Human Rights and international relations, International Trade, Banking, National Unity Government (NUG), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Description:
"Myanmar's ambassador to the United Nations told the U.S. Congress on Tuesday that Washington should target the state-run Myanmar oil and gas company and a state-owned bank with sanctions.
Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun, a representative of elected lawmakers who oppose Myanmar's military junta, also warned that the crisis triggered by a Feb. 1 coup in the Southeast Asian nation threatened regional security.
The Biden administration has denounced the coup and imposed sanctions on the generals who led it as well as some of their family members and businesses that provide them with revenue.
The Myanmar ambassador told the House Committee on Foreign Affairs that as well as the military-run Myawaddy and Innwa banks, the United States should slap sanctions on the state-owned Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank (MFTB) and Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE).
MOGE operates offshore gas fields in joint ventures with international firms, including U.S.-based Chevron and France's Total, while MFTB conducts transactions in foreign currencies for Myanmar's government.
The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) advocacy group says security forces have killed at least 766 civilians since the coup, which sparked nationwide protests.
Some pro-democracy activists have traveled to Myanmar's mountainous borderlands to join armed groups fighting for ethnic autonomy, raising fears of a spiraling conflict.
“I wish to stress that Myanmar is not just witnessing another major setback to democracy, but also the crisis is threatening the regional peace and security," said Kyaw Moe Tun, who dramatically broke with the military junta in February, but has retained the country's seat at the United Nations..."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK)
Date of publication:
2021-05-05
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-05
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Sanctions - general, USA-Burma relations, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Sub-title:
More Than 200 Groups Worldwide Call for a UN Sanctions Resolution
Description:
"The United Nations Security Council should immediately impose a global arms embargo on Myanmar, Human Rights Watch and over 200 other nongovernmental organizations from around the world said today in a public appeal to council members. The Security Council should act swiftly to pressure the junta to stop violating the human rights of people protesting the February 1, 2021, coup and military rule.
“The UN Security Council’s failure to even discuss an arms embargo against the junta is an appalling abdication of its responsibilities toward the people of Myanmar,” said Louis Charbonneau, UN director at Human Rights Watch. “The council’s occasional statements of concern in the face of the military’s violent repression of largely peaceful protesters is the diplomatic equivalent of shrugging their shoulders and walking away.”
The groups said that the United Kingdom, the council’s designated drafter of Myanmar texts, should immediately open negotiations at the Security Council on a draft resolution authorizing an arms embargo. The UK has been reluctant to do so, prioritizing consensus statements supported by all council members over a resolution with substantive measures that China, Russia, and other members might initially oppose.
“No government should sell a single bullet to the junta under these circumstances,” the groups said in their appeal. “Imposing a global arms embargo on Myanmar is the minimum necessary step the Security Council should take in response to the military’s escalating violence. Arms and materiel provided to Myanmar’s security forces are likely to be used by the security forces to commit abuses in violation of international human rights and humanitarian law.”
Myanmar’s military nullified the country’s November 2020 election results and imposed a manufactured “state of emergency.” State security forces have killed over 760 people since the coup and arbitrarily detained more than 3,600, including journalists, medical personnel, teachers, students, and others in violation of international human rights law. Hundreds may have been forcibly disappeared.
A number of individual governments and the European Union have imposed sanctions on senior leaders of the Tatmadaw, as Myanmar’s military is known, and companies controlled by the military; but the Security Council has only issued three statements since the military takeover. Those statements have called on the military to halt the excessive use of force against protesters and release political prisoners, including former President Win Myint, State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, and other officials elected in the November 8, 2020, election.
The groups’ appeal for an arms embargo echoes and broadens a February 24 declaration by 137 nongovernmental organizations, which urged the Security Council to act swiftly to halt the flow of weapons to the junta.
“The time for statements has passed,” the groups said. “The Security Council should take its consensus on Myanmar to a new level and agree on immediate and substantive action. An arms embargo would be the centerpiece of a global effort to protect the people of Myanmar from further atrocities and help bring an end to impunity for crimes under international law.”
The organizations also said they were disappointed with the April 24 summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its failure “to take more robust action to protect Myanmar’s people.” The junta has ignored ASEAN’s call for an end to the violence.
In February, UN Secretary-General António Guterres pledged to “do everything we can to mobilize all the key actors and international community to put enough pressure on Myanmar to make sure that this coup fails.” The UN special rapporteur for Myanmar, Tom Andrews, has repeatedly called for an arms embargo and sanctions. Guterres’ special envoy, Christine Schraner Burgener, has also called for targeted sanctions.
The Security Council’s unwillingness to discuss a sanctions resolution represents a collective failure to heed the many calls to action from around the world. Human Rights Watch has said that the Security Council should also impose targeted sanctions, global travel bans, and asset freezes on the leadership of the junta and military-owned conglomerates.
The junta leader, Sr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, and several other military officials have been implicated in crimes against humanity and war crimes committed by the Tatmadaw in Rakhine, Kachin, Shan, and Chin States. Until the Security Council acts, individual UN member states should continue to adopt measures at the national and regional levels to block sales and other transfers of weapons and materiel to Myanmar, with the goal of creating a de facto global arms embargo, Human Rights Watch said.
Governments should also demand that Security Council members that care about protecting the human rights of Myanmar’s people set aside concerns about resistance from the permanent members Russia and China, and circulate a draft resolution that council members can discuss and vote on. A Security Council resolution needs nine votes in favor and no vetoes from the five permanent members to pass.
