Dear G7 Governments & Foreign Ministers,

Firstly, we want to express our heartfelt appreciation for your strong condemnation of the execution of four democracy activists by Myanmar’s genocidal military junta. This does, however, follow a pattern of the international community responding to the junta’s concerted campaign of oppression and terror and its increasing brutality with statements. Systemic torture, massacres of civilians and now executions of political prisoners are met with letters from governments, the United Nations, ASEAN and the G7.

It has been over 18 months since the junta launched its attempted coup. Over 2,100 civilians have been killed, including many children. The junta will continue to propel Myanmar into humanitarian crisis and political, economic and social collapse for as long as the international community expresses ‘deep concern’ from the sidelines. The junta does not register your concern, it just keeps killing.

When the junta executed four democracy activists, it demonstrated its complete disregard for international diplomacy, including its disdain for ASEAN. Even ASEAN members now acknowledge this, with the ASEAN Special Envoy calling it highly reprehensible and Malaysia stating that it made a mockery of the 5-point consensus. Your statement though suggests that the G7 continues to hide behind this sham of a plan. Unless the international community, with leadership from the G7, takes more concrete measures, the situation in Myanmar will continue to deteriorate, many more lives will be lost. You will be re-purposing the same letters of concern as you watch more hangings and a worsening humanitarian crisis.

We hope that you realize now that we are fighting a revolution  – it is hopeless to seek reconciliation with a junta that has no regard for the lives of its own people. We need more than your letters. We need you to support us by ensuring that the junta remains unrecognized as a government. It must fail politically. Your continued reference to it as junta is a start, but not enough. Expressly state that it will not be recognized, do not engage with it diplomatically, expel its military attaches from your countries, even if it risks the expulsion of your own embassy staff.

Recognize the National Unity Government (NUG) as our legitimate government and respect its demands, including on engagement, sanctions. Ensure that our democratic forces, including our People’s Defense Forces (PDFs) and Ethnic Revolution Organizations (EROs), have the resources they need to defend us. While we appreciate that Russia invaded the Ukraine in a war of aggression, the military junta has launched a war of aggression on its own people and is committing atrocity crimes and genocide. While the responsibility to protect or “R2P” appears to have died its own death, our revolutionary forces would need only a fraction of those supplied to Ukraine to protect us. You have a clear mandate from the NUG to supply them and Myanmar even has USD 1 billion in funds frozen in the US  to pay for them.

If G7 members will not allow our elected officials access our own money or supply arms so we can defend ourselves, at least ensure that the junta cannot access revenues to continue its war crimes and crimes against humanity. It survives on your currencies, on reserves in your banks and those of your allies all while G7 companies do business with the junta or divest irresponsibly. French giant Total ensured that loopholes in sanctions enabled it to gift shares to the junta, Italian companies buy Myanmar timber in breach of sanctions, Japan continues to allow development aid to reach junta control and its companies are failing to unwind a long history of doing business with military companies responsibly. US giant Chevron continues to treat the junta like a government and sells aviation fuel that can be used to bomb civilians. The G7 must do better – it must immediately put in place targeted sanctions, cutting of its accessing to revenues, reserves and international finance, and ensure that its companies comply with them.

We urge to G7 governments and ministers to:

• Formally recognize that the junta has no legitimacy and no control over large parts of Myanmar – it is a criminal gang and is not and will not be the government of Myanmar – do not engage with it diplomatically, expel its military attaches, do not invite its representatives to or attend international governmental meetings to which it is invited.
• Formally recognize the National Unity Government (NUG) which has been accepted by the people of Myanmar as our legitimate government and support its efforts to hold the criminal junta to account in international courts.
• Provide weapons and other support to democratic forces resisting the junta.
• Cut off all revenue streams to the junta, including by enforcing existing sanctions and enacting sanctions on the Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE) and Myanma Foreign Trade Bank (MFTB), so that it cannot finance its war against the Myanmar people.
• Ensure that the junta has no access to or role in the distribution of humanitarian aid. Aid must instead be delivered through civil society organizations, the National Unity Government and Ethnic Revolutionary Organizations.
• Sanction aviation fuel and enact an arms embargo on the junta.

Inaction by the UN Security Council, or even the inability of G7 nations to act together, should not deter states from acting unilaterally. A failure to act is a form of complicity.

Please stand with Justice and Humanity by acting now.
Sincerely,
Oppressed People of the Myanmar
For any further inquiries, please contact:

• Blood Money Campaign (BMC) – [email protected]
• General Strike Committee of Nationalities (GSCN) – [email protected]
• Sitt Nyein Pann Foundation – [email protected]

Blood Money Campaign (BMC) is a collective of Myanmar activists campaigning to stop revenues reaching the Myanmar military junta.

General Strike Committee of Nationalities (GSCN) was formed to represent the collective voices of the different nationalities in Myanmar and aims to demolish all types of dictatorship.

Sitt Nyein Pann Foundation is a local community organization, which promotes civic engagement in Myanmar, to build healthy democracy through civic education and activism of the next generation.

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