Indonesia supplying weapons to Myanmar's military junta, claim activists

Human rights organisations urged Indonesia on Tuesday to look into alleged arms shipments by state-owned firms to Myanmar, where Indonesia has been working to foster peace ever since a military coup in 2021 sparked all-out war.

According to Feri Amsari, a legal advisor to the activists, groups have complained to Indonesia’s national human rights commission over the sale of equipment to Myanmar by three state-owned armaments manufacturers since the coup.

Since the military toppled a government headed by Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi more than two years ago, Myanmar has been plagued by violence.

The Chin Human Rights Organisation and Myanmar Accountability Project, two organisations from Myanmar, and Marzuki Darusman, a former Indonesian attorney general and human rights campaigner, are part of the group that created the lawsuit.

In their complaint, they claim that a Myanmar company called True North, which they claim is owned by the son of a minister in the military government, supplied equipment to Myanmar on behalf of Indonesian state shipbuilder PT PAL, state arms manufacturer PT Pindad, and aerospace company PT Dirgantara Indonesia.

A request for comment was not immediately answered by PT Pindad or PT PAL. The director of PT Pindad previously informed the media that the company has not exported goods to Myanmar since 2016.

According to PT Dirgantara Indonesia, it has never entered into a contract with Myanmar or any associated parties.

The three Indonesian armament manufacturers were listed by True North as “strategic partners” in a corporate profile that was undated and obtained by Reuters. True North did not immediately reply to requests for comment.

According to the activists, Myanmar had purchased from the corporations a number of items, including pistols, assault rifles, and combat vehicles.

Indonesia has been attempting, with little sign of success, to engage with both the military and the opposition in Myanmar in the intention of encouraging negotiations as head of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Following the coup, Indonesia supported a U.N. General Assembly resolution that urged “all UN member states to prevent the flow of arms to Myanmar”.

The foreign ministry of Indonesia, according to a spokeswoman, is looking into the allegation. Requests for comment from a spokeswoman for the defence ministry went unanswered.

Darusman claimed that because state-owned businesses are under to governmental supervision and oversight, the rights commission, also known as Komnas HAM, was required to conduct an investigation.

The military of Myanmar has imported weapons and related supplies worth at least $1 billion since the coup, primarily from Russia, China, Singapore, Thailand, and India, according to a May report by the UN Special Rapporteur on Myanmar.

(With agency inputs)