“The Security Council has an unfortunate history of inaction on human rights in Myanmar, barely uttering a peep when the military carried out an ethnic cleansing campaign against the Rohingya in 2017,” Charbonneau said. “The Security Council should call China and Russia’s bluff and put a sanctions resolution to a vote. If Moscow and Beijing side with a military already accused of genocide and crimes against humanity, they will have to pay for the rising political cost of their obstruction.”..."
Source/publisher:
"Human Rights Watch" (USA)
Date of publication:
2021-05-05
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-05
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Sanctions - general, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Human Rights and international relations, The UN and Burma - news and commentary, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Description:
"Foreign ministers representing the Group of 7 industrialized nations have a busy day of meetings Tuesday in London discussing a range of world issues, including relations with China and Russia, the coup in Myanmar, the Syrian conflict, and the situation in Afghanistan.
Britain’s foreign office said in Tuesday’s sessions Foreign Secretary Dominic Rabb “will lead discussions on pressing geopolitical issues that threaten to undermine democracy, freedoms and human rights.”
Raab said the talks are “an opportunity to bring together open, democratic societies and demonstrate unity at a time when it is much needed to tackle shared challenges and rising threats.”
He is expected to urge G-7 members to sanction individuals and entities connected to Myanmar’s military junta, to support arms embargoes and to boost humanitarian aid to the people of Myanmar.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Raab on Monday and said regarding China the goal is not to “try to contain China or to hold China down.”
“What we are trying to do is to uphold the international rules-based order that our countries have invested so much in over so many decades to the benefit, I would argue not just of our own citizens, but of people around the world including, by the way, China,” Blinken told reporters.
Raab said the United States and Britain are also looking for constructive ways to work with China “in a sensible and positive manner” on issues including climate change when possible.
U.S. President Joe Biden has identified competition with China as his administration's greatest foreign policy challenge. In his first speech to Congress last week, he pledged to maintain a strong U.S. military presence in the Indo-Pacific and boost U.S. technological development.
Last month, Blinken said the United States was concerned about China's aggressive actions against Taiwan and warned it would be a "serious mistake" for anyone to try to change the status quo in the western Pacific by force.
Elsewhere in the region, the United States said it is ready to engage diplomatically with North Korea to achieve the ultimate goal of the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, following the completion of a months-long U.S. policy review on North Korea.
“What we have now is a policy that calls for a calibrated practical approach that is open to and will explore diplomacy with North Korea, to try to make practical progress that increases the security of the United States, our allies and our deployed forces,” Blinken said Monday.
Raab said Britain and the United States “share the strategic paradigm,” and both countries will support each other’s efforts.
On Friday, the Biden administration announced it completed the review of North Korean policy, expressing openness to talks with the reclusive communist nation. Biden is also expected to appoint a special envoy for North Korean human rights issues.
North Korea lashed out at the United States and its allies on Sunday in a series of statements, saying recent comments from Washington are proof of a hostile policy.
A statement by Kwon Jong Gun, head of the North Korean Foreign Ministry’s North America Department, warns that Pyongyang would seek “corresponding measures” and that if Washington tries to approach relations with Pyongyang through “outdated and old-school policies” from the perspective of the Cold War, it will face an increasingly unaffordable crisis in the near future.
“I hope that North Korea will take the opportunity to engage diplomatically and to see if there are ways to move forward toward the objective of complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. And so, we will look to see not only what North Korea says but what it actually does in the coming days and months,” the top U.S. diplomat added.
Blinken’s remarks followed his separate meetings with Japanese Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu and South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong, where the foreign ministers pledged U.S.-Japan-ROK trilateral cooperation toward the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
The G-7 ministerial talks are laying the foundation for a summit of leaders from those countries in June, also in Britain.
In addition to Britain and the United States, the G-7 includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan. Australia, India, South Africa, South Korea and Brunei are also taking part in this week’s talks.
After the G-7 meetings, Blinken is scheduled to travel to Ukraine to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and other senior government officials.
State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement that Blinken will “reaffirm unwavering U.S. support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of Russia’s ongoing aggression.”..."
Source/publisher:
"VOA" (Washington, D.C)
Date of publication:
2021-05-04
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-04
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma/Myanmar's Foreign relations, general, Sanctions - general, Human Rights and international relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
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Topic:
UNODC, Narcotic Drugs, Lt-Gen Than Hlaing, Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control
Sub-title:
The inclusion of Lt-Gen Than Hlaing in the conference rejects the advice of the UN Secretary-General's own adviser not to legitimise or recognise the military coup regime
Topic:
UNODC, Narcotic Drugs, Lt-Gen Than Hlaing, Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control
Description:
"The staging of the 64th Session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) from April 12-16 was the latest annual meeting for the Vienna, Austria-based United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), for which the CND serves as the governing body and provides policy guidance.
It would probably have passed out without much notice, except that it served as a coming out of sorts for Myanmar's military junta.
The conference appears to signify the first time that a senior figure in Myanmar’s regime—in this case, Lt-Gen Than Hlaing—has participated in a UN forum since the February 1 coup.
As Myanmar's newly installed deputy minister for home affairs, a department that controls both the police and the Special Branch, Lt-Gen Than Hlaing has played a central role in the ongoing violent crackdown that has seen nearly 3,600 people arrested and more than 766 killed in the country’s blood-stained streets.
In his remarks at the event, Lt-Gen Than Hlaing made no reference to the bloodshed carried out by the police under his command, preferring instead to focus on other things.
