A/HRC/42/CRP.3 northern Myanmar as “hand-pickers”.194 “Hand-pickers” or “kinase” have historically been women and children, but increasingly scarce jobs have pushed more men into these roles. 195 The New York Times reported that a July 2018 landslide in Hpakant Township killed 18 miners and injured a further 100 at a jade mine owned by a company associated with U Ohn Myint, a former commander of Northern Command and former Minister of Mining. 196 U Ohn Myint’s jade mining company, Myanmar Win Gate, partners with MEHL. 197 (b) Tanai Township 89. The Mission has documented how the Tatmadaw’s Northern Command, from the rank-and-file to the commander level, profits from the jade industry in the areas under its control in Tanai Township, Kachin State.198 The militarization of mining areas manifests through a network of Tatmadaw checkpoints, which have been sites of international human rights and international humanitarian law violations against jade miners. 90. Since November 2017 the Tatmadaw and the KIA have engaged in armed conflict around the amber and gold mines near Noije Bum hill, south of Tanai town, resulting in civilian casualties.199 Additionally, the Mission documented civilians being abducted into forced labour in Tanai by the Tatmadaw in 2016.200 91. The Mission documented numerous accounts of violations of international human rights and international humanitarian law perpetrated by the Tatmadaw in Tanai, Kachin State, including the rape of a female miner in an amber mining area in 2016.201 The heavy Tatmadaw presence in these areas is accompanied by harassment of the local population, including through small-scale corruption. In Tanai, the Northern Command extracts bribes from both miners and mining companies operating in the area. One goldminer told the Mission that he and other miners had to pay local Tatmadaw soldiers to be permitted to mine amber and gold at the “Pha Ka” mine in Ting Kawk village near Noije Bum hill. 202 Another person described working in Tanai for a company called Season Star (also referred to as 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 32 International Growth Centre, Artisanal Jade Mining in Myanmar, 2017 (https://www.theigc.org/project/artisanal-jade-mining-myanmar) Mia Newman, “Multifaceted: Governance and Conflict Risks in Myanmar’s Ruby Industry,” Natural Resource Governance Institute, March 2018 (https://resourcegovernance.org/sites/default/files/documents/multifaceted-goverance-and-conflictrisks-in-myanmar-ruby-industry.pdf) “Gems, jade net $2.8b,” 4 April 2011, The Myanmar Times (https://www.mmtimes.com/business/3118-gems-jade-net-2-8b.html) Hannah Beech and Saw Nang, “Dozens Swept Away in Myanmar Landslide While Hunting for Jade,” The New York Times, 17 July 2018 (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/17/world/asia/myanmar-landslide-jade-mine.html); From 2005 – 2010, U Ohn Myint served as the commander of Northern Command. See also “Gems, jade net $2.8b,” 4 April 2011, The Myanmar Times (https://www.mmtimes.com/business/3118-gemsjade-net-2-8b.html). Global Witness, “Jade: Myanmar’s Big State Secret,” 23 October 2015, p. 44, reports that U Ohn Myint owns a large jade mining company called Myanmar Win Gate, which has subsidiaries in Hpakant Township and that Myanmar Win Gate partners with MEHL. PI-086, PI-061. DI-061. PI-061; For further information on a pattern of forced labour used by the Tatmadaw in and around mining, see: International Labour Conference, Committee on the Application of Standards, C.App./PV.4/ Myanmar/C29, Myanmar Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29), 13 June 2019, pg 16, which noted that “forced labour is also persistent in the private sector. In 2016, the ILO undertook a detailed survey on child labour and agriculture and specifically in inland fisheries, sugarcane and beans. The findings of that survey were alarming and found that in all three subsectors, children were in conditions of forced labour. Creditable reports have indicated that men, women and children are found in situations of forced labour in agriculture, fishing and prospecting for jade and other precious stones. The use of forced labour in the jade industry has attracted significant international attention in recent years. The mines are guarded by the Tatmadaw and their presence, and the presence of armed ethnic groups, has led to increased abuses such as rape and forced labour around mine sites. Those who risk their lives to extract the jade in this multibillion dollar industry see little for their labour, with the vast majority of the benefit going to the army and traders.” PI-146; See also PI-069, PI-054, PI-145. PI-086.