On Thursday, Amnesty International has published a report arguing that, Myanmar’s aviation fuel for civilian planes is being diverted to it’s regime aircrafts, which attack civilians.
The London-based rights group released the report named “Deadly Cargo” in collaboration with Justice for Myanmar and urged the international community to block imports because of junta crimes against humanity and war crimes.
The recent airstrikes that have included an attack on a concert in Hpakant, Kachin State, which killed around 80 people on October 23. Further, in the Depayin Township school in Sagaing Region in September, in which at least 12 people, including seven children died.
The following report examined eight shipments of aviation fuel to Thilawa port near Yangon between February 2021 and mid-September 2022.
The shipments were handled, stored and distributed by Myanmar’s subsidiary of the oil giant Puma Energy and a joint venture with a junta-controlled company, National Energy Puma Aviation Services (Nepas), Amnesty stated. It said some shipments were sent to storage depots linked to military bases.
It is reported that Puma Energy, which announced last month it will leave Myanmar, said it had “become aware of reports of the military forcibly demanding fuel at selected Nepas airport facilities.”
Amnesty said four other companies, PetroChina’s wholly owned Singapore Petroleum Company, Rosneft of Russia, Thai Oil and ExxonMobil, were playing significant roles in supplying aviation fuel, linking them to the human rights violations.
Amnesty said without imported aviation fuel the junta would have no means to use airstrikes against civilians.
Amnesty’s Secretary-General Agnès Callamard said, “If the planes can’t fuel up, they can’t fly out and wreak havoc. Today we are calling on suppliers, shipping agents, vessel owners and maritime insurers to withdraw from a supply chain that is benefiting the Myanmar Air Force.”
Similar calls were made recently at the 1st Burma Summit held by the Congress of Nations and States in Belfast, Northern Ireland in October to ban aviation fuel so the junta could not continue to perpetrate crimes against humanity.
