Activists expose shareholders of MEHL, the military’s secretive conglomerate

Justice for Myanmar reveals how lucrative company is used to fund military operations, reward loyalty and punish dissent

Myanmar Now

Published on Sep 10, 2020

Blood money: Amnesty and Justice for Myanmar said the military funds its ‘crimes’ with vast business interests (Amnesty International/Colin Foo)

Former President Thein Sein and his ministers from the previous government hold shares in a massive conglomerate that funds “the military’s international crimes” with “secret slush funds,” activists have confirmed.

Justice for Myanmar published the names after obtaining a 2011 company report, which also revealed that regional commands, battalions and platoons were institutional shareholders in Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited (MEHL).

Many of these military units were guilty of “war crimes and crimes against humanity,” the group said.

“Shares are distributed across the armed forces, creating secret slush funds that support military operations,” the group said in a report on Thursday.

mmnowelectionads.jpg

Amnesty International, which received a copy of the MEHL report from Justice for Myanmar, said dividend payments were used to fund military operations.

“There is no way for outsiders to know how these military units spend the dividends, but considering their size and regularity, it is reasonable to assume that they help finance them by contributing to operational costs,” the group said in a report also released Thursday.

While it has long been known that MEHL is military-owned, the company has always been highly secretive about the individual identities of its shareholders.

Between 1990 and 2011 MEHL’s shareholders received 108bn kyat in dividends, the company report showed.

Because the official exchange rate under the former regime artificially inflated the value of the kyat, it is difficult to assign a US dollar value to the figure. But it represents a vast sum paid out by a company with a stranglehold on key sectors of Myanmar’s economy.

Amnesty named several foreign and local companies that do business with MEHL, including the Japanese brewer Kirin and KBZ Group, and said they were funding military abuses and could be criminally liable.

“By doing business with the conglomerate, they too can be linked to these crimes and violations,” Amnesty said.

KIrin said in a statement that it was “deeply concerned by the contents of the report published by Amnesty.”

“We emphasise that it is wholly unacceptable to Kirin that any proceeds from our Myanmar joint-ventures could be used for any military purposes,” it added.

It said it would take Amnesty’s report into account when conducting an assessment that began in February and is due to be finished by the end of the year.

Kirin has for more than a year resisted growing calls from activists who have accused it of “funding genocide” against the Rohingya and urged it to immediately cut ties with Myanmar’s military.

Myanmar Brewery, which is jointly owned by Kirin and MEHL, made $155.9m in revenues in the second quarter of this financial year.

Last year, a panel of United Nations experts named Kirin and KBZ among dozens of firms it said should be criminally investigated for aiding and abetting crimes against humanity with donations to the military during its 2017 attacks against the Rohingya.

Kirin made three donations via its joint venture. The first was a cash gift of $6,000 at a ceremony presided over by commander-in-chief Min Aung Hlaing in September 2017.

At the televised ceremony, held a week after soldiers began storming villages in Rakhine, Min Aung Hlaing praised the donors for their “nationalistic fervour”.

Amnesty, prompted by the UN report, called on the Japanese government to investigate Kirin for criminal misconduct.

Both the military and the government have strongly denied committing international crimes against the Rohingya.

Justice for Myanmar said Thursday that firms “must cut ties” with the military. “It is untenable for domestic and international companies to continue to do business with the Myanmar military.”

Marta Grutka, KBZ Group’s Head of Corporate Affairs, declined to comment on the report when contacted by Myanmar Now.

myanmar_army_chief_min_aung_hlaing_and_kbz_group_chairman_aung_ko_win.jpg

Tatmadaw commander-in-chief Min Aung Hlaing (center) and Aung Ko Win, chairman of the KBZ Group, (left) pictured together in Shan state in July (Tatmadaw True News Team)

The fact that the cabinet under the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) government were MEHL shareholders was “evidence of the military’s state capture,” Justice for Myanmar said.

“The merging of the military government and the ‘civilian’ USDP in this cartel-like structure created a shocking conflict of interest that calls into question key USDP decisions. This conflict of interest continues today. MEHL shareholders hold key ministries and are distributed throughout the public service,” it added.

Shares in MEHL are also used to reward loyalty and punish dissent in the military, the group said.

“MEHL withholds payments to shareholders who step out of line in the military. The 2010-11 shareholder report lists dividends withheld to Major Aung Lin Htut, a high-profile defector, as well as deserters and those who are dismissed. MEHL is therefore part of the military’s control structure, punishing dissent and disloyalty,” it said.

Soldiers who are “loyal and rise through the ranks can buy a higher number of shares and enjoy more profits,” it added. “Shares are sold at the artificially low-price of 1,000 kyat per share.”

A military spokesperson did not answer calls from Myanmar Now seeking comment on Thursday. Amnesty said it contacted MEHL outlining its findings but the company did not answer any of the questions it raised.

Justice for Myanmar said: “Business deals and investments are financing the military’s international crimes and feeding systemic corruption. This must stop. All military businesses must be dismantled and those responsible for crimes must be held accountable.”

Myanmar Now

Myanmar Now is an independent news service providing free, accurate and unbiased news to the people of Myanmar in Burmese and English.

Donate

Independent media is under attack in Myanmar... help us hold the powerful to account.

Donate Now

Win Htein to be tried by tribunal of two judges, says his lawyer

Announcement came as court postponed the 82-year-old’s third hearing, meaning his request for bail on health grounds was not considered

Myanmar Now

Published on Mar 19, 2021

Win Htein arrives for the opening ceremony of the second session of the Union Peace Conference in 2017 (EPA-EFE)

Detained National League for Democracy party stalwart Win Htein is to be tried by a special tribunal of two judges following an order from the military-controlled Supreme Court, his lawyer said on Friday.

“It was just one judge before, and now there’s two,” Min Min Soe told Myanmar Now.

“District judge Ye Lwin will serve as chair, and deputy district judge Soe Naing will be a member of the tribunal,” she added.

Win Htein faces up to a 20-year prison sentence for sedition under section 124a of the Penal Code.

His third hearing, scheduled for Friday, was postponed, with the court citing the internet shutdown as the reason because it made video conferencing impossible, Min Min Soe said.

“The arguments will be presented at the next hearing, we applied for bail but since they’re setting up a tribunal for the lawsuit, that will be discussed at the next hearing as well,” she said.

At the second hearing on March 5, Win Htein requested an independent judgement, a meeting with his lawyer, and bail due to his health issues, but the court said those requests would be heard on March 19.

Win Htein, 82, uses a wheelchair and suffers from breathing problems that means he often requires an oxygen tank. He also suffers from diabetes, high blood pressure, hypothyroidism and benign prostatic hyperplasia.

Min Min Soe was allowed a brief call with her client on Friday to tell him that his hearing had been postponed until April 2.

Aye Lu, the chair of the Ottara district administration council in Naypyitaw, is the plaintiff in the lawsuit against Win Htein. Ottara district is where the NLD’s temporary headquarters are located.

Aye Lu filed the charge on February 4 and Win Htein was arrested that evening at his home in Yangon. He has been kept in the Naypyitaw detention center and denied visits from his lawyers.

He was detained after giving media interviews in the wake of the February 1 coup in which he said military chief Min Aung Hlaing had acted on personal ambition when seizing power.

On Wednesday the military council announced that it was investigating Aung San Suu Kyi for corruption, on top of other charges announced since her arrest.

Many other NLD leaders, party members and MPs have been arrested or are the subject of warrants.

Kyi Toe, a senior figure in the NLD, was arrested on Thursday night in Hledan, Yangon.

Myanmar Now

Myanmar Now is an independent news service providing free, accurate and unbiased news to the people of Myanmar in Burmese and English.

Donate

Independent media is under attack in Myanmar... help us hold the powerful to account.

Donate Now

Op-ed

Seeking justice in the wake of Myanmar’s coup

The country’s military leaders have acted with impunity for decades, but now there is a mechanism to bring them to justice

Lin Htet

Published on Mar 19, 2021

Nationwide protests against the coup have been responded with murders, torture and mass arrests by the military regime. (Myanmar Now)

On March 8, U Ko Ko Lay, a 62-year-old teacher, bled to death on a street in the Kachin state capital Myitkyina. He had been shot in the head while protesting the military coup of February 1. That same night, U Zaw Myat Lynn, an official from the National League for Democracy, was taken from his home in Shwepyithar on the outskirts of Yangon and tortured to death. The list keeps growing.

In the more than six weeks since Senior General Min Aung Hlaing seized power, images of soldiers and police officers shooting, beating, and arresting protesters have flooded social media and Myanmar and international news outlets. So far, the regime’s forces have killed well over 200 people (more than half of them in the past week) and seriously injured many more. The junta has also arrested nearly 2,200 people, some of whom, like U Zaw Myat Lynn, have died in custody.

Each day, Myanmar human rights organizations update lists with names, dates, locations, and causes of death. Around 600 police and a handful of soldiers have decided they do not want to be involved in such actions. They have left their posts and even joined the anti-coup movement.

