As the true extent of the human rights violations carried out by Myanmar’s military Junta continues to be exposed, concerns have been raised regarding the use of facial recognition cameras to intimidate demonstrators, potentially aggravating the already dire humanitarian crisis.
A total of 335 cameras were installed in December 2020, boasting advanced facial recognition algorithms capable of recognising faces as well as number plates.
Part of the Naypyitaw Safe City project, the surveillance system was originally justified by potential crime reduction, though many now fear that the installation of these cameras will empower the junta to commit further atrocities. Manny Maung, Asia Researcher at Human Rights Watch, said that:
“This powerful surveillance system bolsters the Myanmar junta’s increasingly abusive crackdown on demonstrations.”
The use of biometric surveillance will undoubtedly have an adverse effect on the rights of the Burmese people to freedom of expression, association, and privacy; rights fundamental to the ability of anti-coup activists to fight oppressive measures.
At least 70 demonstrators have been killed since the coup and over 2,000 detained, with figures predicted to rise exponentially should Burmese security forces utilise their facial recognition capabilities. Joanne Mariner, director of crisis response at Amnesty International, said that:
“These Myanmar military tactics are far from new, but their killing sprees have never before been live streamed for the world to see.”
Fears concerning the use of mass surveillance by the junta come as the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Thomas Andrews, said that growing reports of murder, imprisonment, persecution, and other crimes committed by the junta likely meet the legal threshold for crimes against humanity. During his presentation to the Human Rights Council, Mr. Andrews stated that:
“The people of Myanmar are desperate. They are upholding and defending the highest principles of this body and the United Nations, including their commitment to non-violence. But these principles, and their very lives, are under vicious attack.”
The weaponisation of mass surveillance is best exemplified by its use in China, where it is employed to extensively monitor marginalised groups. Xinjiang’s Uyghur minority, a group currently experiencing a myriad of pervasive rights violations, has been explicitly targeted.
The provision of ethnic minority recognition as a feature by some of China’s largest tech companies is indicative of the potentially inimical consequences of biometric surveillance. Huawei, the supplier of Myanmar’s facial recognition technology, has been known to test “Uyghur alarms”; software that can recognise the minority and alert the police.
The junta in Myanmar is following the playbook of mass surveillance use in China to control populations. International oversight must ensure that their actions do not contravene the people’s rights to freedom of expression and association and that their collection of data is in compliance with international law – using mass surveillance to facilitate human rights abuse is unacceptable.