July 25 (Reuters) – Myanmar’s military junta has executed four democracy activists accused of helping to carry out “terrorist acts”, it said on Monday, prompting widespread condemnation of the country’s first executions in Southeast Asia for decades.
Sentenced to death in closed trials in January and April, the four men had been accused of helping insurgents fight the army which seized power in a coup last year and unleashed a bloody crackdown on its opponents.
Myanmar’s National Accord Government (NUG), a shadow administration banned by the ruling junta, has condemned the executions and called for international action against the ruling military.
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“Extremely saddened (…) condemn the cruelty of the junta,” Kyaw Zaw, spokesman for the NUG president’s office, told Reuters in a message. “The global community must punish their cruelty.”
Among those executed were democracy activist Kyaw Min Yu, better known as Jimmy, and former MP and hip-hop artist Phyo Zeya Thaw, the Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper said.
Kyaw Min Yu, 53, and Phyo Zeya Thaw, a 41-year-old ally of ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi, lost their appeals against the convictions in June. The other two executed were Hla Myo Aung and Aung Thura Zaw.
“These executions amount to arbitrary deprivation of life and are yet another example of Myanmar’s abysmal human rights record,” said Erwin Van Der Borght, Regional Director of Amnesty International.
“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 sentenced in a similar procedure.”
Thazin Nyunt Aung, wife of Phyo Zeyar Thaw, said she was not informed of her husband’s execution. Other relatives could not immediately be reached for comment.
The men had been held in the colonial-era Insein prison and a person with knowledge of the events said their families visited there last Friday. Only one parent was allowed to speak to inmates via an online platform, the source added.
State media reported the executions on Monday and junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun later confirmed the sentences to the Voice of Myanmar. Neither gave details at the time.
Previous executions in Myanmar have been by hanging.
An activist group, the Assistance Association of Political Prisoners (AAPP), said the last judicial executions in Myanmar dated back to the late 1980s.
INTERNATIONAL CONDEMNATION
Last month, junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun defended the death penalty, saying it was justified and used in many countries.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, chairman of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), called in a letter in June on junta leader Min Aung Hlaing not to carry out the executions, relaying the deep concern of Myanmar’s neighbours.
“Even the previous military regime, which ruled between 1988 and 2011, did not dare to apply the death penalty against political prisoners,” said Malaysian MP Charles Santiago, chairman of ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights. the man.
“It means a further increase in the brutality of the junta, which stems from a sense of impunity largely fostered by the failure of the global community to do anything effective to prevent it from committing further atrocities. .”
Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said the executions, which run counter to Japan’s repeated calls for a peaceful resolution as well as its demands for the release of detainees, would further isolate Myanmar.
Myanmar has been plunged into chaos since last year’s coup, with conflict spreading across the country after the army crushed mostly peaceful protests in cities.
The AAPP says more than 2,100 people have been killed by security forces since the coup. The junta says this figure is exaggerated.
The true picture of the violence has been difficult to gauge as clashes have spread to more remote areas where ethnic minority insurgent groups are also fighting the army.
The executions have shattered hopes for any peace deal, said the Arakan Army (AA), a large ethnic militia in Myanmar’s troubled Rakhine state.
“This act has shattered the efforts of ASEAN members towards peace and reconciliation,” the AA said in a statement, adding that the executions would only attract “braver heroes in the future and contribute to the Spring Revolution”.
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The latest executions nullify any chance of ending the unrest in Myanmar, said analyst Richard Horsey of the International CRISIS group.
“This is the regime showing that it will do what it wants and won’t listen to anyone,” Horsey told Reuters. “He sees this as a show of force, but it may be a serious miscalculation.”
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Reuters staff reports; Written by Ed Davies and Michael Perry; Editing by Lincoln Feast and Clarence Fernandez
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