“Myanmar has made various efforts to eradicate drugs as a national duty. Special anti-drug operations are being carried out annually,” he said in a speech that was delivered remotely.
The fact that this year’s conference for the UNODC’s governing body was conducted online due to the Covid-19 pandemic spared the Austrian government the embarrassment of having to host a senior junta member officially blacklisted by both the European Union (EU) and the US for his role in the ongoing crackdown on anti-dictatorship protests.
“[P]olice forces acting under the authority of Lieutenant General Than Hlaing have committed serious human rights violations since 1 February 2021, killing civilian and unarmed protesters, restricting freedom of assembly and of expression, arbitrary arrests and detention of opposition leaders and opponents of the coup,” the EU's sanctions announcement reads.
It goes on to describe Lt-Gen Than Hlaing as “directly responsible for decision making concerning repressive policies and violent actions committed by police against peaceful demonstrators and is therefore responsible for serious human rights violations in Myanmar/Burma.”.....Dissonance within the UN interagency response: Despite what the EU, the British, Canadian and US governments—who have all sanctioned the senior junta figure—may think of Lt-Gen Than Hlaing, his participation at the CND was a victory for Myanmar military chief and coup leader Min Aung Hlaing in his ongoing effort to expel Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun from his seat in New York as Myanmar's Permanent Representative to the UN.
Kyaw Moe Tun has come out against the coup, much to the irritation of the junta, and refused to vacate his seat where he has continued to call on the UN and foreign governments to “consider the desire of the people.”
Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun has maintained that he continues to represent Myanmar's civilian government and that “the coup must fail,” triggering a diplomatic showdown that appears destined to be played out before the UN Credentials Committee, a nine-member body currently headed by Tanzania.
Myanmar dissidents are concerned that by giving a platform to Lt-Gen Than Hlaing, the UN is signaling that it has already decided to recognise the new junta and disregard Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun.
Lt-Gen Than Hlaing's participation at the CND conference, which was highly publicised in Myanmar military-run media, has also been perceived by some as signifying a change in the stance of UN Secretary-General António Guterres. Although the Secretary-General had previously claimed he was “appalled” by the junta’s crackdown on the Myanmar public, he took part in the CND alongside Lt-Gen Than Hlaing.
An April 29 statement released by the advocacy group Progressive Voice noted that 410 Myanmar civil society organisations and prominent activists denounced Lt-Gen Than Hlaing's inclusion at the CND.
“The UN has not only failed to act as the brutal military junta commits crimes against humanity, it is now acting to legitimize and offer a platform to those who are murdering innocent people by the hundreds, including children,” read the statement. “It is disheartening to see such lack of respect for human rights displayed by the very institution that is mandated to protect and encourage respect for human rights. It is all the more shocking to see a UN institution with a mandate to prevent crime, corruption and terrorism feting an international criminal.”
As the UNODC’s governing body, the CND reports to and is one of the functional commissions of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). The ECOSOC is itself under the UN General Assembly, where Kyaw Moe Tun continues to sit. It remains to be seen how the struggle between Kyaw Moe Tun and the Myanmar junta will play out across other UN agencies and departments.
When reached for comment for this article, Jeremy Douglas, the UNODC's regional representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, explained that the UNODC was not responsible for the inclusion of Lt-Gen Than Hlaing at the CND.
“Invitations to the 2021 CND were sent to all UN MSs [Member States] sometime in 2020 by UN HQ [headquarters] as they are for all other UN commissions,” Douglas wrote in an email.
According to Douglas, Lt-Gen Than Hlaing and other Myanmar participants’ names were submitted by Myanmar’s ambassador to Vienna, Min Thein, who, in addition to being accredited to Austria, serves as Myanmar's representative to the UN offices based there.
While invitations to states may have been sent last year, online registration for individuals representing those states at the conference appears to have taken place from late March until early April—well after Myanmar’s coup, and Lt-Gen Than Hlaing’s February 2 appointment to his position.
“The composition of Myanmar’s delegation was known to the UN in New York HQ before the CND as they received confirmation of the nominations, as was the UN Resident Coordinator and UN system in Myanmar,” Douglas said.
He noted that “the participation of the delegation does not in any way indicate a change in the position of the Secretary General or the UN in Myanmar, the region or globally, including UNODC, OHCHR etc.,” Douglas added.
In his correspondence, Douglas did not elaborate on what this position entailed.
Apart from ignoring the advice of Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun, who has maintained that the military coup council is illegitimate, Lt-Gen Than Hlaing’s inclusion at the CND also defies the recommendations of the UN Secretary-General's own Special Envoy for Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener. She has called on the international community to “not lend legitimacy or recognition to this regime.”
Schraner Burgener's comments were echoed by Progressive Voice, who have demanded that the UNODC and CND to “immediately end all ties with the illegitimate military junta and recognize and work with the National Unity Government, the legitimate governing body representing the people of Myanmar.”......No acknowledgment of the coup: Public comments by UNODC staff since Myanmar’s coup have largely overlooked the violence perpetrated against the public by the police and military forces. They have instead focused on what the UNODC believes are the ramifications of the situation in Myanmar for the global drug trade.
The UNODC's Douglas explained to Channel News Asia, a Singaporean broadcaster, in a February 26 interview that the UN drug agency was concerned that what he referred to as the “redeployment” of security personnel could sideline anti-drug interdiction efforts.
