US condemns Myanmar military's execution of pro-democracy officers
Myanmar, July 25: The United States have condemned the Myanmar military's execution of four pro-democracy leaders and elected officials for exercising their fundamental freedoms.
Myanmar's military reported the execution of four men in the country's first death sentences carried out in over three decades.
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US Embassy in Burma tweeted that, "We condemn the military regime's execution of pro-democracy leaders and elected officials for exercising their fundamental freedoms. We join the people of Myanmar in mourning the loss of Ko Jimmy, Phyo Zeya Thaw, Hla Myo Aung, and Aung Thura Zaw."
Earlier, a military tribunal sentenced Ko Jimmy and Phyo Zeya Thaw to death on January 21 under Myanmar's overbroad Counterterrorism Law of 2014, the group said. Hla Myo Aung and Aung Thura Zaw were convicted in April 2021 for allegedly killing a military informant.
"The Myanmar junta's execution of four men was an act of utter cruelty," said Elaine Pearson, acting Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "These executions, including of activist Ko Jimmy and opposition lawmaker Phyo Zeya Thaw, followed grossly unjust and politically motivated military trials. This horrific news was compounded by the junta's failure to notify the men's families.
"The junta's barbarity and callous disregard for human life aims to chill the anti-coup protest movement. European Union member states, the United States, and other governments should show the junta that there will be a reckoning for its crimes."
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As per the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the volatile situation in Myanmar following the February 01, 2021 coup has increased armed conflict and subsequent population displacement within and across borders.
-PTC News
