Pro-democracy activists executed in Myanmar

Myanmar’s state media says the ruling junta has executed four people, including pro-democracy activists.

According to local media, it is the first time the death penalty has been carried out in the country in over 30 years.
The military announced the planned executions last month, drawing a firestorm of international criticism.

A state-run newspaper reported the executions on Monday. It says one of the four was Phyo Zeyar Thaw, a lawmaker for the National League for Democracy, led by Aung San Suu Kyi. The hip-hop artist was a close aide of the ousted leader.

The prominent democracy activist Kyaw Min Yu was also reportedly among those executed.
The newspaper said they were charged under the counterterrorism law and the penal code.
The charges included keeping weapons and bullets for what the junta calls terrorist organizations.

Myanmar’s pro-democracy shadow government condemned the killings. Its spokesperson expressed shock and sadness, tweeting that the international community must punish the murderous Myanmar military junta for their cruelty and killings.

The military is continuing its crackdown on protests.
A local human rights group said the junta has killed more than 2,100 civilians since the coup in February last year. It said the military-controlled courts had sentenced 117 people to death as of Friday.

An analyst who was a political prisoner in Myanmar said he is afraid the junta will conduct more executions, ahead of the general election it is to hold in August next year.

Khin Zaw Win, director of the Yangon-based Tampadipa Institute think tank, said, “You can see these executions as a psychological tactic to instill fear and to deter the public and the people — young people — from fighting further. Many, many regimes have done that. But it’s a gamble that they have to take.”

Khin Zaw Win predicted the executions will only fan the flames of the resistance.

The executions sparked condemnation from abroad.
The UN special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, Thomas Andrews, said in a statement he was “outraged and devastated” at the news of the executions, calling them “depraved acts” that should be a “turning point for the international community.”

A Japanese government spokesman said Tokyo is concerned confrontation inside the country will intensify, and Myanmar will become further isolated in the international community.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Beijing will maintain its principle of noninterference in other countries’ domestic affairs. He said concerned parties should work to resolve conflicts within Myanmar’s constitutional framework.