“What we do sense is that law enforcement redeployment, which is occurring within the country because of the emergency decree, may position the police to new places, meaning that they're not able to do what they would normally do. Search for drugs, follow-up investigations, so it could be a huge distraction which traffickers can take advantage of. So we're expecting that type of behaviour, opportunistic behaviour, to take place, which is very normal for organised crime,” he said.
In another interview with AFP on March 26, Douglas predicted an increase in synthetic drug production due to the economic slowdown brought about by the coup.
“The best way to make big money fast is the drug trade, and the pieces are in place to scale up," Douglas explained.
Similarly, a UNODC press release issued on February 11 about Myanmar also made no mention of the military’s seizure of power. It was an omission that the agency's many Myanmar critics have attributed to UNODC's partnership with the very police reinforcing the coup.
These critics have also suggested that the agency’s consistently dire predictions about surges in drug production and distribution are indicative of the UNODC's own struggle for relevance and renewed funding in a region where the agency’s police partners have been accused of rights abuses, incompetence and collaboration with the very drug traffickers they are supposed to be fighting against.
According to an independent evaluation of the UNODC’s Myanmar Country Programme published in May 2020, the agency’s budget during a multi-year project period beginning in 2014 was listed US$42 million. It had reportedly managed to raise just over half of this amount.
The evaluation also noted that at the time the Myanmar program was designed, it was “not developed within the framework of conflict-sensitive and ‘do no harm’ programming,” pointing out that this was “not common practice for UNODC programming.” This was a requirement only added by the UN in 2018 to meet the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.....Pro-military bias and major reporting errors: In early 2020, the office of military chief Min Aung Hlaing announced that during raids in northern Myanmar, security forces had seized over 143 million methamphetamine tablets, 441 kg of crystalline methamphetamine and vast amounts of chemicals and laboratory equipment used in drug production.
The UNODC heralded the raids and described the operations as the largest ever methamphetamine manufacturing bust in the Golden Triangle.
“What has been unearthed through this operation is truly off the charts,” the UNODC's Douglas said at the time of the bust, which took place in northern Shan State's Kutkai Township.
Despite the headlines, it has been unclear how many people have been charged with crimes in connection with the raids, or whether the figures provided by Myanmar officials concerning the seizure were accurate.
Unsurprisingly, in his remarks at the April conference in Vienna, Lt-Gen Than Hlaing did not provide updates on any outcomes related to the supposedly giant drug haul in Kutkai. He instead focused on the results of the latest annual joint opium survey conducted by the UNODC and Myanmar’s Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control. The committee is a government entity that, until the coup, was headed by Myanmar’s previous police chief, Pol Lt-Gen Aung Win Oo.
The UNODC’s annual reports concerning Myanmar have come under criticism for demonstrating a pro-military bias that ignored realities on the ground and appeared to reinforce the military's agenda.
For example, the UNODC claimed in its 2018 Myanmar Opium Survey that, “in Kachin State, the highest density of poppy cultivation took place in areas under the control or influence of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA).”
This conclusion contradicted the actual data collected in the surveys, including the maps printed in the report which showed that Kachin State's opium fields were in territory controlled not by the KIA but by the Border Guard Force—units officially under the control of the Myanmar military.
As the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) pointed out in a strongly worded letter to the UNODC's Douglas rebutting the report, “It can be clearly seen that the very high opium density area in Sadung lies in the government-controlled BGF area, and not in the KIA area.”
“Frankly, siding with the Myanmar government to cast unsubstantiated aspersions against the KIA will only hinder, not support, peace-seeking efforts,” the KIO warned the UN drug agency.
The area that the KIO was referring to has long been the fiefdom of the Myanmar military-allied militia leader Zahkung Ting Ying, who originally split with the group in 1968. The veteran warlord was described by a US counter-narcotics official in 1997 Senate testimony as “someone associated with drug trafficking.” It is a view shared by members of the Kachin State-based anti-drug movement Pat Jasan who have protested in front of the former parliamentarian’s home and dispatched vigilantes to destroy poppies in BGF territory.
As the Transnational Institute (TNI), an Amsterdam-based think tank that has criticised the KIO for being too heavy handed in its drug control efforts, noted, “Our local sources […] confirm the KIO claim that there is presently no substantial opium cultivation in KIO-controlled areas.”
TNI went on to say that “it is unclear how the UNODC arrives at its completely opposite claims about Kachin State, but it seems to be based on wrong assumptions about who ‘controls’ which areas.”
Thanks to Lt-Gen Than Hlaing's central role in the junta’s war on Myanmar's civil society, the next time the UNODC makes such errors in its reports there may be no one on the ground in Myanmar to point them out..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2021-05-04
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-04
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
UNODC Burma/Myanmar, Sanctions - general, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association, violations of, Human Rights and international relations, Drugs and Burma: general links, reports and articles, Racial or ethnic discrimination in Burma: reports of violations against several groups, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Description:
"410 Myanmar civil society organizations and four individuals condemn the UN Office of Drugs and Crime’s (UNODC) decision to allow Lieutenant-General Than Hlaing, who is sanctioned by Canada, US, UK and the EU, to represent Myanmar via video, at its 64th session of the Commission on Narcotics Drugs in April this
year. The CSOs call for UNODC to immediately end all ties with the illegitimate military junta and recognize the National Unity Government as the legitimate governing body representing the people of Myanmar.
