ReliefWeb Press Releases on the Execution of Opposition Leaders in Myanmar
Joint Statement on Execution of Pro-Democracy and Opposition Leaders in Myanmar
(Joint Statement）
The Myanmar military regime’s executions of pro-democracy and opposition leaders are reprehensible acts of violence that further exemplify the regime’s disregard for human rights and the rule of law.
We urge the regime to release all those unjustly detained, grant full and independent access to prisons and fulfill its obligations under the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ (ASEAN) Five-Point Consensus to seek peace through dialogue, not further violence.
We support the people of Myanmar in their aspirations for freedom and democracy and call on the regime to end the use of violence, respect the will of the people, and restore the country’s path toward democracy.
Our thoughts and condolences are with the bereaved families and loved ones as they grieve those unjustly put to death. We remember and mourn all lives lost in Myanmar in the aftermath of the coup.
Secretary-General Strongly Condemns Executions by Myanmar Military against Political Activists
SG/SM/21383
The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:
The Secretary-General strongly condemns the executions carried out this weekend by the Myanmar military against four political activists in Myanmar — Phyo Zeya Thaw, Kyaw Min Yu (Ko Jimmy), Hla Myo Aung and Aung Thura Zaw — and offers his condolences to their families.
The Secretary-General opposes the imposition of death penalty in all circumstances. These executions, the first to be conducted since 1988 in Myanmar, mark a further deterioration of the already dire human rights environment in Myanmar.
The Secretary-General reiterates his call for the immediate release of all arbitrarily detained prisoners, including President Win Myint and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi.
Myanmar: First executions in decades mark atrocious escalation in state repression
Responding to reports that Myanmar’s military authorities have carried out executions for the first time since the late 1980s, Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific Director Erwin van der Borght said:
“These executions amount to arbitrary deprivation of lives and are another example of Myanmar’s atrocious human rights record. The four men were convicted by a military court in highly secretive and deeply unfair trials. The international community must act immediately as more than 100 people are believed to be on death row after being convicted in similar proceedings.”
“For more than a year now, Myanmar’s military authorities have engaged in extrajudicial killings, torture and a whole gamut of human rights violations. The military will only continue to trample on people’s lives if they are not held accountable.”
“At a time when more and more countries take steps to abolish the death penalty, the resumption of executions after more than three decades not only puts it at odds with the global trend, but is also contrary to the goal of abolition enshrined under international human rights law and standards. Myanmar’s isolation could not be any more glaring. We urge the authorities to immediately establish a moratorium on executions as a first critical step.”
Background:
According to Myanmar state media, four executions have been carried out.
Phyo Zeya Thaw, a former member of Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, and prominent democracy activist Kyaw Min Yu, also known as Ko Jimmy, were convicted of and sentenced to death by a military tribunal in January for offenses involving explosives, bombings and financing terrorism under the Anti-Terrorism Law – charges that Amnesty International believes to be politically motivated. Two other men, Hla Myo Aung and Aung Thura Zaw, convicted of the alleged murder of a woman believed to act as an informer for the military in Hlaing Tharyar in Yangon, also had their death sentences confirmed.
All four were named in the report in state-run newspaper Global New Light of Myanmar.
The proceedings before a military-controlled court were secretive and grossly unfair.
Following Myanmar military’s issuance of Martial Law Order 3/2021, the authority to try civilians was transferred to special or existing military tribunals where individuals are tried through summary proceedings without right to appeal.
These courts oversee a wide range of offences including those punishable with the death penalty.
Under international law and standards, executions carried out following unfair trials violate the prohibition against arbitrary deprivation of life, as well as the absolute prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment.
Myanmar’s last known execution was in the late 1980s. Since the military coup in February 2021, Amnesty International has recorded an alarming increase in the resort to the death penalty in Myanmar, where it has become a tool for the military in the ongoing persecution, intimidation and harassment of all who dare to challenge the authorities.
Amnesty International opposes the death penalty unconditionally, in all cases and under any circumstances. More than two-thirds of countries all over the world have abolished the punishment in law or practice.
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