GENEVA - Money earned by the Myanmar military from international and domestic business deals, “substantially enhances its ability to carry out gross violations of human rights with impunity” according to a report released on Monday by an independent United Nations group looking into military-business ties in the South East Asian country.

In a statement, the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar called on the international community to impose targeted sanctions and arms embargoes on the Myanmar military.

The mission members said that their latest report on Myanmar has established, for the first time, the degree to which the country’s military uses its own businesses, foreign companies and arms deals to support “brutal operations” against ethnic groups that constitute “serious crimes under international law”, bypassing civilian oversight and evading accountability.