Gateways, which licenses “do not function without Thales software”.11 The impact of this software on thousands of Myanmar internet users, activists and journalists is very real, involving in particular the blocking of VPNs and the ability to launch attacks against websites. At this stage, the various revelations and investigations have not prompted any public response from the French government, nor have they led to any scrutiny of Thales’s activities. The publication of a Thales invoice for over €9 million addressed to the Myanmar army – General Directorate of the Commander-in-Chief’s (Army) Procurement Office – and its intermediary – Ky-Tha Industrial Development Company LTD – changes the game and establishes a direct link. The Myanmar navy did not have to wait until the post-coup era to be implicated in the junta’s war crimes. Its involvement has been documented in the genocide of the Rohingya,12 as well as in the imposition of blockades on humanitarian aid and goods, and fishing bans that are starving the population.13 A technique of collective and indiscriminate punishment regularly used by the junta, which it calls the ‘four cuts’ strategy, was again condemned by the UN in 2025 as leading to a situation in Rakhine State “on the brink of famine”.14 Legal context In light of the extensive documentation of crimes committed by the Myanmar military, a 2019 report by the Human Rights Council’s Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar concerning the economic interests of the Myanmar military supports the view that the sale of arms or military equipment amounts to complicity: “Many of these companies and States therefore knew, or ought to have known, that their arms transfers could have a direct and reasonably foreseeable impact on the human rights situation in Myanmar. Among the arms suppliers identified by the Mission, 12 companies are State-owned enterprises”.15 At the international level, one of the fundamental principles of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights16 is that every business has a duty to respect human rights in the course of its activities. In situations of armed conflict, businesses must also comply with the rules of international humanitarian law. Failure to do so exposes both individuals and the business itself to risks of criminal and 11 “Documents analysed during the investigation also indicate that licenses for the "Tiangou Secure Gateway" don't work without Thales' software” China exports censorship tech to authoritarian regimes – aided by EU firms | Follow The Money (2025, 11 September) 12 Myanmar’s armed forces and the Rohingya crisis | USIP (2018) 13 Starving to death: the latest phase of the Rohingya genocide | BROUK (2025, juin) Banned From Boats in Myanmar, Rohingya Fish on Rafts of Junk | VOA (2017, 24 janvier) 14 A third of Myanmar’s population faces food insecurity: UN human rights experts | OHCHR (2025, 13 mars) 15 The economic interests of the Myanmar military ; Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar | Human Rights Council (2019, September) 16 Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights: Implementing the United Nations “Protect, Respect and Remedy” Framework | Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (2011)