6 aug 2019
Commander in Chief of the Myanmar military, Min Aung Hlaing, meets with IDF Chief
Israel’s sale of weapons to Myanmar has been criticised by the UN in a report calling on the international community to impose targeted sanctions and an arms embargo on the south-east Asian nation.
The UN report found that Myanmar companies bankrolled “brutal operations” in villages in Rakhine state stormed by soldiers during which thousands were slaughtered, many were burned alive in their homes, and women and children were raped.
In its report submitted to the 39th session of the Human Rights Council, the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar found “consistent patterns of serious human rights violations and abuses.”
In addition to serious violations of international humanitarian law, the UN “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 team which compiled the report focused on the economic interests of the Myanmar military and ways to punish its officers for crimes which the UN had said amounted to genocide. For the first time, the degree was established by which the country’s military uses its own businesses, foreign companies and arms deals to support its campaigns against the Rohingya.
The Fact-Finding Mission identified several companies from various countries, including Israel, supplying arms to Myanmar’s military. Israel is said to have exported arms to Myanmar before a Supreme Court order prohibited the practice in 2017. However, Israeli companies welcomed a delegation from Myanmar’s military to an arms-expo in Tel-Aviv last month.
In response to a question from Haaretz as to why Israeli companies were showing equipment to Myanmar representatives when they are not allowed to sell arms to the country, sales representatives at a number of booths claimed to be unaware of such a ban.
The UN report noted that in April 2017, when genocidal campaigns against Rohingya Muslims became a global concern, Israel Aerospace Industries, a state-owned enterprise, delivered two attack frigates to the Myanmar Navy. This is said to have followed the filing of a petition before the Israeli Supreme Court in early 2017 seeking a ban on implementing a defence cooperation agreement signed between Israel and Myanmar due to the conduct of the army in northern Rakhine in October 2016.
Privately-owned Israeli arms manufacturing companies have also sold arms and provided military training to Myanmar. “Israel, in particular, allowed the transfer of arms covered by the ATT (Arms Trade Treaty),” said the UN Mission, “at a time when it had knowledge, or ought to have had knowledge, that they would be used in the commission of serious crimes under international law.”
Denouncing the sale of arms to Myanmar the report said that Israel, along with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Russia, and Ukraine, should not have permitted arms sales when knowledge of the killing in Myanmar was “widespread”. The team also found that the Myanmar military had sought to procure equipment from companies in the United Kingdom, Austria, Japan, and Canada, though it was unable to confirm if those deals went ahead.
In conclusion, the Fact-Finding Mission called on the UN Security Council to impose an arms embargo on Myanmar.
Israel’s sale of weapons to Myanmar has been criticised by the UN in a report calling on the international community to impose targeted sanctions and an arms embargo on the south-east Asian nation.
The UN report found that Myanmar companies bankrolled “brutal operations” in villages in Rakhine state stormed by soldiers during which thousands were slaughtered, many were burned alive in their homes, and women and children were raped.
In its report submitted to the 39th session of the Human Rights Council, the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar found “consistent patterns of serious human rights violations and abuses.”
In addition to serious violations of international humanitarian law, the UN “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 team which compiled the report focused on the economic interests of the Myanmar military and ways to punish its officers for crimes which the UN had said amounted to genocide. For the first time, the degree was established by which the country’s military uses its own businesses, foreign companies and arms deals to support its campaigns against the Rohingya.
The Fact-Finding Mission identified several companies from various countries, including Israel, supplying arms to Myanmar’s military. Israel is said to have exported arms to Myanmar before a Supreme Court order prohibited the practice in 2017. However, Israeli companies welcomed a delegation from Myanmar’s military to an arms-expo in Tel-Aviv last month.
In response to a question from Haaretz as to why Israeli companies were showing equipment to Myanmar representatives when they are not allowed to sell arms to the country, sales representatives at a number of booths claimed to be unaware of such a ban.
The UN report noted that in April 2017, when genocidal campaigns against Rohingya Muslims became a global concern, Israel Aerospace Industries, a state-owned enterprise, delivered two attack frigates to the Myanmar Navy. This is said to have followed the filing of a petition before the Israeli Supreme Court in early 2017 seeking a ban on implementing a defence cooperation agreement signed between Israel and Myanmar due to the conduct of the army in northern Rakhine in October 2016.