Allowing the military to represent Myanmar at the UN conference held in Vienna, betrays the will of the people of Myanmar who continue to oppose the illegitimate and brutal military junta and further damages
the confidence the people have in the UN to carry out its mandate enshrined in the UN Charter to promote and encourage “respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms”. The 64th meeting of the Narcotics Drugs Commission was held in Vienna, Austria, from 12 to 16 April, and was organized by the UNODC. The annual conference to review and analyze the global drug situation, which hosted UN Member States from around the world, opened with a speech by the UN SecretaryGeneral, António Guterres. The UN has not only failed to act as the brutal military junta commits crimes against humanity, it is now acting to legitimize and offer a platform to those who are murdering innocent people by the hundreds, including children. It is disheartening to see such lack of respect for human rights
displayed by the very institution that is mandated to protect and encourage respect for human rights. It is all the more shocking to see a UN institution with a mandate to prevent crime, corruption and terrorism feting an international criminal. Worse yet, Vienna, Austria - where the conference was held - is part of the EU which sanctioned
Lieutenant-General Than Hlaing as part of its restrictive measures (asset freeze and travel ban) on 22 March, 2021. He would have been prevented from entering Vienna had he not been allowed to join by
video conference. This is a grave circumvention of the EU sanctions, weakening their very purpose. On 2 February, the day after the coup, Lieutenant-General Than Hlaing was appointed Chief of the
Myanmar Police Force and Deputy Home Affairs Minister by the illegitimate military junta. In his position as the Chief of the Myanmar Police Force, he commanded the commission of extreme brutality and acts of violence against peaceful protesters, members of the Civil Disobedience Movement, and other innocent individuals who have been killed, detained and tortured. 756 have been killed as of 28 April 2021 including at least 51 children. 3,449 people have been detained. 1,237 arrest warrants have been issued. Yet the people of Myanmar have opposed the military junta as it continues its brutal attempt at an already failing coup. As well as the EU, the US, UK and Canada have also imposed sanctions against Than Hlaing, who the
UNODC shamefully decided to allow the illegal military junta a platform to speak to the world as the representative of Myanmar at its conference. This is not the first time that the UNODC has been criticized for legitimizing the Myanmar military’s
narrative. UNODC has a long and troubled history of turning a blind eye to the complicity of the Myanmar military and other state backed groups in Myanmar’s profitable drug trade. In particular, UNODC’s annual opium survey which is published jointly with the Myanmar government, has come under heavy criticism
for distorting the realities on the ground in favor of the Myanmar military and government. UNODC’s Myanmar Opium Survey 2013 indicated that opium production levels in Kachin State were down by 10%, however the survey failed to include Chipwe, which was controlled by the Border Guard Force, under the
command of the Myanmar military. In its Myanmar Opium Survey 2018, UNODC once again provided contentious and incorrect information in its reporting, stating that highest density of poppy cultivation had taken placed under areas controlled by the ethnic armed organizations. Such statements, which were
refuted by both civil society organizations and ethnic armed organizations, lent legitimacy to the Myanmar military and government’s facade that they were enforcers of drug eradication rather than address the rampant corruption and their culpability in one of the most profitable trades in Myanmar. UNODC has long failed to heed the calls from civil society organizations to accurately reflect the situation on the ground. Its invitation of a sanctioned military official who is responsible for the violence inflicted against the people of Myanmar to its annual conference is a part of a pattern indicating a systemic failure by the United Nations to ensure that all bodies of the UN reflect the human rights values enshrined in its Charter. Therefore, we call on: • The UNODC to immediately end all ties with the illegitimate military junta and recognize and work with the National Unity Government, the legitimate governing body representing the people of Myanmar; • The UN Secretary-General, the UN OHCHR and other bodies of the UN to ensure that UNODC act in compliance with the human rights principles enshrined in the UN Charter - the UN must ensure a coordinated approach that embodies the “do no harm” and conflict sensitivity principles; • The UN bodies to stop recognizing and hosting the Myanmar military junta at events and meetings
and instead invite representatives of the legitimate government, the National Unity Government, as the official representative of Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
410 Myanmar civil society organizations and four individuals via Progressive Voice (Thailand)
Date of publication:
2021-04-29
Date of entry/update:
2021-04-29
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
UNODC Burma/Myanmar, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Sanctions - general, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Human Rights and international relations, National Unity Government (NUG)
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Topic:
Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, civilian deaths, Coup, crackdown, EU, European Union, junta, military in politics, military regime, Rule of Law, Sanctions, State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
Topic:
Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, civilian deaths, Coup, crackdown, EU, European Union, junta, military in politics, military regime, Rule of Law, Sanctions, State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
Description:
"The European Union imposed sanctions on 10 more junta members, including its ethnic minority representatives, and two military-controlled conglomerates on Monday.
The latest sanctions target nine members of the State Administrative Council (SAC), the junta’s governing body, and its information minister, U Chit Naing, who is responsible for issuing military propaganda.
The EU said the sanctions include asset freezes and visa bans on those involved in decision-making, undermining democracy and serious human rights violations.
At least 739 people have been killed and 3,261 detained by the regime since the military takeover on Feb. 1, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.
The EU imposed sanctions on U Chit Naing, saying he was responsible for spreading disinformation through the state media. It said he was also “directly responsible for decisions that led to the crackdown on Myanmar media”.
After taking over the ministry, he outlawed the words “coup”, “military regime” and “junta” in the independent media. On March 8 he removed the operating licenses of Mizzima, Myanmar Now, 7Day News, Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) and Khit Thit Media, all of which had covered the protests against military rule.
Seven ethnic-minority SAC members are included on the sanctions lists.
Mahn Nyein Maung, a former Karen National Union leader and ex-political prisoner, ran unsuccessfully for the Lower House in Ayeyarwady Region’s Pantanaw Township for the Karen People’s Party in the Nov. 8 general election.
