https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/07/15/japan-stop-real-estate-project-myanmar
For Immediate Release

Japan: Stop Real Estate Project in Myanmar
Commercial Dealings with Abusive Military Undermines Rights(Tokyo, July 15, 2021) – Japanese business entities should stop their participation in acommercial real estate project involving Myanmar’s abusive military, Human Rights Now,
Human Rights Watch, Japan International Volunteer Center, Justice For Myanmar, and Mekong
Watch said today. The proposed Y-Complex in Yangon is being constructed on land leased fromthe country’s armed forces, the Tatmadaw, whose long record of abuses has worsened since theFebruary 1, 2021, military coup.
One participating company, Tokyo Tatemono, stated that they have suspended operation of theY-Complex project since the coup. However, project participants, including publicly-fundedJapan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), Japan Overseas Infrastructure Investment
Corporation for Transport and Urban Development (JOIN), Fujita Corporation, and Tokyo
Tatemono, have not publicly disclosed the duration of the suspension or the conditions forresuming operations.
“The Japanese government and businesses failed to appropriately assess the risk associated withdoing business in Myanmar,” said Ryutaro Ogawa, Vice Secretary General at Human Rights
Now. “They should admit their own shortcomings and act responsibly, otherwise, they will risk
financing the military.”
The Y-Complex, which includes a shopping mall, hotel, and office rental space, is being built on“military-owned Military Museum land” leased by Myanmar’s Quartermaster General’s office,according to a copy of the “Build, Operate, Transfer (B.O.T) Land Lease Agreement” dated
October 15, 2013. The agreement states that upon termination or expiry of the B.O.T agreement,
the land, including buildings and fixtures, developed on the land should be transferred to the“lessor.” Therefore, companies involved in Y-Complex risk creating immoveable long-term
assets for the military, which can continue to yield income after the agreement is terminated. On
June 22, 2020, a Myanmar military spokesperson confirmed that the military owns the land, andthe Ministry of Defense receives rental payments for the Y-Complex development.
On March 5, 2021, in response to an inquiry by Mekong Watch, JBIC said that Myanmar’s
Defense Ministry received all payments for the land rent. JBIC also asserted that the rental
payments are ultimately included in the government’s national budget, under the National
Budget Law, but did not disclose the basis for this claim. JBIC said it was coordinating with theinvolved business entities as well as the Japanese embassy in Myanmar to confirm such details
with the Myanmar government after outside “stakeholders” raised concerns; but it has yet topublicly do so.
“Even before the coup, we were raising concerns to the Japanese government and businesses
about the dangers of money flowing into the military, but they did not take necessary measures,”said Yuka Kiguchi, Executive Director of Mekong Watch. “We strongly condemn the fact thatJapan’s public funds likely ended up in the hands of the Tatmadaw.”
Under Myanmar’s 2008 Constitution, adopted during military rule, Myanmar’s Defense Ministry
falls under the military, and the military is independent of the democratically elected
government. Under article 20(b) of the Constitution, “The Defence Services has the right toindependently administer and adjudicate all affairs of the armed forces.” Under article 232(b)(ii),the defense minister is nominated by the military commander-in-chief from the ranks of themilitary. Other laws further prevent any scrutiny or accountability of the Y-Complex lease
payments. For example, according to section 39 of the Union Auditor General Law, the Defense
Ministry is exempt from audit, so the land lease payments to the Defense Ministry are not subject
to government scrutiny.
Abuses by the military, which has been long implicated in crimes against humanity in RakhineState and other grave international crimes in ethnic areas throughout Myanmar, have intensified
since the coup. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) reported that as ofJuly 12, 2021, the security forces have killed more than 900 people, and the authorities havearrested, charged, or sentenced more than 5,200. The military has also intensified operations inethnic minority areas, with indiscriminate airstrikes and ground attacks that have hit schools,
villages, places of worship, and other civilian structures.
