28 foreign companies added to ‘dirty list’ – Mizzima
Burma Campaign UK has added 28 more companies to the ‘Dirty List’ of companies linked to the military, human rights violations, or environmental destruction in Myanmar, reports Mizzima. The additions mean there are now 116 companies on the list.
“Even genocide and a military coup has not been enough to persuade these companies to cut their links to the Burmese military,” said Mark Farmaner, Director of Burma Campaign UK. “The Burmese military has committed genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, doing any form of business with them is completely unacceptable. The Dirty List exposes the role companies all over the world are playing in helping to finance the military and supply it with arms.”
UK MPs call for aviation fuel sanctions against Myanmar military – Mizzima
55 British Parliamentarians from nine different political parties and Independent MPs have joined the call for aviation fuel sanctions against the Burmese military, reports Mizzima.
“The British government has led on sanctions since the coup, systematically identifying sources of revenue for the Burmese military and introducing targeted sanctions. Sanctions now need to be introduced on Burmese companies that supply aviation fuel to the military and British companies involved in any aspect of the supply of aviation fuel, including shipping, insurance and services,” said Karin Valtersson, Campaigns Officer at Burma Campaign UK.
Myanmar junta using social media to track its opponents – Radio Free Asia
When junta supporters and the Myanmar military were removed from Facebook after last year’s coup, they switched to the less regulated Telegram social network, which is based in Russia, reports Radio Free Asia.
Military authorities now use Telegram both to disseminate junta propaganda and for intelligence from supporters who list the profiles, activities and locations of pro-democracy celebrities, anti-junta activists, journalists and rights activists. Authorities have come to rely on the online information to help them plan crackdowns on anti-junta activists nationwide.
Burma Campaign UK added Telegram to its blacklist of businesses over the links to the Myanmar military, saying that the company allows military propagandists to use its platform and allows the spread of hate speech.
Serbia sold arms to Myanmar junta after coup – the Irrawaddy
Serbia has continued to supply arms to the Myanmar military since the coup, reports the Irrawaddy, despite the fact that those weapons are being used to attack and kill civilians, including children.
Tom Andrews, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, identified Serbia, along with China and Russia, as UN member states that are continuing to sell arms to the junta.
“By supplying arms to the Burmese military, Serbia is complicit in violations of international law,” said Anna Roberts, Executive Director of Burma Campaign UK. “The Serbian government knows that the weapons it supplies to the Burmese military are used against civilians, with children and babies being injured and killed.”
Rights advocates urge jet fuel sanctions against Myanmar – the Independent
Human rights advocates are urging governments to impose sanctions against supplying aviation fuel to Myanmar as its security forces carry out air strikes against opponents of the army-led administration, reports the Independent.
Burma Campaign UK said it is calling for sanctions on Myanmar companies involved in supplying jet fuel to the military and on foreign companies to prevent their involvement in “any aspect” of supplying aviation fuel to the country, including insurance and other support services.
New round of EU-Myanmar sanctions – DW
The EU became the first to impose sanctions on the state-run Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), one of the junta’s largest cash-cows, reports Germany’s Deutsche Welle.
Mark Farmaner, the director of Burma Campaign UK, told DW that “one of the biggest impacts of these EU sanctions may be that they embarrass the US into finally taking action on gas revenue to the military.”
However, the intermediary banks that collect oil and gas revenue have not been sanctioned by the EU.
“France and the EU need to clarify exactly how exemptions in the sanctions on MOGE will be applied and commit that they will not allow any financial or share transfers, which will benefit the military,” Mark Farmaner told DW. “These sanctions should also impact European companies involved in behind the scenes services to MOGE, including insurance.”
New EU sanctions target military’s lucrative gas firm – Al Jazeera
The European Union has expanded sanctions, reports Al Jazeera, to include the state-owned Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise, a joint venture partner in all offshore gas projects in Myanmar, including the Yadana gas field. Total Energies and Chevron recently pulled out of the Yadana project.
Burma Campaign UK welcomed the latest announcement, noting it was the first time sanctions had been imposed by the EU that were not in response to a specific atrocity.
“These sanctions are significant and welcome,” said Anna Roberts, Burma Campaign UK’s executive director. “By targeting the oil and gas sector the EU has leapfrogged the USA, targeting one of the main sources of revenue for the military. The USA, which has broader sanctions powers than the EU, must follow.”
Mark Farmaner interviewed by BBC Burmese
Big international companies are leaving Myanmar’s energy sector controlled by the military council, reports BBC Burmese.
After the US’s Chevron and France’s Total announced that they will withdraw from a major gas project in Myanmar, Malaysia’s Petronas and Japan’s Mitsubishi have also announced they will sell their shares. International observation teams said that the natural gas industry, which is earning at least one million dollars a year, is the main support for the military coup.
The BBC Burmese focus discussion includes an interview with the director of Burma Campaign UK, Mark Farmaner.
Watch BBC Burmese report (Mark Farmaner interviewed 5.05 – 8.35, dubbed into Burmese)
Myanmar military to parents: Disown dissenting children or lose your home – Newsweek
A growing number of families have been forced to disown their own children for their support of Burma’s pro-democracy movements, reports Newsweek, after the army announced that it would raid family homes, take over the properties of its opponents and arrest people giving shelter to protesters.
These public denunciations are all part of the military junta’s plan to create public dissension and place pressure on protesters, said Wai Hnin Pwint Thon, senior advocacy officer at Burma Campaign UK. “Family members are scared to be implicated in crimes,” she told Reuters. “They don’t want to be arrested, and they don’t want to be in trouble.”
UK government warns companies against supplying aviation fuel to Myanmar military – Mizzima
Burma Campaign UK has welcomed new British government advice on business risk in Burma which warns British companies not to be involved in the supply of aviation fuel to the Burmese military, reports Mizzima.
“It is very good to see the British government warning British companies not to be involved in the supply of aviation fuel to the Burmese military,” said Mark Farmaner, Director of Burma Campaign UK. “This is a recognition of the role of the supply of aviation fuel in the commission of human rights violations by the military. We hope that it will be followed by legal sanctions as soon as possible.”