JAKARTA: On Tuesday, October 3, human rights organizations urged Indonesia to look into alleged hands revenue by state-owned firms to Myanmar, where Indonesia has been working to promote peace since a military coup in 2021 sparked widespread issue.
According to Feri Amsari, the activists’ legal counsel, parties complained to Indonesia’s National Human Rights Commission on Monday, claiming that three state-owned hands manufacturers had been selling goods to Myanmar ever since the coup.
Since the army overthrew a state led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi more than two years ago, violence has ravaged Myanmar.
The Chin Human Rights Organization and Myanmar Accountability Project, as well as Marzuki Darusman, a former Indian attorney general and rights activist, are members of the group that drafted the issue.
In their issue, they claim that True North, a company in Myanmar that they claimed belonged to the son of an official in the military government, had provided equipment to Myanmar on behalf of Indian state arms manufacturer PT Pindad, state shipmaker, and state aerospace company.
A request for comment was never instantly answered by PT Pindad and RT PAL. The producer of PT Pindad previously informed the internet that Myanmar had not purchased any goods from the company since 2016.
According to PT Dirgantara Indonesia, it has never entered into a deal with Myanmar or another related group.
Although True North did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment, it did identify the three Indian arms producers as” corporate partners” in an undated company profile.
The protesters claimed that Myanmar had purchased a number of goods from the businesses, including fight cars, assault rifles, and guns.
Indonesia, the head of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, has been attempting to negotiate with Myanmar’s army and criticism, with only sporadic success.
Following the coup, Indonesia voted in favor of a UN General Assembly Resolution urging” on all UN member states to stop the circulation of hands to Myanmar.”
The foreign ministry of Indonesia’s spokesperson stated that it was looking into the objection. A request for comment was never answered by a representative for the defense ministry.
Given that state-owned businesses are governed and supervised by the state, according to Darusman, the rights fee, also known as Komnas HAM, was required to look into the matter.
Since the revolution, Myanmar’s government has imported at least US$ 1 billion worth of weapons and related materials, primarily from Russia, China, Singapore, Thailand, and India, according to a UN specific rapporteur on Myanmar.