Call for action: People protesting the military coup in Myanmar outside the country’s embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia in this file picture from Feb 5, 2021. — Reuters
Human rights groups urged Indonesia to investigate suspected arms sales by state-owned companies to Myanmar, where Indonesia has been trying to promote reconciliation since a 2021 military coup triggered widespread conflict.
Groups filed a complaint with Indonesia’s national human rights commission on Monday alleging that three state-owned arms makers had been selling equipment to Myanmar since the coup, according to Feri Amsari, a legal adviser to the activists on Tuesday.
Myanmar has been racked by violence since the military overthrew a government led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi more than two years ago.
The group that drew up the complaint includes two Myanmar organisations, the Chin Human Rights Organisation and Myanmar Accountability Project, and Marzuki Darusman, a former Indonesian attorney general and rights advocate.
They allege in their complaint that Indonesian state arms manufacturer PT Pindad, state ship maker PT PAL and aerospace company PT Dirgantara Indonesia had supplied equipment to Myanmar via a Myanmar company called True North, which they said was owned by the son of a minister in the military government. — Reuters