Privately-owned Israeli arms manufacturing companies have also sold arms and provided military training to Myanmar. “Israel, in particular, allowed the transfer of arms covered by the ATT (Arms Trade Treaty),” said the UN Mission, “at a time when it had knowledge, or ought to have had knowledge, that they would be used in the commission of serious crimes under international law.”
Denouncing the sale of arms to Myanmar the report said that Israel, along with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Russia, and Ukraine, should not have permitted arms sales when knowledge of the killing in Myanmar was “widespread”. The team also found that the Myanmar military had sought to procure equipment from companies in the United Kingdom, Austria, Japan, and Canada, though it was unable to confirm if those deals went ahead.
In conclusion, the Fact-Finding Mission called on the UN Security Council to impose an arms embargo on Myanmar.
4 aug 2019
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Israel's plans for its semi-automated armored vehicles shows it intends to keep soldiers at the controls, albeit entirely insulated from the outside thanks to artificial intelligence and smart screens fed by external cameras and sensors
Israel, a world leader in high-tech, is around 30 years away from its ambition of deploying robot forces, and for now will chose between three prototypes of semi-automated armored vehicles to cocoon its troops in battle, defense officials said on Sunday. Israel has long eyed a future robot army as a means of reducing the use of soldiers on its combustible fronts with Gaza, Lebanon and Syria, just as its air force has increasingly relied on pilotless drones. |
An unveiling of Israel's newly developed operating suites for ground fighting vehicles made clear it plans to keep soldiers at the controls, albeit entirely insulated from the outside: Hatches battened, the cabins will have smart-screens, fed by outside cameras and sensors, instead of windows or ports.
"Now the people will be sitting in the tank, it's closed, they are far better protected, and they can advance without worrying about snipers or other things," said Brigadier-General Yaniv Rotem, head of the Defense Ministry's development unit.
The prototype suites, designed by Israel's top three defense firms as they compete for a tender as part of the IDF's new Carmel tank program, include artificial intelligence systems billed as spotting enemy fighters and directing the vehicle's counter-fire at them automatically.
Asked why Israel was not eliminating human involvement entirely and operating the vehicles remotely, Rotem told reporters: "At the end of the day, it is the man in the vehicle who takes the decision. You need someone who thinks more than a machine."
The Defense Ministry, he said, was separately devoting "a lot of discussion" to a potential robot army of the future.
"Our vision (is), 30 years from now, a lot of autonomous capability," he said.
A second defense official said that while the suites could in theory be remote-operated, disruptions or delays in the signal would potentially impede their effectiveness in battle.
Two of the competing systems appeared inspired by video games and other home technologies, appealing to young soldiers. The country draws most of its military personnel from 18-year-old conscripts, who serve two (women) or three (men) years of national service.
State-owned Israel Aerospace Industries' has Xbox-style controls. Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, also state-owned, has a vehicle simulator with touch-screens and animation whose terrain and characters' garb recall Afghanistan - a nod to the U.S. Army, whose officers also inspected the display on Sunday.
The third Israeli bidder, Elbit Systems Ltd., came up with adapted air force helmets whose inside visors provide a 360-degree view of the vehicle's exterior. Rotem said Israel was already incorporating the helmets among its Merkava tank crews.
"Now the people will be sitting in the tank, it's closed, they are far better protected, and they can advance without worrying about snipers or other things," said Brigadier-General Yaniv Rotem, head of the Defense Ministry's development unit.
The prototype suites, designed by Israel's top three defense firms as they compete for a tender as part of the IDF's new Carmel tank program, include artificial intelligence systems billed as spotting enemy fighters and directing the vehicle's counter-fire at them automatically.
Asked why Israel was not eliminating human involvement entirely and operating the vehicles remotely, Rotem told reporters: "At the end of the day, it is the man in the vehicle who takes the decision. You need someone who thinks more than a machine."
The Defense Ministry, he said, was separately devoting "a lot of discussion" to a potential robot army of the future.
"Our vision (is), 30 years from now, a lot of autonomous capability," he said.
A second defense official said that while the suites could in theory be remote-operated, disruptions or delays in the signal would potentially impede their effectiveness in battle.
Two of the competing systems appeared inspired by video games and other home technologies, appealing to young soldiers. The country draws most of its military personnel from 18-year-old conscripts, who serve two (women) or three (men) years of national service.
State-owned Israel Aerospace Industries' has Xbox-style controls. Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, also state-owned, has a vehicle simulator with touch-screens and animation whose terrain and characters' garb recall Afghanistan - a nod to the U.S. Army, whose officers also inspected the display on Sunday.