Rakhine politician Daw Aye Nu Sein was on the Arakan National Party’s policy board and the party’s spokeswoman. Kayah politician Saw Daniel was the vice-chairman of the Kayah State Democratic Party until his dismissal from the party for joining the SAC.
Dr. Banyar Aung Moe, a central executive committee member of the Mon Unity Party, was appointed to the SAC on March 17, leading to the resignation of many party members.
Shan politician Sai Lone Hseng was a Shan State speaker representing the military-proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party.
Two other members of ethnic minorities on the SAC, Jeng Phang Naw Taung and U Moung Har, also face EU sanctions.
New National Democracy Party chairman U Thein Nyunt and National Democratic Force chairman U Khin Maung Swe are on the sanctions list. Both are former National League for Democracy members who quit to take part in the military-organized 2010 general election and they served as MPs until 2015.
Myanma Economic Holdings Public Company Limited (MEHL) and Myanmar Economic Corporation Limited (MEC) have been also been sanctioned by the EU. The two conglomerates are a key source of income for the junta. They control a range of banking, trade, logistics, construction, mining, tourism and consumer goods businesses.
The EU said its decision is “a sign of the EU’s unity and determination in condemning the brutal actions of the military junta and aims at effecting change in the junta’s leadership”.
The 27-member bloc said its sanctions targeted the economic interests of the coup leaders and aim to avoid harm to the people of Myanmar.
Some are still missing
In March, the EU issued a freeze on assets and a visa ban for coup leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing and nine other senior officers who are SAC members and for the new head of the election commission.
The EU’s latest sanctions on Monday target civilian members of the SAC and one minister.
Other key SAC members have evaded sanctions.
Foreign minister U Wunna Maung Lwin, a key member of the UDSP, also served as foreign minister under President U Thein Sein when he worked with his counterparts in Asean, a role he reprised on his recent trip to Thailand. He met the Thai and Indonesian foreign ministers weeks after the military coup.
Also missing is the regime’s investment and foreign economic relations minister, U Aung Naing Oo. Despite his military background, he was appointed Myanmar Investment Commission chief under the ousted National League for Democracy government. With the experience he gained under the NLD government, he is now the economics czar for the regime.
The junta’s minister for social welfare, relief and resettlement, Daw Thet Thet Khaing, was a military-friendly politician long before her ministerial appointment. Before the 2020 general election, she met Senior General Min Aung Hung to seek help if they were mistreated by the NLD during the election. She is a former NLD member.
International cooperation minister U Ko Ko Haling used to be an adviser under U Thein Sein’s government in the early 2010s. He is a staunch supporter of China and he is an adviser to Yunnan University’s Center for Myanmar Studies. He has backed China’s policies towards Hong Kong and Taiwan.
These ministers have all received severe criticism from pro-democracy supporters who have demanded western countries impose sanctions on them..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of publication:
2021-04-20
Date of entry/update:
2021-04-21
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Sanctions - general, European Union-Burma relations (commentary/analysis), Burma's economic relations with the European Union, Anti-coup protesters, Spring Revolution, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Business and the Military
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Description:
"The Council today decided to sanction 10 individuals and two military-controlled companies, Myanmar Economic Holdings Public Company Limited (MEHL) and Myanmar Economic Corporation Limited (MEC) in relation to the military coup staged in Myanmar/Burma on 1 February 2021, and the ensuing military and police repression against peaceful demonstrators. The decision was taken by written procedure.
The individuals targeted by sanctions are all responsible for undermining democracy and the rule of law in Myanmar/Burma, and for repressive decisions and serious human rights violations. The two sanctioned entities are large conglomerates that operate in many sectors of Myanmar’s economy and are owned and controlled by the Myanmar Armed Forces (Tatmadaw), and provide revenue for it. The adopted sanctions specifically target the economic interests of Myanmar’s military regime, which is responsible for the overthrow of Burma’s democratically elected government. Sanctions are crafted in such a way to avoid undue harm to the people of Myanmar.
Today’s decision is a sign of the EU’s unity and determination in condemning the brutal actions of the military junta, and aims at effecting change in the junta’s leadership. Today’s decision also sends a clear message to the military leadership: continuing on the current path will only bring further suffering and will never grant any legitimacy.
Restrictive measures, which now apply to a total of 35 individuals and two companies, include a travel ban and an asset freeze. In addition, EU citizens and companies are forbidden from making funds available to the listed individuals and entities.
Pre-existing EU restrictive measures also remain in place. These include an embargo on arms and equipment that can be used for internal repression, an export ban on dual-use goods for use by the military and border guard police, export restrictions on equipment for monitoring communications that could be used for internal repression, and a prohibition on military training for and military cooperation with the Tatmadaw.
EU restrictive measures add to the withholding of financial assistance directly going to the government and the freezing of all assistance to government bodies that may be seen as legitimising the junta.
The EU remains a steadfast supporter of Myanmar/Burma’s people and of the country’s democratic transition. As a tangible sign of this support, the European Commission has recently allocated a further EUR 9 million in emergency humanitarian aid to assist those in need. Since 1994, the EU has provided €287 million in humanitarian aid to Myanmar, with €20.5 million allocated in 2021 so far. The EU works with trusted and independent humanitarian partners to address the protection, food, nutrition and health needs of the most vulnerable people, particularly in Rakhine, Chin, Kachin and Shan states..."
