The military junta in power in Burma has taken a new step in repression. State media announced on Monday, July 25, the execution of four prisoners, including two opposition figures, without specifying on what date they took place. They had been sentenced for ‘brutal and inhumane acts of terror’, according to the state newspaper Global New Light of Myanmar. Capital punishment had not been applied in the country since 1988.
One of the people whose execution has been announced is Phyo Zeya Thaw. This pioneer of hip-hop in Burma, known for his lyrics criticizing the army, was elected MP in 2015, for the party of former president Aung San Suu Kyi, during the transition from the former military power to a government civil. The junta accused him of orchestrating several attacks, including one against a train in Yangon in August 2021, in which five police officers were killed.
The regime also says it executed Kyaw Min Yu, known as “Jimmy”, a writer and longtime opponent of the military, famous for his role in the 1988 student uprising against the then junta. The other two prisoners executed are two men accused of killing a woman they suspected of being a junta informant.
“These perverse acts must mark a turning point for the international community”reacted the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Burma, Tom Andrews, on Twitter. The United States and Japan have also condemned these executions, as well as the NGO Human Rights Watch.
Since the military coup of February 1, 2021, dozens of opponents of the junta have been sentenced to death, but no executions have taken place so far. Former leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, 77, faces multiple charges that could land her up to 150 years in prison in total.