Myanmar’s junta government executed four political dissidents on Tuesday. The execution has drawn international condemnation which the government justified as ‘justice’.
Four political activists were executed on Tuesday in Myanmar in a very quiet manner. The prisoners were all pro-democracy activists, two of whom were household names. Possibly, the prisoners were in the Insein prison, which holds Aung San Suu Kyi as a prisoner, after which they tried secretively.
Executions in Myanmar
The four activists were all active in the pro-democracy movement in the country and rallied for the release of all the political prisoners who were captured in the 2021 coup. Phyo Zayar Thaw, an ex-MP, writer and artist and Ko Jimmy, a writer were among the executed.
In a military coup, the military government in Myanmar, justified the executions, deeming them necessary for the people of Myanmar. The junta termed it “justice for people”. It also referred to the prisoners as ‘killers’ who deserved it rather than democracy activists.
According to several reports, families were not aware of the location of the executions or the whereabouts of the victims. They had no information about their dead bodies either.
Since it came to power, the government has overseen about a thousand arrests. Some activists say that the government is holding trials in secrecy.
The government’s spokesperson, Zaw Min Tun, accused the men of aiding ‘terror acts’ and guerilla attacks. He insisted that the prisoners were, “given the right to defend themselves according to court procedure”. “I knew it would raise criticism but it was done for justice. It was not personal,” Tun added.
Amnesty International reported this to be the first political execution in Myanmar since 1988.
International condemnation
The executions quickly drew flak from all sides. France, the U.S, Australia, England, the European Union and the United Nation were all quick to condemn the actions of the government. Myanmar also faces sanctions and travel bans
Malaysia’s foreign minister referred to it as “a mockery” of ASEAN’s peace plans and called the executions as crimes against humanity. Further minister Saifuddin Abdullah added, “We hope we have seen the last of the executions and we will try to use whatever channel that we can to try and ensure that this will not happen again,”
The executions come nearly a week before ASEAN’s next meet. ASEAN’s chair, Cambodia, responded that it was “extremely troubled”. Cambodia’s response becomes even more noteworthy considering that the Cambodian Prime Minister’s visit to the country earlier this year.
So far Myanmar’s government has dismissed all the international criticism and labelled them to be “reckless”.
Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi won the elections in February 2021, the military then seized the power in a coup and declared itself the government. Since then, the military has done everything in its power to reverse the progress that the country had achieved since the 1990s. Experts say that the military managed to take the country at least two decades back.
At least 117 people face death row under the current government. Myanmar’s steady regression from a young and unstable democracy to an authoritarian military power had begun with the coup and its further downward spiral is unlikely to stop anytime soon.
Read more- Troops in Myanmar burn villages down to suppress the resistance of last year’s coup
