Since the military coup in Burma over 18 months ago, the Burmese military regime has perpetrated violence against Burma’s people, killing thousands, displacing more than a million people, and detaining pro-democracy advocates, political opposition leaders, members of civil society, and journalists all in a brutal attempt to consolidate its control.
Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is designating three individuals, Aung Moe Myint, Hlaing Moe Mhint, and Myo Thitsar, for their roles related to the procurement Russian-produced military arms from Belarus for the Burmese regime, as well as Dynasty International Company Limited, under Executive Order 14014.
For more information on today’s action under Executive Order 14014, please see the Department of the Treasury’s press release.
In conjunction with these sanctions, the Department of State is also designating former Burma police chief and deputy Home Affairs minister Than Hlaing under Section 7031(c) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2022, for his involvement in gross violations of human rights, namely the extrajudicial killing of peaceful protestors following the military coup in February 2021.
These designations follow the regime’s executions of pro-democracy activists and elected leaders Ko Jimmy, Phyo Zeya Thaw, Hla Myo Aung, and Aung Thura Zaw and aim to target those abetting the military’s ability to carry out human rights abuses, including the September 16 assault helicopter attack on a school that killed at least 11 children. These designations also implicate the Burmese military’s long-time ties to the Russian and Belarusian militaries. We will continue to use our sanctions authorities to target those in Burma and elsewhere supporting Russia’s unlawful invasion of Ukraine, as well as Russia and Belarus’ facilitation of the Burmese regime’s violence against its own people.
We will continue to work with our partners to promote justice and accountability for atrocities and human rights violations and abuses in Burma, including in connection with the military coup and the ongoing violence perpetrated by the regime. We remain committed to supporting the people of Burma and call for the protection of human rights, unhindered humanitarian access, and return to inclusive, multiparty democracy in Burma.