“Japanese companies and the government knew that they were dealing with a militaryresponsible for countless atrocities over many years, not a civilian-controlled defense ministry,”
said Teppei Kasai, Asia program officer at Human Rights Watch. “The Japanese government andcompanies should make it clear that they do not intend to resume commercial projects with theTatmadaw.”
In a joint submission to the United Nations Working Group on Human Rights and Transnational
Corporations and Other Business Enterprises on February 17, 2021, the five groups requested aninvestigation into whether the Y-Complex project is financing Myanmar’s military. At the timeof the joint submission, none of the Japanese businesses involved in the Y-Complex project had
conducted effective human rights due diligence as called for by the UN Guiding Principles on
Business and Human Rights.
“It is deplorable that the companies involved in the Y-Complex have not clarified the status of
the project following Myanmar’s attempted coup and the military’s widening campaign ofterror,” said Yadanar Maung, spokesperson at Justice For Myanmar. “There is no justification forleasing land from the office of the quartermaster general, the very office that purchases weaponsthat the military uses to commit war crimes and crimes against humanity. The Japanese
government and businesses must end their complicity in the Myanmar military’s atrocities.”
The UN Guiding Principles state that, “States should take additional steps to protect against
human rights abuses by business enterprises that are owned or controlled by the State, or thatreceive substantial support and services from State agencies.” On May 12, 2021, the UN
Working Group on Business and Human Rights and the Special Rapporteur on the situation ofhuman rights in Myanmar called on businesses to “uphold their human rights responsibilities andput pressure on the military junta to halt grave human rights violations;” while adding thatcompanies should act in line with the Guiding Principles to “avoid contributing to human rights
violations, or becoming complicit in crimes if they continue to operate in Myanmar.”
On October 16, 2020, the Japanese government announced a five-year National Action Plan on
Business and Human Rights, stating that it “wishes to contribute to promoting and protecting
both the human rights of people who would be adversely affected by the activities of businessenterprises and human rights for society as a whole, including the international community.”“The Japanese government and businesses should get serious about human rights and follow thecommitments laid out in the National Action Plan as well as their corporate policies in a
responsible and proactive manner,” said Naoko Watanabe, Manager for Overseas Program Groupat Japan International Volunteer Center. “If they don’t, they not only risk funding the Myanmar
military but further damaging their reputations.”
For more information on Y-Complex, please visit:https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/02/16/joint-submission-concerning-japanese-business-entities-operating-myanmar
https://www.justiceformyanmar.org/stories/y-complex
https://www.justiceformyanmar.org/stories/land-lease-payments-tie-japanese-gov-and-investors-to-myanmars-military
For more Human Rights Watch reporting on Japan, please visit:https://www.hrw.org/asia/japan
For more Human Rights Watch reporting on Myanmar, please visit:https://www.hrw.org/asia/myanmar-burma
For more information, please contact:
For Human Rights Watch, in Tokyo, Teppei Kasai (English, Japanese): +70-4466-3147 (mobile);or kasait@hrw.org.
Twitter: @TeppeiKasai
For Justice For Myanmar, Yadanar Maung (English): media@justiceformyanmar.org.
Twitter: @JusticeMyanmar
For Mekong Watch, in Tokyo, Yuka Kiguchi (Japanese/English): info@mekongwatch.org.
Twitter: @MekongWatch
For Japan International Volunteer Center, in Tokyo, Naoko Watanabe (Japanese/English):
info@ngo-jvc.net.
Twitter: @ngo_jvc
For Human Rights Now, in Tokyo, Ryutaro Ogawa (Japanese/English): info@hrn.or.jp.
Twitter: @OgawaRyutaro
For Human Rights Watch, in Bangkok, Phil Robertson (English, Thai): +66-85-060-8406(mobile); or robertp@hrw.org.
Twitter: @Reaproy
For Human Rights Watch, in Washington, DC, John Sifton (English): +1-646-479-2499(mobile); or siftonj@hrw.org.

Twitter: @johnsifton
For Human Rights Watch, in Sydney, Manny Maung (English, Burmese): +1-646-988-3359(mobile); or maungm@hrw.org.
Twitter: @mannymaung