24^th February 2021

1. The coup d’etat committed by the Myanmar Military is strongly condemned by the people of Myanmar as is evidenced by massive peaceful demonstrations taking place in all corners of the country. People from all different ethnic backgrounds and professions, and thousands of public servants, are participating in the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) against the Myanmar military coup, including staff from the oil and gas company, Total. The CDM movement is intended to disrupt the military regime’s ability to control the country, including through limiting its ability to collect revenue.
2. The international community has also deplored the coup d’etat and human rights abuses by the military, with the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council convening a Special Session on Myanmar; the UN Security Council expressing deep concern; Canada, the United Kingdom (UK), and the United States of America (USA) issuing targeted sanctions against military leaders; and the European Union (EU) condemning the military coup “in the strongest terms.”
3. The income from the oil and gas sectors is now one of the main sources of revenue for the military, amounting to 72.19% of revenue collected from extractive companies in FY 2017-2018. Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE) collects the revenue payments but given that MOGE is now under direct military control, we can reasonably conclude that the revenue collected would go directly towards the military. The revenue payments would help sustain the military’s illegitimate governance, provide them with the resources necessary to carry out military operations that violate human rights, and would hinder the development of democracy, human rights and justice and undermine the CDM.
4. We therefore strongly call on all oil and gas companies to immediately stop providing revenue payments to the military. This would also ensure that the companies are in compliance with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
5. The UN and foreign governments must take immediate action towards companies, urging them to end their ties and support to military-linked businesses. This includes calling for companies with links to the military to end their business partnerships and suspend their operations, and imposing financial sanctions on companies whose revenues substantially benefit the military. To this end, we strongly call on the EU, UK, USA, China, Thailand, and South Korea to prohibit companies from making payments to what is effectively the Myanmar military. Revenue payments should instead be placed in a protected account that could only be used for humanitarian reasons until a legitimate government is in place.

Signed by: