Militärputsch Myanmar

Fascist and inhumane Russia, as well as a power-hungry China, provide the junta with fighter jets and weapons to use against civilians. 

Min Aung Hlaing is the head of MEHL's Patron Group and one of the largest shareholders overseeing business interests throughout Myanmar. These companies were built through the systemic corruption of the military dictatorship and the theft of public assets, which expanded under the leadership of "General" Min Aung Hlaing and his criminal clique. Min Aung Hlaing also abused his power to the benefit of his family, which profited from their access to state resources and the military's complete impunity.

Neue Züricher Zeitung, March 13, 2023

Early on Tues­day morn­ing, the mil­it­ary junta in Myan­mar once again showed how much it doesn't mat­ter to its own people. In one of the most dev­ast­at­ing air­strikes since the Coup d'état on Feb­ru­ary 1, 2021, the mil­it­ary killed up to 100 people in the vil­lage of Pazigyi in the cen­ter of the coun­try. There are said to be numer­ous chil­dren among the vic­tims. A sim­ilar mas­sacre took place in Octo­ber last year, when at least 80 people died in an air­strike on a con­cert.

An office of the par­al­lel gov­ern­ment to the mil­it­ary junta should have been inaug­ur­ated in Pazigyi. This "Gov­ern­ment of National Unity" con­sists of mem­bers of the demo­crat­ic­ally elec­ted Par­lia­ment. On this occa­sion, numer­ous people had gathered in Pazigyi. The mil­it­ary first dropped bombs on the crowd with a fighter jet before 8 a.m.Sub­sequently, sol­diers from a com­bat heli­copter with machine guns shot at the sur­viv­ors.

The Gov­ern­ment of National Unity called the act a war crime. The mil­it­ary, on the other hand, said that the dead were fight­ers of the People's Lib­er­a­tion Forces, the mil­it­ary arm of the par­al­lel gov­ern­ment.

Nearly 40,000 build­ings burned down

The mil­it­ary junta is much bet­ter equipped than the People's Lib­er­a­tion Forces and the rebel armies. It also plays out the mil­it­ary superi­or­ity. So she increas­ingly sets fire to houses in order to expel and wear down the people. The UN estim­ates that in Janu­ary of this year alone, the mil­it­ary set fire to 39,000 civil­ian build­ings. Accord­ing to the UN Office for the Coordin­a­tion of Human­it­arian Affairs, at least 1.8 mil­lion people were on the run in Myan­mar at the end of March.

For sev­eral months now, the Junta has also been increas­ingly rely­ing on air­strikes to break the res­ist­ance: a study by the United Nations shows that the mil­it­ary car­ried out at least 301 air­strikes between Feb­ru­ary last year and Janu­ary this year; in the first twelve months since the coup, there have been 125.

Owned by Trafigura

As in Pazigyi, the mil­it­ary junta can only fly because it has suf­fi­cient avi­ation fuel. Research by the human rights organ­iz­a­tion Amnesty Inter­na­tional shows that one com­pany in par­tic­u­lar is cent­ral to this: Puma Energy. The com­pany is major­ity owned by the Geneva-based Trafigura trad­ing house. In Myan­mar, it oper­ates through a joint ven­ture with the Asia Sun Group. The lat­ter had oper­ated a ter­minal in the port of Thilawa, not far from the mega­city of Yan­gon, where the tankers loaded with avi­ation fuel docked in order to then dis­trib­ute it in the coun­try.



A state­ment in Octo­ber last year showed the dilemma Puma Energy was in because of the polit­ical tur­moil. At that time, the com­pany announced that it had not sup­plied, sold or dis­trib­uted any fuel to the Myan­mar Air Force since the Coup d'état. In Octo­ber 2022, Puma Energy also announced that it was with­draw­ing from Myan­mar and selling the shares to a local private com­pany. The buyer is Shoon Energy. However, the com­pany is also part of the Asia Sun Group.

Bangkok Post, October 24, 2022

G7 Foreign Ministers’ Statement on the executions by the military junta in Myanmar

July 28, 2022

We, the G7 Foreign Ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America, and the High Representative of the European Union, strongly condemn the four executions by the military junta in Myanmar.

These executions, the first in Myanmar in over thirty years, and the absence of fair trials show the junta’s contempt for the unwavering democratic aspirations of the people of Myanmar. Those executed were prominent members of the democratic opposition – democracy activist Kyaw Min Yu (known as “Ko Jimmy”), former Member of Parliament Phyo Zeyar Thaw, as well as Aung Thura Zaw and Hla Myo Aung. Our thoughts are with the families of the four victims and with those of the many others who have been killed, arrested or tortured in Myanmar since the military illegitimately took over power in February 2021.

We continue to condemn in the strongest terms the military coup in Myanmar and express deep concern about the political, economic, social, humanitarian and human rights situation in the country.

We call on the military regime to immediately end the use of violence, to refrain from further arbitrary executions, to free all political prisoners and those arbitrarily detained and to return the country to a democratic path. We continue to support efforts by ASEAN, and call for the military to meaningfully implement all aspects of the ASEAN Five Point Consensus. This includes an inclusive process of dialogue with a broad range of democratic opposition. We also continue to support efforts by the United Nations, and encourage effective coordination between the ASEAN Special Envoy and the Special Envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General on Myanmar.