Washington D.C./New York:In response to the brutal campaign of violence perpetrated by the Burmese military regime and to continue imposing costs in connection with the military coup, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Assets Control (OFAC) today designated 22 individuals connected to the regime, pursuant to Executive Order 14014 “Blocking Property With Respect to the Situation in Burma.”
These included three additional State Administration Council (SAC) members and four military-appointed cabinet members, as well as 15 adult children or spouses of previously designated Myanmarese military officials “whose financial networks have contributed to military officials’ ill-gotten gains”.
“Today’s measures further demonstrate that we will continue to take additional action against, and impose costs on, the military and its leaders until they reverse course and provide for a return to democracy,” Antony J.Blinken, US Secretary of State said today. He added, that the United States is committed to promoting accountability for the Burmese military, the SAC, and all those who have provided support for the military coup. The United States will continue to urge the Burmese military to fully cooperate in expeditious implementation of the ASEAN Five Point Consensus, and immediately restore Burma’s path to democracy, he said, adding that the US will remain a steadfast advocate for the people of Myanmar’s ability to determine the future of their country.
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As a result of today’s OFAC action, all property and interests in property of these persons 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.
In addition, the U.S. Department of Commerce added Wanbao Mining Ltd., two of its subsidiaries, and King Royal Technologies to its Entity List. These entities provide revenue and/or other support to the Burmese military, and Wanbao Mining and its subsidiaries have long been implicated in labour rights violations and human rights abuses, including at the Letpadaung copper mine.
Today’s announcement builds upon recent Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) actions in February and March of this year that included new restrictions on exports of sensitive items to Burma’s Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Home Affairs, armed forces, and security services, and on certain items destined for defined military end uses and end users in Burma. Those actions also placed Burma in a more restrictive “country group” under the EAR, thereby limiting the availability of license exceptions.
“The United States continues to condemn the Burmese military’s refusal to recognize the democratically elected government of Burma, its unjust trial of State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and actions against the National League of Democracy, and its violent repression of the people of Burma,” said Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo, and added: “We continue encouraging like-minded allies and partners to join the United States in imposing costs on these four entities and clamping down on other sources of revenue that support the repressive and undemocratic activities of the Burmese military. The U.S. government will continue to promote accountability for the perpetrators of the coup and stand with the people of Burma and their democratic institutions.”
Andrea Gacki, Director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control said: “The military’s suppression of democracy and campaign of brutal violence against the people of Burma are unacceptable.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.
In the meantime, at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, Eri Kaneko, Associate Spokesperson for the Secretary-General, told reporters that the UN Country Team in Myanmar had raised an alarm over the death toll for women in the country that it said had increased between May and June. ” In many cases, our team on the ground said, the women were not directly targeted but rather they were victims caught in the crossfire of shootings and other violent attacks,” Kaneko said.
An estimated 177,500 people have been displaced in the south-eastern parts of Myanmar due to violence, armed clashes and insecurity since the military takeover of the Government on February 1, 2021, and that is according to the UN Human Rights Office. “Our team in Myanmar warns that the increasing numbers of displaced people in areas affected by armed conflict will worsen the current humanitarian crisis, especially for the most vulnerable, including pregnant women, children, and the elderly,” Kaneko said.
– global bihari bureau
