Topline
Myanmar’s government on Monday announced the executions of four pro-democracy activists—including a former lawmaker—claiming they engaged in terrorist activities and carried out killings, a move that could trigger more international ire and sanctions against the military regime which seized power in a coup last year.
Lawmaker Phyo Zeya Thaw (left) was among the four people executed.
Key Facts
The executions—Myanmar’s first in more than four decades—were announced by state-run media which accused the four activists of “violent and inhuman accomplice acts of terrorist killings,” the Associated Press reported.
Myanmar’s government had rejected all criticism of the decision previously saying that all four men had been sentenced by the country’s “fair” judicial system.
International observers and rights activists, however, contend the allegations were politically motivated due to the individuals’ opposition to the military regime.
Phyo Zeya Thaw, a former hip-hop artist who would rise to become a lawmaker in Myanmar’s national parliament as a member of ousted leader Aung Sang Suu Kyi’s party, was one of the four people executed.
According to the New York Times, the four men were executed by hanging.
Chief Critic
In an official statement, UN Special Rapporteur for Myanmar Tom Andrews said: “I am outraged and devastated at the news of the junta’s execution of Myanmar patriots and champions of human rights and democracy…These depraved acts must be a turning point for the international community. What more must the junta do before the international community is willing to take strong action?”
Big Number
2,111. That’s the number of civilians who have been killed in Myanmar since the military junta took power in a coup last year, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP). In addition to that more than 14,000 people have been arrested by the military regime.
Key Background
In April, a military court sentenced Myanmar’s ousted leader Suu Kyi to five years in prison on corruption charges, in a hearing that was also widely viewed as a politically motivated show trial. Before Suu Kyi had already received a six year prison sentence in a separate cases. The military junta has brought charges against the 76-year-old Nobel laureate in multiple cases which could add to a more than 100 year prison sentence if she is found guilty. Myanmar’s military rulers seized power in a coup last year after Suu Kyi and her party won a landslide victory in the country’s 2020 general elections. Global sanctions against the junta regime and protests across Myanmar have prevented the military from fully consolidating power across the country, prompting brutal state-backed crackdowns on pro-democracy activists and rival political forces.
Further Reading
Myanmar executes NLD lawmaker, 3 other political prisoners (Associated Press)
Myanmar Military Executes Four Pro-Democracy Activists (New York Times)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2022/07/25/myanmars-military-junta-executes-three-pro-democracy-activists-and-former-lawmaker/