Myanmar junta hires Israeli-Canadian lobbyist to ‘explain’ coup
The ruling junta in Myanmar has hired an Israeli-Canadian lobbyist, recently investigated by the RCMP over his activities in Sudan, to help “explain” why the military carried out a coup against the country’s democratically elected government last month.
A March 4 contract seen by The Globe and Mail states that
Ari Ben-Menashe and his Montreal-based firm Dickens & Madson (Canada) Inc.
have been retained by the junta to lobby the United States and other foreign
governments “to assist in explaining the real situation in the country” after
the coup. The document was signed by Mr. Ben Menashe and Myanmar’s
junta-appointed Defence Minister, General Mya Tun Oo.
Angela Savard, a spokeswoman for Global Affairs Canada, said
the department was aware of the deal, and said the contract could be in
violation of Canadian law. Gen. Mya Tun Oo is one of nine individuals that
Canada targeted with sanctions after the Feb. 1 coup, making it illegal for any
Canadian to do any kind of business with him.
“We are aware of reports concerning a Montreal-based company
potentially in contravention of the Special Economic Measures (Burma)
Regulations,” Ms. Savard said in an e-mailed reply to questions from The Globe.
“Contravening Canadian sanctions is a criminal offence. All persons in Canada
and Canadians abroad must comply with Canada’s strict sanctions measures.”
Myanmar’s generals seized power three months after an
election that saw a military-allied party overwhelmingly defeated by Aung San
Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy. Ms. Suu Kyi and her ally
President U Win Myint, who had shared power with the military since 2015, have
been held at an undisclosed location since the coup.
The contract says that Mr. Ben-Menashe and his firm had been
hired to “lobby the executive and/or legislative branches of the United States,
Saudi Arabia, UAE [the United Arab Emirates], Israel, the Russian Federation …
as well as the United Nations, African Union and international organizations
and NGOs on behalf of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar.” The contract does
not specify how much Mr. Ben Menashe and his firm will be paid for their
effort.
Mr. Ben-Menashe told The Globe that the contract was a
one-year deal to help the junta “get off the sanctions and generally to explain
to the world their position.” In a telephone interview, he said the military
was “very interested in getting close to the United States government.” In a
separate interview with Reuters, he said the military believed Ms. Suu Kyi had
been too close to China.
Mr. Ben-Menashe said he does not believe his company is
violating sanctions against Myanmar. He said his firm will not be paid for its
work for Myanmar until sanctions are lifted.
“Let them leave us alone and let us do our work,” he said of
the Canadian government.
A spokesperson at RCMP headquarters in Ottawa confirmed
Sunday they were aware of the reports but could not provide information on any
investigation.
News of the contract, which was first reported by the
Washington-based website foreignlobby.com, drew immediate condemnations from
the country’s pro-democracy movement.
“We are appalled that Ari Ben-Menashe has been hired as a
lobbyist for the criminal Myanmar military junta. … Ari is not only attempting
to whitewash the reputation of these killers but he will be doing so with funds
stolen from the people of Myanmar,” said Yadanar Maung, spokesperson for
Justice for Myanmar, a group of activists who have organized to oppose the
coup.
“We call on the Canadian government to take immediate action
against all businesses that have commercial ties to the military.”
Mr. Ben-Menashe, a 69-year-old former Israeli intelligence
officer, has repeatedly courted controversy during his long career as a private
businessman. He was jailed in the U.S. in 1989 for attempting to sell military
aircraft to Iran, but later released because a judge accepted his defence that
he had been acting on the instructions of the Israeli government.
He also has a history of working with Myanmar’s generals.
The Globe reported in 2003 that Mr. Ben-Menashe had attempted to lobby the
Canadian government on behalf of the previous junta that ruled the county until
2015. That year, a new semi-democratic constitution took effect and the
country’s first free elections were held. Mr. Ben-Menashe’s more recent clients
have included Robert Mugabe’s former regime in Zimbabwe, renegade Libyan
general Khalifa Haftar, and the newly installed military government in Sudan.
In 2019, the federal government asked the RCMP to
investigate whether Mr. Ben-Menashe’s work in Sudan had violated Canadian
sanctions, which prohibit the sale of any kind of weapons to the country. The
UN also launched a separate investigation into whether the deployment of 1,000
Sudanese troops – sent to Libya to aid renegade Gen. Haftar’s campaign to
capture the capital city of Tripoli – was connected to a US$6-million payment
Mr. Ben-Menashe received from Sudan.
Mr. Ben-Menashe told The Globe on Sunday that he had been
cleared of any wrongdoing by both the RCMP and the UN investigation.
In his 2020 filings under the U.S. Foreign Agents Registration
Act, Mr. Ben-Menashe named the ruling military council in Sudan, the government
of Kyrgyzstan, and the United Liberation Movement for West Papua among the
current clients of Dickens & Madson.
In Myanmar, there were protests for a 34th consecutive day
on Sunday, and the country’s trade unions called for their members to strike
and bring the economy to a standstill. “The time to take action in defence of
our democracy is now,” the unions said in a joint statement.
Police reportedly used tear gas, stun grenades and live
ammunition to break up the demonstrations in different cities. At least 50
people have been killed as the army has repeatedly used force to try and quell
the uprising.
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