Myanmar executes four pro-democracy activists

Myanmar’s military said on Monday it had executed four pro-democracy activists accused of helping carry out “terrorist acts”, prompting widespread condemnation of the Southeast Asian country’s first executions in decades.

The four men, who were sentenced to death in secret court sessions in January and April, were accused of helping fighters fight the army that seized power in a coup last year and launched a bloody crackdown on opponents.

The Government of National Unity, a shadow government, banned by the junta, condemned the executions and called for international action against the junta.

“We condemn, and are deeply saddened, the brutality of the military council,” Kyaw Zaw, a spokesman for the National Unity Prime Minister’s office, told Reuters in a message. “The international community must punish them for this brutality.”

Among the executed men were democracy advocate Kyaw Min Yew and former lawmaker and hip-hop artist Phyo Zia Tho, the media said. Kyaw Min Yu, 53, and Phew Zia Thao, 41, lost appeals of their sentences in June.

Hla Myo Aung and Aung Thora Zaw were also executed. “These executions amount to arbitrary deprivation of life and are yet another example of Myanmar’s hideous human rights record,” said Erwin van der Burgt, Amnesty International’s regional director.

“The four men were convicted by a military court in very secret and very unfair trials… The international community must take immediate action as it is believed that more than 100 people are on death row after being convicted in similar trials,” he added.

Thazin Nyunt Ong, the wife of Phyo Zia Tho, said she was not informed of her husband’s execution.

It was not immediately possible to contact other relatives of those executed.

The men were being held in the colonial-era Insein prison, and a person familiar with the events said their families visited them last Friday.

The source added that only one relative was allowed to speak to each detainee via an online platform.

State media reported the executions on Monday, and junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun later confirmed the sentences to Voice of Myanmar Radio. Neither of them gave details of the timing.

“My heart goes out to their families, friends, loved ones and all the people of Myanmar who are victims of the junta’s brutal escalation,” Tom Andrios, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, said in a statement.