Many soldiers, police officers, and commanding officers are acting with impunity now. But they can face prosecution, not only in Myanmar’s courts but also internationally. Like any country, Myanmar is subject to international law. Because of its history of atrocities, most recently against the Rohingya people, Myanmar is also already subject to special international legal proceedings that apply to the current situation.

The most relevant is the United Nations’ Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM). The IIMM was created in 2018 after the Myanmar military’s brutal campaign against the Rohingya people, but it applies to the whole country. Its mission is to investigate “international crimes” from 2011 to the present.

International crimes are generally defined as “widespread and systematic” in nature, involving many victims and locations. These include crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide.

In keeping with its mandate, the IIMM is collecting information on the current situation. In a statement released on February 11 (available in Myanmar here), it highlighted the “use of lethal force against peaceful protesters and the detention of political leaders, members of civil society and protesters.”

More recently, on March 17, the IIMM also called on recipients of illegal orders to share this evidence so that those ultimately responsible for these crimes can be held accountable.

"The persons most responsible for the most serious international crimes are usually those in high leadership positions. They are not the ones who physically perpetrate the crimes and often are not even present at the locations where the crimes are committed,” the head of the IIMM, Nicholas Koumjian, says in the statement (available in Myanmar here).

The crimes the IIMM investigates could be tried in Myanmar courts, courts in other countries, or international courts. International crimes are crimes that are so serious that they are considered to be against the international community, and are therefore not limited to courts in one country.

In other words, an international crime committed in Myanmar—for example, widespread and systematic attacks on civilians—can be tried in a court in another country or in an international court.

The Myanmar military is used to getting away with murder. Decades of well-documented killing, rape, and torture of civilians in ethnic minority areas have gone unpunished. No one has ever been tried for the killing of protesters during previous mass uprisings against military rule in 1988 and 2007.

But this time may be different. On March 4, the International Commission of Jurists said in a statement that “the killing of peaceful protesters by Myanmar’s security forces should be independently investigated as possible crimes against humanity.”

The IIMM is already set up and working. It provides a mechanism for just such an investigation. Those doing the shooting should be aware of this.

For further information:

The Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM) on Facebook

International Accountability Mechanisms for Myanmar (learning materials in English, Myanmar, and Karen)

Lin Htet is a pen name for a team of Myanmar and international writers

Lin Htet

Donate

Independent media is under attack in Myanmar... help us hold the powerful to account.

Donate Now

At least eight killed in junta’s bloody crackdown in Aungban, Shan State

A resident said armed forces used drones to monitor the crowd before opening fire on them

Myanmar Now

Published on Mar 19, 2021

Men carry a wounded protester in Aungban, Shan State, on the morning of March 19 (Supplied)

At least eight anti-coup protesters were killed in Aungban, southern Shan State, during an attack by the military junta on demonstrations on Friday morning, according to the Aungban Free Funeral Service Society.

Sixteen military trucks carrying more than 100 policemen and soldiers arrived at the protest site at around 9:00 a.m. and began shooting at protesters. Seven died at the scene, and another protester who had been shot in the neck was taken to Kalaw Hospital and died by 11:00 a.m.

All eight victims were men.

The body of the man who died at the hospital was sent to his family’s home, but those who were killed at the protest site were taken away by the junta’s armed forces, a representative of the Free Funeral Service Society told Myanmar Now.

Aungban resident Nay Lynn Tun told Myanmar Now that police and soldiers had destroyed the doors of nearby homes in order to arrest people, and that at least 10 people had been detained.

“Initially, police arrived at the site. When the crowd surrounded the police, armed soldiers arrived at the site and began firing,” he told Myanmar Now. “In the coming days, if we cannot gather to protest, we will do it in our own residential areas.”

Since March 13, around 300 volunteer night guards have watched over these residential areas to protect locals from the dangers posed by the junta’s nighttime raids. These forces use drone cameras to monitor the activities of the night guards from 3:00 a.m. until 5:00 a.m. every day, Nay Lynn Tun said.

He added that hours before Friday’s crackdown, military and police had also used drone cameras to monitor the gathering of protesters in Aungban.

Over the last week, at least 11 protesters have been arrested in Aungban. Only three-- the protesters who were minors-- were released.

South of Shan State, in the Kayah State capital of Loikaw, two pro-democracy protesters were also shot with live ammunition by the regime’s armed forces on Friday. One, 46-year-old Kyan Aung, was shot in the lower abdomen and died from his injuries. The other wounded protester was a nurse, according to eyewitnesses.

According to a March 18 tally by the advocacy group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, at least 224 people have been killed across the country by junta’s armed forces since the February 1 coup. Thousands more have been arrested.