Indonesian Weapon Producers Defend ID Deny Selling Arms to Myanmar Junta

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - State-owned defense holding company Defend ID on Wednesday, October 4, denied allegations that its three firms exported defense industry products to Myanmar since its military, the Tatmadaw, launched a coup on February 1, 2021.

Defend ID through its parent holding company PT Len Industri, whose members are explosives maker PT Dahana, weapon maker PT Pindad, aircraft maker PT Dirgantara Indonesia, and shipbuilder PT PAL Indonesia, claimed to fully support UN General Assembly Resolution 75/287, which prohibits the supply of weapons to Myanmar.

“PT Pindad does not export defense and security equipment to Myanmar, especially since the UN Security Council’s calls in February 2021,” Defend ID said in a press statement.

Defend ID also noted that the last export to Myanmar was in 2016, in the form of ammunition with sporting specifications for the country's participation in the annual army shooting competition, the 2016 ASEAN Armies Rifle Meet (AARM).

Defend ID also ensured that PT Dirgantara Indonesia and PT PAL had no arms dealings with Myanmar.

Former Indonesian attorney general Marzuki Darusman reported three state-owned companies, namely PT Pindad, PT PAL, and PT Dirgantara Indonesia, to the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) on Monday, October 2, for allegedly exporting weapons to Myanmar which has been under military junta rule since a coup in early 2021.

Marzuki, who has been leading the Independent Fact-Finding Mission in Myanmar since July 2017, submitted the report along with Feri Amsari of the Themis law firm, the civil society organization Myanmar Accountability Project (MAP), and Salai Za Uk Ling as Deputy Executive Director of the Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO).

They urged Komnas HAM to investigate further evidence of the alleged involvement of SOEs in serious human rights violations in Myanmar through the arms trade.

“The fact that defense equipment is being actively promoted in the wake of the genocidal campaign against the Rohingya and the 2021 coup raises serious concerns and doubts about the Indonesian government's willingness to uphold its obligations under international human rights law and humanitarian law,” Marzuki said in a statement.

Open-source investigations and leaked documents revealed that the transaction was allegedly made through a Myanmar company, True North Company Limited, owned by Htoo Htoo Shein Oo, the son of the military junta minister Win Shein, who is currently under sanctions by the United States, Canada, and the European Union.

The activists also called on the government and local parties suspected of involvement in the alleged export to permanently cease arms trade with the junta and the Myanmar government until the conflict ends.

NABIILA AZZAHRA ABDULLAH

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