New Delhi: Myanmar’s ruling military has executed two prominent pro-democracy activists and two others over terrorism charges, ignoring widespread condemnation from the international community after these men were sentenced to death earlier this year.
The men were accused of helping militias fight the army that seized power in a coup in February, 2021.
In January 2022, veteran democracy activist Ko Jimmy, 53, and former National League of Democracy lawmaker Phyo Zayar Thaw, 41, were sentenced to death, according to a statement by Myanmar’s Office of the Commander-in-Chief of Defense Services.
Thaw was a close aide to ousted pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
The junta accused the two men of being “involved in terrorist acts such as explosion attacks, killing of civilians as informants”.
The two others executed were Hla Myo Aung and Aung Thura Zaw.
United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Tom Andrews, said he was “outraged and devastated” by the executions.
I'm devastated by news that former parliamentarian Zeyar Thaw and longtime activist Ko Jimmy were executed with two others today. UN Member States must honor their lives by making this depraved act a turning point for the world's response to this crisis. My statement attached. pic.twitter.com/zhdBxFDXoo
— UN Special Rapporteur Tom Andrews (@RapporteurUn) July 25, 2022
“UN Member States must honor their lives by making this depraved act a turning point for the world’s response to this crisis,” he said.
Earlier, the United Nations had said it was “deeply troubled” by the decision to bring back executions, calling it a “blatant violation to the right to life, liberty and security of person”.
Amnesty International had tweeted: “The death sentence has become one of many appalling ways the Myanmar military is attempting to sow fear among anyone who opposes its rule, and would add to the grave human rights violations, including lethal violence targeted at peaceful protesters and other civilians.”
The Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the four men were investigated in “grossly unjust close-doors trials”.
According to HRW, military tribunals in Myanmar have sentenced 114 people to death since the February 2021 coup, including 41 in absentia.
“Myanmar military courts’ disregard of basic rights was evident in the farcical trials and death sentences of Phyo Zeya Thaw and Ko Jimmy,” Myanmar researcher at Human Rights Watch Manny Maung had said. “These secretive tribunals with their lightning convictions are aimed at chilling any dissent against the military junta.”
Reuters reported that the men were held in the “colonial-era Insein prison and a person with knowledge of the events said their families visited the prison last Friday. Only one relative was allowed to speak to the detainees via the Zoom online platform”.
The country’s last judicial executions took place in the late 1980s.
Also read: Chinese response to border stand-off with India is to construct more highways along LAC