JAKARTA: The executions of four political prisoners by the military junta in Myanmar is an act of judicial barbarism, ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) said Monday after the state media announced that the death sentences have been carried out on an unspecified date at Insein Prison, in Yangon.
The execution of the four men - Phyo Zeya Thaw, former lawmaker for the National League for Democracy (NLD); the prominent activist Kyaw Min Yu, widely known as ‘Ko Jimmy’; Aung Thura Zaw; and Hla Myo Aung - who were all charged under anti-terrorism laws, were the first known judicial executions in Myanmar since 1988, according to Amnesty International, which hitherto has considered the country as “Abolitionist in Practice”.
The executions which shocked the world were widely reported and drew international condemnation.
APHR in a statement issued to denounce the execution said the act should be viewed as an attempt by the Myanmar military to provide a veneer of legality for political assassination.
“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 APHR in the same statement.
The statement also quoted Tom Villarin, former Philippine MP and APHR Board Member who in concurring with Eva Sundari said all those accused by the military junta were 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,” he said.
Meanwhile, Malaysian Member of Parliament Charles Santiago who is also APHR Chairman said the latest development indicated 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 the junta from committing further atrocities.
According to the statement, the execution also served 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 materialised.
“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 APHR Board Member.
Citing the Myanmar group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), it said that as of July 22 there were 76 prisoners in Myanmar sentenced to death, including two children, while 41 people have been given the death penalty in absentia.
Since the coup on Feb 1, 2021, at least 2114 people have been killed by the self-styled State Administration Council (SAC), led by General Min Aung Hlaing, in its campaign to suppress the widespread opposition to military rule. – Bernama
Eva Sundari
