The military junta ruling Myanmar announced the hangings of four political opponents on Sunday, marking the first executions in the country in nearly 50 years.
The four men executed had been convicted by the military-run government of directing and organizing “violent and inhuman accomplice acts of terrorist killings,” during the military’s takeover of the country, according to state-run media. Myanmar’s military seized power in February 2021 after ousting and arresting former leader Aung San Suu Kyi and cracking down on political opposition.
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“The Myanmar junta’s execution of four men was an act of utter cruelty,” said Elaine Pearson, acting Asia director at the nonprofit group Human Rights Watch, in a statement. “These executions, including of activist Ko Jimmy and opposition lawmaker Phyo Zeya Thaw, followed grossly unjust and politically motivated military trials. This horrific news was compounded by the junta’s failure to notify the men’s families, who learned about the executions through the junta’s media reports.”
The men put to death were Phyo Zeya Thaw, 41, a hip-hop artist turned democracy activist; Kyaw Min Yu, known as “Ko Jimmy,” 53, a longtime democratic activist; Hla Myo Aung; and Aung Thura Zaw, who along with Aung was convicted of torturing and killing a woman they allegedly believed to be a military informer.
The men “were convicted after closed trials that fell far short of international standards,” according to Human Rights Watch. The group also called Myannar’s counterterrorism law used to sentence the men “overbroad.”
“The junta’s barbarity and callous disregard for human life aims to chill the anti-coup protest movement,” Pearson said. “European Union member states, the United States, and other governments should show the junta that there will be a reckoning for its crimes. They should demand immediate measures, including the release of all political prisoners, and let the junta know the atrocities it commits have consequences.”
Last year’s coup has led to armed resistance and widespread fighting between pro-democracy activists and the military government.
Myanmar‘s deposed leader, Kyi, is being held in solitary confinement after being sentenced to 11 years in prison on corruption charges, according to the junta.
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The former Nobel Peace Prize laureate is still facing charges for crimes such as voter fraud, incitement, and other forms of corruption.
World leaders, including President Joe Biden, have condemned the coup and the resulting trials.
