On July 25, 2022, the military junta of Myanmar executed four people. This was the country’s first death sentences in more than 30 years. The men who were put to death were Phyo Zeya Thaw (41), Kyaw Min Yu, also known as “Ko Jimmy,” (53), Hla Myo Aung and Aung Thura Zaw. They were activists for democracy and human rights. They were all convicted in closed trials which did not adhere to international legal standards.
Ko Jimmy and Phyo Zeya Thaw were sentenced to death by a military tribunal on January 21 under Myanmar’s overbroad Counterterrorism Law of 2014. The other two people, Hla Myo Aung and Aung Thura Zaw were convicted in April of 2021 for the alleged killing of a military informant.
The Coalition for Human Rights & Democracy in Bangladesh is firmly in opposition of any capital punishment in any country. The death penalty is a cruel and unusual form of punishment which is inhumane, disrespectful of human life and in clear violation of human rights laws. CHRD Bangladesh considers the Myanmar junta’s execution of these four people atrocious and politically motivated. The families of the deceased were not even informed and learned of the executions through media reports.
CHRD Bangladesh believes that this execution may set a dangerous precedent in Myanmar and sincerely thanks the US State Department for issuing a statement of condemnation. CHRD Bangladesh also strongly urges the governments of the United States and the European Union to hold the Myanmar junta responsible for its crimes.