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WASHINGTON: The United States unveiled on Thursday (March 4) new measures to punish Myanmar’s military for its February 1 coup, blocking defense and interior ministries and major military conglomerates from certain types of commerce.
Washington has also subjected Myanmar to “military end-use” export control restrictions, requiring its US suppliers to seek hard-to-obtain US licenses to ship certain items to it.
The actions were taken in response to the Myanmar army’s intensifying crackdown on peaceful protesters opposing the takeover that toppled elected officials, including leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who had won the national elections in November.
The police broke up the demonstrations with tear gas and gunfire in several cities across the country. The United Nations said at least 54 people have died since the coup. More than 1,700 people were arrested, including 29 journalists.
READ: Myanmar police dissolve protests again after the bloodiest day since the coup
Last month, President Joe Biden implemented sanctions against Myanmar, against those responsible for the overthrow of the civilian-led government of the Southeast Asian nation, including the defense minister and three companies in the jade and gemstones sector.
The United States will not allow Myanmar’s military to continue to benefit from access to many items, the Commerce Department said in a statement Thursday.
“The United States government will continue to hold the coup plotters responsible for their actions.”
READ: UN expert urges a ‘global arms embargo’ and sanctions on Myanmar
The Commerce Department added that it was reviewing possible additional actions.
The two conglomerates identified, Myanmar Economic Corporation and Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited, are among those used by the military to control vast swaths of Myanmar’s economy through holding companies and their subsidiaries, with interests ranging from beer and cigarettes to telecommunications, tires, mining and real estate.
Advocacy group Justice for Myanmar said Tuesday that the Interior Ministry, which commands the police, had purchased technology from US companies that was being used for social media surveillance, among other uses.
READ: Comment: Myanmar protesters play cat and mouse as army shuts down online platforms
Yadanar Maung, a spokesman for the group, praised the measures but urged more, including a similar action against the Ministry of Transport and Communications, which he said was used “as a showcase for military and security forces to acquire surveillance and repression technology.” .
“Comprehensive and targeted measures, including a global arms embargo, are essential to prevent the sale of weapons and technology that will allow the military to secure its brutal rule,” he said.
But the measures are expected to have limited impact as the United States ships little to Myanmar annually and the entities are not large importers.
LEE: The Myanmar army is ‘surprised’ by the opposition to the coup: UN envoy
“The volume of trade is small, so the impact will not be great,” said William Reinsch, a former Commerce Department official. “A bigger impact would be going after the financial assets of the military leaders of the coup.”
Reinsch said the list “will make it difficult for those entities to obtain technology that strengthens the military and other assets that they may want.”
The US government has yet to implement its toughest sanctioning tool against military conglomerates, one that would block all transactions with US individuals and essentially kick designated companies out of the US banking system.
