YANGON: Myanmar’s military defended amid global outrage on Tuesday the execution of four democracy activists, saying it was carried out in the name of justice.
The activists were sentenced to death during closed-door trials earlier this year on charges of helping a civilian resistance movement against the military junta, which seized power in February 2021 and launched a bloody crackdown on those protesting its rule.
State-run media reported that the four people executed on Monday included democracy campaigner Kyaw Min Yu, also known as Ko Jimmy, and Phyo Zeya Thaw, a hip-hop artist and former lawmaker from the opposition National League for Democracy party.
It was Myanmar’s first official use of capital punishment in decades.
“This was justice for the people. These criminals were given the chance to defend themselves,” military spokesperson Zaw Min Tun said in a televised news briefing.
“The four men killed innocent people although they are said to be activists for democracy. We dismissed all appeals. They deserved the death sentence.”
Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government called for, “decisive international action,” as the executions drew widespread international outrage and condemnation from world leaders.
“The UN Security Council must urgently convene a plenary session on Myanmar,” the NUG said in a statement.
“The Security Council’s previous statements, which called for the release of political prisoners and respect for the rule of law, have not only failed but have provoked a continuing escalation by the junta.”
UN special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, Tom Andrews, said the executions, “must be a turning point for the international community.”
He added: “What more must the junta do before the international community is willing to take strong action?”
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, of which Myanmar is a member, said in statement that, “the implementation of the death sentences just a week before the 55th ASEAN ministerial meeting is highly reprehensible” and was a setback that “presents a gross lack of will to support” efforts made by the block to end the crisis.
ASEAN and Myanmar, which has been a member of the group since 1997, agreed in April 2021 to a five-point consensus to end the violence triggered by the military coup, but the measures have not been implemented.
The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a non-governmental organization that tracks killings and arrests, said last week that more than 2,000 civilians had been killed by Myanmar security forces since the military takeover.
