13 businesses from Europe, the United States, and Asia are assisting Myanmar’s military in the production of weapons used in human rights violations.
According to a report by the Special Advisory Council on Myanmar (SAC-M), 13 companies across Europe, United States (U.S.) and Asia have been helping Myanmar’s military manufacture weapons used in human rights abuses.
These companies are based out of France, Germany, China, India, Russia, Singapore and the U.S. They have been providing licenses, raw materials, software, parts and components. As a result, the Myanmar military, which has launched a crackdown on its opposition after seizing power in a coup in February 2021, has become largely self-sufficient in manufacturing a range of weapons.
Produced in factories known as KaPaSa and run by the military’s Directorate of Defence Industries (DDI), these weapons include guns, ammunition and landmines. They are primarily being used to quash resistance to the coup.
Speaking on the occasion, a former U.N. Special Rapporteur on Myanmar – Yanghee Lee said, “Foreign companies are enabling the Myanmar military – one of the world’s worst human rights abusers – to produce many of the weapons it uses to commit daily atrocities against the Myanmar people.”
She further said, “Foreign companies and their home states have moral and legal responsibilities to ensure their products are not facilitating human rights violations against civilians in Myanmar. Failing to do so makes them complicit in the Myanmar military’s barbaric crimes.”
Taking it to twitter, she tweeted,
Must read about companies supplying material to the Myanmar Military who continues to commit gross human rights violations, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide against its own people.
— Yanghee Lee (@YangheeLeeSKKU) January 16, 2023
👇 https://t.co/VDoDVPGvak
The findings of the report are based upon interviews with people associated with the Myanmar military as well as leaked budget documents from the Ministry of Defence. As per the report, the high precision machines manufactured by companies based in Austria, Germany, Japan, Taiwan and the U.S. are currently being used by the Myanmar military at its weapons factories. These automated tools have turning, milling and grinding functions and play a critical role in the manufacturing of weapons. Software to operate these machines is being provided by companies based in France, Israel and Germany.
Singapore, meanwhile, functions as a strategic transit point for potentially significant volumes of items, including certain raw materials. Taiwan is believed to serve as an important route for the military’s purchase of the high precision machines. The military also regularly sends these machines from KaPaSa factories to Taiwan, where they are serviced by technicians associated with the European manufacturers of the machines, after which they are shipped back to Myanmar.
Companies in China, such as the state-owned China North Industries Group Corporation Limited, are key to the import of raw materials used for arms production while firms in India are helping with the imports of parts and components such as optical sights fitted to small arms such as sniper rifles.
