In tenders to supply and install the security cameras and facial recognition technology, the plans are described as safe city projects aimed at keeping citizens safe and, in some cases, peace, people involved or involved in the projects said. projects. Since the February 2021 coup, local authorities have launched new camera surveillance projects for at least five cities, including Mawlamyine – the country’s fourth-largest city, according to the three people, who asked not to be named for fear of reprisals from the junta. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register The new projects add to five cities where camera systems touted as crime prevention measures were either installed or planned by the previous government led by Aung San Suu Kyi, according to the sources and local media. A junta spokesman did not return calls from Reuters seeking comment. None of the 10 municipal authorities, all of which are controlled by the junta, returned calls seeking comment. Reuters was unable to check the tenders or visit the cities to verify the installation of the cameras. The junta is planning camera surveillance systems for towns in each of Myanmar’s seven states and seven regions, said one of the sources briefed on the junta’s plans on two occasions by different people. The extent of the junta’s efforts to deploy surveillance camera systems has not been previously reported. Reuters Graphics Reuters Graphics The tenders have been won by local procurement companies such as Fisca Security & Communication and Naung Yoe Technologies Co, the three sources said. The companies are sourcing the cameras and some related technology from Chinese surveillance giants Zhejiang Dahua Technology ( 002236.SZ ) ( Dahua ), Huawei Technologies Co Ltd ( HWT.UL ) and Hikvision ( 002415.SZ ), the three sources added. Fisca and Naung Yoe, both based in Yangon, did not respond to requests for comment. Huawei and Dahua did not respond to Reuters requests for comment. Hikvision said in a statement that it has never sold directly to Myanmar government authorities and its customers in overseas markets are distributors and integration companies. It also said it had not sold facial recognition technology in the country. Hikvision did not respond to questions about whether it knew of cases where its hardware capable of running facial recognition software had been sold in Myanmar. The three sources also said that Myanmar procurement companies that won the tenders sometimes use facial recognition software developed by local and regional companies, as Chinese software licenses are expensive. They did not name the software companies.
SURVEILLANCE CONCERNS
Closed circuit television (CCTV) or video surveillance systems are used by many cities around the world to deter crime. Increasingly controversial facial recognition software is also being used, with the technology gaining ground in the United States for law enforcement purposes. Some sophisticated systems, such as those used in Chinese cities, use artificial intelligence to match images of people in real time to a database of images. read more People with direct knowledge of Myanmar’s plans and rights groups said they feared the new plans could be used to crack down on activists and resistance groups, both of which have been labeled terrorists by the post-coup junta. They were unable to provide evidence of the junta’s intentions. “Surveillance cameras pose a serious risk to (Myanmar) democracy activists because the military and police can use them to track their movements, trace connections between activists, locate safe houses and other gathering points, and identify and intercept cars and motorcycles used by activists,” Human Rights Watch deputy Asia director Phil Robertson said in a statement to Reuters. Myanmar’s junta engages in widespread surveillance. It has installed spyware on telecommunications and internet providers to eavesdrop on its citizens’ communications and has developed “intelligence warfare” units to track and attack online dissidents, Reuters reported. read more The army has officers dedicated to analyzing feeds from surveillance cameras, Nyi Thuta, a former captain who defected from the army in late February 2021, told Reuters. He said he did not know how many officers were assigned to the task, but described visiting rooms CCTV control staffed by soldiers in the capital Naypyidaw. Reuters could not independently verify this, and a junta spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.
TEN CITIES
Mawlamyine held a tender for a camera surveillance system shortly after the coup, according to the three sources. The cities of Taunggyi and Dawei followed in the coming months, two of them said. The Mawlamyine competition was jointly won by Fisca and Naung Yoe, the two sources said. The bids for Dawei and Taunggyi went to Fisca, a source said, adding that hundreds of Dahua cameras have been installed in each city this year. In Mawlamyine, there are now more than 200 Dahua cameras and more are expected to be installed, another of the sources said. Dahua cameras were installed this year in Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin, a region of ethnic unrest, a source said, adding that the Hpa-an city government has started early discussions about a camera system. Before the coup, Suu Kyi’s government installed CCTV cameras in Naypyidaw and Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city, while the city of Mandalay also signed an agreement for a camera surveillance system with Huawei, according to local media and two sources . Huawei cameras were combined with facial recognition software in Naypyidaw, a source said. In Yangon, the surveillance system consists of a Hikvision traffic command center and a mix of camera brands, another of the sources said. Since the coup, the junta has told Mandalay – Myanmar’s second-largest city – to move faster to install cameras, two sources said. A source said at least 300 Huawei cameras had been installed before the coup, with hundreds more to follow. The city of Bagan – a historic tourist center – also held a tender for a camera surveillance system before the coup, two sources said. In Rakhine state, where the army is battling an ethnic armed group, CCTV systems with Huawei cameras have been deployed by Myanmar security forces since 2019 in Sitwee town and some villages, a source said. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Report by Fanny Potkin. Additional reporting by David Kirton in Shenzhen, Brenda Goh in Shanghai and Poppy McPherson in Bangkok. Edited by Edwina Gibbs Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