The third Israeli bidder, Elbit Systems Ltd., came up with adapted air force helmets whose inside visors provide a 360-degree view of the vehicle's exterior. Rotem said Israel was already incorporating the helmets among its Merkava tank crews.
30 july 2019
The US Senate has stopped short of forming a majority required to override President Donald Trump’s veto earlier in the month of three congressional resolutions aimed at blocking the country’s arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
On Monday, the chamber was set to try rendering the vetoes, which Trump issued on July 24 against three congressional measures, ineffective, Reuters reported.
However, a first vote on trying to overturn one veto on a measure passed by Congress to block the sale of certain weapons to the Saudi kingdom was backed by 45 senators against 40. The Senate’s Republicans shunned the bid en masse, with only five supporting the vote. Fifteen senators, meanwhile, withheld their votes.
The vote tallies were similar in the two subsequent roll-call votes to override vetoes of the legislation blocking the additional weapons sales to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other countries.
Congress has been trying to intervene in Washington’s untrammeled arms sales to Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, which have been leading an invasion of Yemen since March 2015. Congress’ effort was also aimed at attempting to pressure the Saudi government to improve its human rights record.
Tens of thousands have died since the onset of the military aggression, which has unsuccessfully sought to bring back Yemen’s former Saudi-allied officials.
The arms sold by the US to the kingdom include guided bombs, which the latter has been using rampantly against Yemeni civilians.
Washington also offers unstinting logistical support for the invasion, including bombing coordinates. Until earlier in the year, it had also been refueling Saudi warplanes midair, but stopped the process after the coalition grew independent of the support.
An American commando contingent has also been identifying arms depots belonging to the Yemeni forces, who have been defending the impoverished nation against the Saudi-led coalition.
Don't turn back on Yemen: UN
Also on Monday, a senior United Nations official urged the international community "not to turn its back" on Yemen and to honor its pledges of aid for the war-racked country.
"Four years of conflict according to the UNDP latest report have set back Yemen by 20 years," United Nations Development Program administrator, Achim Steiner told AFP in an interview in the Jordanian capital of Amman.
He said the UN had received less than 36 percent of the $2.6 billion pledged at a Geneva conference in February.
"Currently, in the next two or three months we can expect that if funding does not materialize, over 21 programs will have to be rolled back," Steiner added.
"It is the worst humanitarian crisis in the world,” he reminded.
On Monday, the chamber was set to try rendering the vetoes, which Trump issued on July 24 against three congressional measures, ineffective, Reuters reported.
However, a first vote on trying to overturn one veto on a measure passed by Congress to block the sale of certain weapons to the Saudi kingdom was backed by 45 senators against 40. The Senate’s Republicans shunned the bid en masse, with only five supporting the vote. Fifteen senators, meanwhile, withheld their votes.
The vote tallies were similar in the two subsequent roll-call votes to override vetoes of the legislation blocking the additional weapons sales to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other countries.
Congress has been trying to intervene in Washington’s untrammeled arms sales to Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, which have been leading an invasion of Yemen since March 2015. Congress’ effort was also aimed at attempting to pressure the Saudi government to improve its human rights record.
Tens of thousands have died since the onset of the military aggression, which has unsuccessfully sought to bring back Yemen’s former Saudi-allied officials.
The arms sold by the US to the kingdom include guided bombs, which the latter has been using rampantly against Yemeni civilians.
Washington also offers unstinting logistical support for the invasion, including bombing coordinates. Until earlier in the year, it had also been refueling Saudi warplanes midair, but stopped the process after the coalition grew independent of the support.
An American commando contingent has also been identifying arms depots belonging to the Yemeni forces, who have been defending the impoverished nation against the Saudi-led coalition.
Don't turn back on Yemen: UN
Also on Monday, a senior United Nations official urged the international community "not to turn its back" on Yemen and to honor its pledges of aid for the war-racked country.
"Four years of conflict according to the UNDP latest report have set back Yemen by 20 years," United Nations Development Program administrator, Achim Steiner told AFP in an interview in the Jordanian capital of Amman.
He said the UN had received less than 36 percent of the $2.6 billion pledged at a Geneva conference in February.
"Currently, in the next two or three months we can expect that if funding does not materialize, over 21 programs will have to be rolled back," Steiner added.
"It is the worst humanitarian crisis in the world,” he reminded.