Source/publisher:
Council of the European Union
Date of publication:
2021-04-19
Date of entry/update:
2021-04-19
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Sanctions - general, Economic activities of the Myanmar Military, Business and the Military, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Burma's economic relations with the European Union, European Union-Burma relations -- official links and documents
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Sub-title:
Exclusive: special rapporteur Tom Andrews says crimes against humanity are happening ‘before our very eyes’ and calls for urgent action against military junta
Description:
"A top United Nations expert is in direct talks with the Australian government about how to expand sanctions against Myanmar’s military regime, and warned that crimes against humanity are being “committed before our very eyes”.
Tom Andrews, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, told Guardian Australia the government should target the commander-in-chief, whom he described as “the gang leader” responsible for mass atrocities, and should link additional sanctions with those imposed by other countries.
On Wednesday the Australian government attempted to reassure more than 3,300 Myanmar nationals in Australia that it was not planning to send them home when their visas expired, amid concerns about the dangers they might face in the wake of the 1 February coup.
The Australian government has condemned the coup and the killing of more than 700 civilians, but has not announced any sanctions beyond those applying to five military figures who have been on the list since 2018. Human rights groups have criticised Australia for appearing to act slower than some of its key allies and partners..."
Source/publisher:
"The Guardian" (UK)
Date of publication:
2021-04-14
Date of entry/update:
2021-04-15
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Sanctions - general, Australia-Burma relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, The UN and Burma - news and commentary
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169.4 KB
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Sub-title:
National League for Democracy urges military to acknowledge 2020 election result
Description:
"The party of Aung San Suu Kyi has called for her immediate release and for Myanmar’s 2020 election results to be acknowledged by the military, which took power in a coup on Monday.
The country’s elected leader, who was among dozens of political figures picked up by the army, reportedly remains under house arrest.
The coup has provoked widespread outrage around the world, but China and Russia blocked British-led efforts at the UN security council to deliver a consensus statement condemning the military takeover.
The streets of Myanmar’s main city, Yangon, were calm on Tuesday, but online many people turned their social media pictures red to signal their support for Aung San Suu Kyi, who won a landslide victory in November’s elections. In the evening, residents banged metal pots, a symbolic protest against the military, which previously ran Myanmar for some five decades. Some lit candles on their balconies.
A growing civil disobedience campaign has also emerged among doctors, with health workers from dozens of hospitals across Myanmar stating they will not work under the military, starting from Wednesday.
A statement on the Facebook page of May Win Myint, an official with her National League for Democracy, said the party’s executive committee urged the military to acknowledge the results of November’s election and called for the parliamentary session due to start this week to go ahead. It also called for Aung San Suu Kyi’s immediate release.
Later on Tuesday, an official from the National League for Democracy said in a message on Facebook that Aung San Suu Kyi was in good health and that there was no plan to move her. It is not possible to verify such posts.
The UN special envoy on Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener, briefed the UN security council in closed session on Tuesday.
“She didn’t hold back at all,” a diplomat who was in the chamber said. “She really called for a clear signal of council support for democracy in Myanmar.”
China and Russia however blocked a British-drafted statement condemning the coup and calling for its reversal, while India and Vietnam also voiced reservations.
“China, weren’t actively supportive of the military vocally, but they talked about stability and internal affairs and tried not to say anything at all,” a diplomat said. “Russia supported China, and then India and Vietnam were just a bit more nuanced […] and said it was important to consider regional efforts.”
Louis Charbonneau, UN director for Human Rights Watch, condemned the security council’s silence.
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“The abject failure of the security council, thanks to the likes of China and Russia, to hold Myanmar’s military leaders accountable for their crimes helps them feel they can engage in horrific abuses and pay little or no cost,” Charbonneau said.
A spokesperson for the Chinese UN mission said: “It’s also our hope that any move of the council would be conducive to the stability of Myanmar rather than making the situation more complicated.”
Beijing has invested billions of dollars in projects in Myanmar. The state-backed Xinhua news agency described the military take over with the euphemism: “major cabinet reshuffle”.
The US president, Joe Biden, threatened sanctions and called for governments to press for the military to release detainees. The UN security council will meet on Tuesday to discuss the matter..."
Source/publisher:
"The Guardian" (UK)
Date of publication:
2021-02-02
Date of entry/update:
2021-04-15
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Anti-coup protesters, Health Workers Strike, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar, Sanctions - general, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Human Rights
Language:
Format :
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Size:
194.98 KB
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Description:
"The United Nations Security Council has condemned the escalating violence in Myanmar and called on the army to show restraint in its response to peaceful protesters, as the United States imposed sanctions on two children of junta leader Min Aung Hlaing.
In a statement issued on Wednesday following days of talks that sometimes broke down, the 15-member council said it “strongly condemns the violence against peaceful protesters, including against women, youth and children. “The council calls for the military to exercise utmost restraint and emphasizes that it is following the situation closely.”
Language that would have condemned the February 1 coup and threatened possible further action was removed from the UK-drafted text, due to opposition by China, Russia, India and Vietnam.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he hoped the statement would push the military to realise it “is absolutely essential” that all prisoners are released and that the results of a November election are respected. The army has justified the coup by saying that the election, won by Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy in a landslide, was marred by fraud – a claim rejected by the electoral commission. The junta has promised a new election, but has not said when it might take place.
Guterres acknowledged that Myanmar was not a “perfect democracy” before the coup.
“It was still heavily under military control in many aspects, which makes this coup even more difficult to understand, especially the accusations of electoral fraud by those that were largely in control of the country,” he said.
