Wednesday, 14 August 2019

UN links LafargeHolcim with atrocities against Rohingya in Myanmar

With executives currently facing "charges of financing terrorism and crimes against humanity" in Syria, LafargeHolcim has become linked to another human rights issue: the atrocities by Myanmar’s military, the Tatmadaw, against the Rohingya people in 2017.



The military abuses against the Rohingya people "undoubtedly amount to the gravest crimes under international law". As this article tells:
The violence, which the UN described as ethnic cleansing and possible genocide, included the killing of thousands of people, the rape of women and children and the razing of villages. More than 700,000 Rohingya have fled across the border to Bangladesh.
It is thought that more than 24,000 Rohingya people have been killed. The UNHCR says:
The Rohingya are a stateless Muslim minority in Myanmar. The latest exodus began on 25 August 2017, when violence broke out in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, driving more than 742,000 to seek refuge in Bangladesh. Most arrived in the first three months of the crisis. An estimated 12,000 reached Bangladesh during the first half of 2018. The vast majority reaching Bangladesh are women and children, and more than 40 per cent are under age 12. Many others are elderly people requiring additional aid and protection. They have nothing and need everything.
In the article UN links firms to Rohingya abuse, The Australian newspaper reports:
A new UN report has outed dozens of international and Myanmar companies with business links to the Myanmarese military, as well as states still selling arms to the country, which risked enabling further "gross ­violations of human rights".
Panel chairman Marzuki Darusman said their research had uncovered an "indisputable link" between the Tatmadaw’s vast business activities and its "committing of atrocities".
"What has enabled the ­Tatmadaw to commit these crimes is in fact their business ­relations and activities"
The UN report, by the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar, lists LafargeHolcim as having commercial ties to construction companies controlled by the Myanmar military, the Tatmadaw.
The Mission concluded that many of these violations amounted to crimes against humanity and included murder; imprisonment; enforced disappearance; torture; rape, sexual slavery and other forms of sexual violence; persecution and enslavement.
The Mission named senior generals of the Tatmadaw who should be investigated and prosecuted for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
The Mission was able to identify 15 foreign companies that have joint ventures with Tatmadaw conglomerates… For example, the Mission has documented a commercial partnership between Thilawa Cement and Building Materials Ltd. and Sinminn Cement, a MEHL subsidiary. Thilawa Cement and Building Materials Ltd., according to corporate filings, is listed as being owned by Lafarge, which since 2015 merged into LafargeHolcim, a French-Swiss company and the world’s largest cement manufacturer. According to corporate records, Thilawa Cement and Building Materials Ltd., and SinMinn Cement, the MEHL subsidiary, share board leadership.
The Mission finds that any foreign business activity involving the Tatmadaw and its conglomerates MEHL and MEC poses a high risk of contributing to, or being linked to, violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law. At a minimum, these foreign companies are contributing to supporting the Tatmadaw’s financial capacity.

The UN report calls for a boycott of Myanmar companies with military links. According to one report, LafargeHolcim "ceased operations in the country in 2018."

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