28 july 2019
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A New York-based author and commentator says acts of infanticide by the Saudi and Israeli regimes continue because they have the support of the United States government.
Riyadh and Tel Aviv have been designated respectively the first and second regimes on a United Nations (UN) list of international child killers. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres recently submitted the list — the annual Children and Armed Conflict Report — to the UN Security Council, where the US is a permanent member. Author and commentator Naseer al-Omari told Press TV’s The Debate program on Saturday that, owing to Washington’s support for the two |
regimes, “not much” had happened as a result of the UN’s successive condemnations of the acts of bloodshed by Riyadh and Tel Aviv.
The Saudis have even “executed more people and enlisted children in war” as US President Donald Trump’s administration would increase its support for them in the aftermath of every UN measure.
According to the UN list, over the past year, the Saudi-led coalition waging war on Yemen killed 729 children, while Israel killed 57 kids and injured more than 2,600 across the occupied Palestinian territories.
Most recently, Trump vetoed a congressional move against American arms sales to Saudi Arabia last Wednesday, “allowing the Saudi to have more weapons,” Omari said.
“Make no mistake about it, the Saudi regime and the Israelis are protected by the Trump administration,” he said.
Michael Lane, the North Carolina-based founder of the American Institute for Foreign Policy think tank, who was also a guest on the show, acknowledged that “it’s horrific and it’s grotesque” for any regime’s name to make the UN list.
Asked why the UN measures had failed to stop Riyadh and Tel Aviv’s infanticide, he said, “The United Nations is not the most effective organization in the world.”
He also alleged that the Saudis “are actively taking steps to reduce that number.”
The Saudis have even “executed more people and enlisted children in war” as US President Donald Trump’s administration would increase its support for them in the aftermath of every UN measure.
According to the UN list, over the past year, the Saudi-led coalition waging war on Yemen killed 729 children, while Israel killed 57 kids and injured more than 2,600 across the occupied Palestinian territories.
Most recently, Trump vetoed a congressional move against American arms sales to Saudi Arabia last Wednesday, “allowing the Saudi to have more weapons,” Omari said.
“Make no mistake about it, the Saudi regime and the Israelis are protected by the Trump administration,” he said.
Michael Lane, the North Carolina-based founder of the American Institute for Foreign Policy think tank, who was also a guest on the show, acknowledged that “it’s horrific and it’s grotesque” for any regime’s name to make the UN list.
Asked why the UN measures had failed to stop Riyadh and Tel Aviv’s infanticide, he said, “The United Nations is not the most effective organization in the world.”
He also alleged that the Saudis “are actively taking steps to reduce that number.”
27 july 2019
A child suffering from malnutrition caused by the Saudi aggression lies on a bed at a treatment center in al-Sabeen Maternal Hospital in the Yemeni capital Sana'a on June 22, 2019
The United Nations has for the third year put Saudi Arabia and its allies in their military campaign against Yemen on the world body's blacklist of child killers.
According to a report by United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, in 2018, the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen killed or injured 729 children, nearly half the total child casualties of the year.
The UN chief's report, which was presented to the Security Council on Friday, also states that Palestinian casualties caused by the Israeli regime, mainly its military, hit a four-year high in 2018.
The report shows that 59 Palestinian children were killed - 56 by Israeli forces - and another 2,756 were injured last year.
Guterres urged "Israel to immediately put in place preventive and protective measures to end the excessive use of force".
"I condemn the increasing number of child casualties, which are often a result of attacks in densely populated areas and against civilian objects, including schools and hospitals," Guterres said in the report, produced by UN Children and Armed Conflict envoy Virginia Gamba and issued in Guterres' name.
The report does not subject those listed to action; however, it shames parties to conflicts in the hope of pushing them to stop killing children.
Diplomats say Saudi Arabia and Israel both have exerted pressure in recent years in a bid to stay off the list, but no to avail.
In reaction to the Friday report, Saudi Ambassador to the UN Abdadllah Al-Mouallimi claimed that "every child's life is precious" to Riyadh, and questioned the sourcing and accuracy of the report, describing the numbers as "exaggerated."
His claims come as over 80,000 Yemeni children under five years have died as a result of severe malnutrition caused by the Saudi-led coalition's aggression against the people of Yemen, Guterres cited a report as saying earlier this year.
The war that began in March 2015 has so far killed thousands of Yemeni women and children and destroyed Yemen’s infrastructure.