The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, an advocacy group tracking arrests since the military seized power, said on Wednesday night that more than 60 people had been killed since the protests began. Some 2,008 people had been detained with 1,689 still in custody, it said.
While welcoming the Security Council statement, rights groups monitoring the situation in Myanmar said more action was needed..."
Source/publisher:
"Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
Date of publication:
2021-03-10
Date of entry/update:
2021-03-11
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, The Military's political role, Sanctions - general, Political, social and economic dimensions of investment in Burma
Language:
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Description:
Executive Summary:
The issue of Myanmar has been in the limelight of international affairs for
almost two decades now. Economic sanctions and political isolation have
consistently been the principal policies of the international community in
dealing with the incumbent government in Myanmar. Despite the mounting
pressure, the country?s military rulers have so far chosen to defy the
international outcry, and as a result, a political stalemate has persisted, while
the population of the country continues to struggle to make ends meet.
Twenty years after 1987, Myanmar remains on the UN list of the world?s
Least Developed Countries. Yet, the government that stole the country?s
election is still in power. The impasse itself now becomes a problem, and the
practice, if not the concept, of intervention is open to scrutiny.
Whatever problems Myanmar has today and however severe they may be,
they did not just spring up overnight after the military took power — the
country?s history, beleaguered by violence and turmoil in the past two
centuries, tells us that. Recounting the country?s struggle for independence
and the political upheavals in the decades that followed allows us to gain
insights into the nature of the problems with which the country is grappling
today. Accountable for the problems that presently hinder the democratic
process in Myanmar is a combination of colonial legacy, multi-ethnicity, a
wide range of political interests across communities and, above all, a lack of
national identity that bonds the country together. Without the necessary step
of state building and a process of national reconciliation from within, a host
of political, economic, and ethnic problems cannot be solved.
In regard to the issue of Myanmar, China has all along spoken with a
different voice. The difference is rooted in regional identity and shared views
of history and development. Like many Asian countries, China has had
peaceful as well as troubled relations with Myanmar. The export of Mao?s
revolution and fervent support for a people?s war? to bring about regime
change in neighboring countries and beyond during the most radical period
of China?s modern history bears a striking resemblance to international
10
developments unfolding on the Indo-China Peninsula and elsewhere in the
world today. China?s current foreign policy and, in particular, China?s stance
on the issue of Myanmar, reflects lessons that China has drawn from its own
experience in the past. Economic reform that prospered and served to
stabilize China in the post-Mao era is now making its way to neighboring
Myanmar. This cross-border development (in part joined by ASEAN) has
brought significant changes to the war-torn country of Myanmar; and more
coordinated efforts from the international community along the same lines
would certainly benefit the country and its people in a meaningful way.
Intention and sincerity are crucial in the search for solutions, as indeed the
Six-Party Talks on North Korea demonstrate.
Xiaolin Guo
Source/publisher:
Central Asia-Caucasus Institute & Silk Road Studies Program - Silk Road Paper, March 2007
Date of publication:
2007-03-00
Date of entry/update:
2010-10-12
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
China-Burma relations, Sanctions - general
Language:
English
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Description:
"The European Union's Myanmar policy has been paved with good intentions. The intention has been to help establish a legitimate, democratically elected civilian government in Myanmar. This would end repression, violation of fundamental freedoms and lead to prosperity. These are no small objectives and they are all published in the Council Conclusions and Presidency Statements. In addition to this, the personal interest of political leaders and the impact of European advocacy groups have lead to the perception that they are on "the right side of history"...
One part of the positively-intended EU policy has been the imposition of sanctions. The existing ar-ray of sanctions are 1) unilaterally imposed as a result of the EU Common Policy; 2) unilaterally imposed by the EU through statutory regulations; and 3) informal sanctions applied by individual EU countries. All EU sanc-tions against Myanmar are autonomous measures, i.e. not endorsed by the UN. Apart from the US and Canada, whose sanctions are similar, there is no state or region that has the same comprehensive sanctions regime as the EU.
EU sanctions against Myanmar have been a long line of failures, as most sanctions are. What we see today in Myanmar is not a weakened government and political change, but stronger governmental control of resources and people, and increased interaction with, and influence of primarily China, but also India, Thailand, Russia and other actors, with the marginalization of European inter-action and influence. This was not what the EU sought. An open-minded analysis needs to be made by the EU regarding the continuation of the its sanctions policy..."
Agnes Frittin, Niklas Swanström
Source/publisher:
Institute for Security and Development Policy (Sweden)
Date of publication:
2010-01-20
Date of entry/update:
2010-02-19
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
more
Description:
Eine kontroverse Diskussion zur Wirksamkeit internationaler Sanktionen (UNO; USA; EU; ILO) in Burma/Myanmar nach den Aufständen von 1988; der Einfluss Aung San Suu Kyis; die Rolle westlicher NGOs; Fallstudien zu Burma/Myanmar, Sudan, Südafrika
A study on the efficacity of intnernational sanctions after the protests of 1988; the influence of Aung San Suu Kyi; the role of western NGOs; case studies of Burma/Myanmar, Sudan, South Africa
Sina Schüssler
Source/publisher:
Zentrum der Konfliktforschung der Philipps-Universität Marburg
Date of publication:
2006-00-00
Date of entry/update:
2007-09-21
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Sanctions - general, Sanctions, About Aung San Suu Kyi, News about the ILO and Burma/Myanmar, General articles on activism
Language:
German, Deutsch
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