Reuters :
Myanmar’s military authorities have executed four democracy activists accused of helping carry out “terror acts”, state media said on Monday, the country’s first executions in decades.
Below is reaction to news of the executions:
Myanmar Shadow National Unity Government Spokesman KyawZaw
“The global community must punish their cruelty.”
Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshima Hayashi
“This goes against our repeated calls for all detainees to be freed. It also will sharpen the feelings of the (Myanmar) people and worsen the conflict, as well as deepening Myanmar’s isolation from the international community. It is a matter of deep concern.”
U.S. Embassy in Myanmar
“We condemn the military regime’s execution of pro-democracy leaders and elected officials for exercising their fundamental freedoms.”
International Crisis Group Myanmar Analyst Richard Horsey
“Any possibility of dialogue to end the crisis created by the coup has now been removed. This is the regime demonstrating that it will do what it wants and listen to no one. It sees this as a demonstration of strength, but it may be a serious miscalculation.”
Assistance Association For Political Prisoners
“These four political prisoners were detained by an illegal and murderous junta. The trial was a kangaroo court. Any forced Contd on page-2 Col-1
confessions the outcome of mental and physical abuse.”
Myanmar Pro-Democracy Activists TheinnyOo
“He (Kyaw Min Yu, better known as Jimmy) fought for the country…I’m sorry for the loss of our comrade. The fascists do things the fascist way. We will continue our fight for democracy.”
KhinZaw Win, Director OfTampadipa Institute, A Myanmar Think Tank
“It means there is no turning back. There were no executions for 30 years and we thought death sentence may be permanently abolished. This turns back the clock. Country going back into dark ages.”
Matthew Smith, Head of Southeast Asia’s Fortify Rights
“These horrendous executions were murders. They’re a part of the junta’s ongoing crimes against humanity and attack on the civilian population. The junta would be completely wrong to think this would instil fear in the hearts of the revolution.”
Southeast Asian MPs condemn executions of 4 political prisoners in Myanmar
The recent executions of four political prisoners at the hands of the illegal military junta in Myanmar is an act of judicial barbarism, Parliamentarians from Southeast Asia have denounced on Monday, after the state media announced that the death sentences have been carried out on an unspecified date at Insein Prison, in Yangon, reports AP.
“These executions are nothing but appalling acts of evil committed by a brutal junta that has shown no qualms about waging a war against the Myanmar population in order to cement its power. The global community, and all Asean members in particular, should take these cold-blooded assassinations as yet another wake up call on the true nature of the regime of terror that the Myanmar military is attempting to impose in the country,” said Eva Sundari, former member of the House of Representatives in Indonesia and Board Member of Asean Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR).
These death sentences should be viewed as an attempt by the Myanmar military to provide a veneer of legality to political assassination.
Yet it is evident that these sentences were handed without fairness, by military tribunals conducting trials lacking in any respect for due process, Asean Parliamentarians for Human Rights denounced.
“It is clear that these executions are made to strike fear among representatives of the democratic forces and political activists who oppose the junta. We believe that all those accused by the military junta are tried in secret, unfair and biased trials with no legal safeguards. Many political prisoners are subjected to torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, and now there are dozens of prisoners in Myanmar jails who could be executed at any moment,” said Tom Villarin, former Philippine MP and APHR Board Member.
“Not even the previous military regime, which ruled the country between 1988 and 2011, dared to carry out the death penalty against political prisoners. This means yet another increase in the junta’s brutality, which comes 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,” said Charles Santiago, Member of Parliament from Malaysia, and Asean Parliamentarians for Human Rights Chairperson.
The executions also serve as proof that the SAC led by Min Aung Hlaing has no intention to engage in any meaningful political dialogue with the pro-democracy forces led by the National Unity Government of Myanmar (NUG). Such a dialogue, one of the key points of the Five-Point Consensus agreed by Asean member states and Min Aung Hlaing’s junta in April 2021, has never materialized.
The Consensus also called for an immediate cessation of violence, something that the Myanmar military, which continues shelling villages and killing protesters, has also failed to implement.
“The junta’s contempt for the agreement it signed is clear, especially considering that the announcement of these executions comes two weeks after the Special Envoy of the Asean Chair to Myanmar, Cambodian Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn, visited the country. The Special Envoy, and Asean members, should condemn these executions, and seriously rethink their approach to the crisis in Myanmar. For starters, they should begin exerting pressure on the SAC with targeted sanctions and travel bans in the region in order to show Min Aung Hlaing and his men that they cannot commit their crimes with impunity,” said Kasit Piromya, former MP and Foreign Minister in Thailand, and Asean Parliamentarians for Human Rights Board Member.
