Military junta executed four prisoners, two of them opposition politicians, in what was the first use of the death penalty in more than three decades.
The non-governmental organization (NGO) Human Rights Watch said this Monday that the execution by the military junta in Myanmar (formerly Burma) of four prisoners, two of them opposition politicians, is “an act of the utmost cruelty”.
“The European Union, the United States and other governments must show the junta that they will be held accountable for their crimes,” said the NGO’s Asia director.
The military junta executed four prisoners, two of them opposition politicians, the first use of the death penalty in more than three decades, the official press reported on Monday.
In a brief note published by the military-controlled National Agency of Myanmar, military officials confirm that “the punishment was carried out” by hanging, without specifying when.
Among those executed were former deputy Phyo Zeyar Thaw of the National League for Democracy and activist Ko Jimmy, convicted in January of terrorism charges following activities against the junta.
The other two are Hla Myo Aung and Aung Thura Zaw, accused of killing a woman for allegedly being an informant for the military.
“Extremely shocked and saddened to read the news of the execution of four pro-democracy activists,” wrote the self-styled Government of National Unity on Twitter, which opposes the military, appealing to the United Nations, the European Union and the bloc of countries. from Southeast Asia to “punish the junta for its cruelty and murders”.
The military regime, which took control of the country in a coup on 1 February 2021, announced in early June that it would resume capital punishment.
The initiative was condemned by several countries, including France, the United States and Canada, as well as the United Nations and hundreds of local and international non-governmental organizations.
The last execution in Burma took place in 1988, under the former military junta that ruled the country from 1962 to 2011, according to Amnesty International.
Since the military uprising, 113 people have been sentenced to death in a country that had not repealed the sentence, but where convicts saw their sentences exchanged for time in prison, following the traditional pardons granted by the authorities on special dates.
The coup plunged the country into a deep political, social and economic crisis, and unleashed a spiral of violence with new civilian militias.
More than 2,000 civilians were killed as a result of a brutal crackdown by police and soldiers, who fired on peaceful, unarmed protesters, according to data compiled by the Association for Assistance to Political Prisoners, which does not count deaths during clashes. armed forces or fatalities linked to the military regime.
