London, April 1 (EFE): British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab on Thursday announced new measures against the Burmese regime by imposing sanctions on Burma Economic Corporation (MEC), a business conglomerate linked to the military.
A State Department memo stated that sanctions against the Ministry of Education, in response to the country’s human rights violations, would be implemented immediately to provide funds for the armed forces and for their association with high-ranking military officials.
With these sanctions, anyone will be barred from dealing with money or economic resources owned or controlled by the sanctioned organization.
In addition to this measure, Raab announced a fund of € 585,000 to strengthen an international mechanism to collect and investigate serious human rights violations in Burma.
The United Nations Human Rights Council has established a so-called “Independent Investigative Mechanism on Burma” to collect evidence of human rights violations.
“Two months after the start of the coup, the Burmese army has reached its lowest levels, relentlessly killing innocent people, including children,” Raab said today in a statement issued by the Foreign Ministry.
The memo added that the Education Ministry’s classification responds to evidence that it has contributed money to support the Burmese military, known as the Tatmadaw.
The MEC Board of Directors is primarily composed of active or retired military personnel, including the Chiefs of Staff of the Army, Navy, and Air Force.
More than 500 civilians have been killed, at least 100 of them at the end of last week, due to the crackdown on protests and more than 2,600 people have been arrested since the coup, according to data from the Association for the Assistance of Political Prisoners in Burma (AAPP). EFE
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