Regional director for Amnesty International, Erwin van der Borght commented on reports that Myanmar’s military authorities had carried out executions for the first time since the late 1980s,“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.”
He further added,”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.”
Four executions have reportedly taken place, according to official media in Myanmar.
Former members of Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, Phyo Zeya Thaw and prominent democracy activist Kyaw Min Yu, also known as Ko Jimmy, were found guilty of crimes involving explosives, bombings, and financing terrorism under the Anti-Terrorism Law and given death sentences by a military tribunal in January. Amnesty International believes that these charges are politically motivated. Additionally, the death penalties of two other men, Hla Myo Aung and Aung Thura Zaw, who were found guilty of the suspected murder of a lady in Yangon’s Hlaing Tharyar who was thought to be an informer for the military, were confirmed.
All four were included in a story published in Myanmar’s official publication, Global New Light.
A military-run court held covert and grievously unfair proceedings.
Following the Myanmar military’s declaration of martial law, Order 3/2021, the power to trial civilians was transferred to existing or special military tribunals, where defendants are tried in an expedited manner without the ability to appeal.
The crimes that are subject to the death sentence are among the many offences that these courts handle.
Executions carried out after unfair trials are illegal under international law and standards because they breach the outright ban on torture and other forms of cruel, barbaric, or humiliating treatment as well as the prohibition against willful life loss.
In the late 1980s, Myanmar carried out its last execution. Since the military takeover in February 2021, Amnesty International has observed an astonishing rise in the use of the death penalty in Myanmar, where it has been turned into a tool for the military in its ongoing persecution, intimidation, and harassment of anyone who dared to challenge the authorities.
Amnesty International firmly opposes the use of the death penalty in all circumstances.
The punishment has been eliminated in law or practise in more than two thirds of the world’s nations.