The Yemeni Health Ministry announced in a report on Friday that one Yemeni child is dying of malnutrition every 10 minutes. The report, cited by al-Mayadeen TV, said malnutrition has affected 2.3 million children in Yemen during the past five years.
It also pointed to the outbreak of cholera as a result of the Saudi-led coalition's aggression, saying that children account for 40 percent of the 3,700 people diagnosed with the disease in the war-torn country.
Israel Blacklisted by UN Among Top Child Killers of 2018
The United Nations has, for the third year in a row, put Israel on the world body’s blacklist of child killers.
According to a report by United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, in 2018, Israel killed 59 Palestinian children during that year.
The UN chief’s report, which was presented to the Security Council on Friday, states that Palestinian casualties caused by the Israel, mainly its military, hit a four-year high in 2018.
The report shows that 59 Palestinian children were killed – 56 by Israeli forces – and another 2,756 were injured last year.
Guterres urged “Israel to immediately put in place preventive and protective measures to end the excessive use of force,” PNN further reports.
“I condemn the increasing number of child casualties, which are often a result of attacks in densely populated areas and against civilian objects, including schools and hospitals,” Guterres said in the report, produced by UN Children and Armed Conflict envoy Virginia Gamba and issued in Guterres’ name.
The report does not subject those listed to action; however, it shames parties to conflicts in the hope of pushing them to stop killing children.
Diplomats say Israel have exerted pressure, in recent years, in a bid to stay off the list, but no to avail.
The United Nations has for the third year put Saudi Arabia and its allies in their military campaign against Yemen on the world body's blacklist of child killers.
According to a report by United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, in 2018, the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen killed or injured 729 children, nearly half the total child casualties of the year.
The UN chief's report, which was presented to the Security Council on Friday, also states that Palestinian casualties caused by the Israeli regime, mainly its military, hit a four-year high in 2018.
The report shows that 59 Palestinian children were killed - 56 by Israeli forces - and another 2,756 were injured last year.
Guterres urged "Israel to immediately put in place preventive and protective measures to end the excessive use of force".
"I condemn the increasing number of child casualties, which are often a result of attacks in densely populated areas and against civilian objects, including schools and hospitals," Guterres said in the report, produced by UN Children and Armed Conflict envoy Virginia Gamba and issued in Guterres' name.
The report does not subject those listed to action; however, it shames parties to conflicts in the hope of pushing them to stop killing children.
Diplomats say Saudi Arabia and Israel both have exerted pressure in recent years in a bid to stay off the list, but no to avail.
In reaction to the Friday report, Saudi Ambassador to the UN Abdadllah Al-Mouallimi claimed that "every child's life is precious" to Riyadh, and questioned the sourcing and accuracy of the report, describing the numbers as "exaggerated."
His claims come as over 80,000 Yemeni children under five years have died as a result of severe malnutrition caused by the Saudi-led coalition's aggression against the people of Yemen, Guterres cited a report as saying earlier this year.
The war that began in March 2015 has so far killed thousands of Yemeni women and children and destroyed Yemen’s infrastructure.
The Yemeni Health Ministry announced in a report on Friday that one Yemeni child is dying of malnutrition every 10 minutes. The report, cited by al-Mayadeen TV, said malnutrition has affected 2.3 million children in Yemen during the past five years.
It also pointed to the outbreak of cholera as a result of the Saudi-led coalition's aggression, saying that children account for 40 percent of the 3,700 people diagnosed with the disease in the war-torn country.
Israel Blacklisted by UN Among Top Child Killers of 2018
The United Nations has, for the third year in a row, put Israel on the world body’s blacklist of child killers.
According to a report by United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, in 2018, Israel killed 59 Palestinian children during that year.
The UN chief’s report, which was presented to the Security Council on Friday, states that Palestinian casualties caused by the Israel, mainly its military, hit a four-year high in 2018.
The report shows that 59 Palestinian children were killed – 56 by Israeli forces – and another 2,756 were injured last year.
Guterres urged “Israel to immediately put in place preventive and protective measures to end the excessive use of force,” PNN further reports.
“I condemn the increasing number of child casualties, which are often a result of attacks in densely populated areas and against civilian objects, including schools and hospitals,” Guterres said in the report, produced by UN Children and Armed Conflict envoy Virginia Gamba and issued in Guterres’ name.
The report does not subject those listed to action; however, it shames parties to conflicts in the hope of pushing them to stop killing children.
Diplomats say Israel have exerted pressure, in recent years, in a bid to stay off the list, but no to avail.
