US denounces execution of 4 pro-democracy activists in Myanmar

WASHINGTON

The US secretary of state sharply on Monday denounced the execution of four pro-democracy activists in Myanmar, accusing the junta of attempting to send a chilling message to those seeking the restoration of the country's ousted civilian government.

"These reprehensible acts of violence further exemplify the regime’s complete disregard for human rights and the rule of law," Antony Blinken said in a statement.

"The regime’s sham trials and these executions are blatant attempts to extinguish democracy; these actions will never suppress the spirit of the brave people of Burma,” he added, using an older name for Myanmar.

“The United States joins the people of Burma in their pursuit of freedom and democracy and calls on the regime to respect the democratic aspirations of the people.”

The executions were carried out over the weekend, and the military regime denied bodies to their families, according to a local news website, adding that Kyaw Min Yu, better known as Ko Jimmy, former lawmaker Phyo Zayar Thaw, Hla Myo Aung, and Aung Thura Zaw were arrested last year.

According to Myanmar's junta mouthpiece Global New Light, the four were charged over "brutal murdering cases."

The killings mark the first executions that Myanmar has carried out since the 1980s.

Buddhist-majority Myanmar’s history is replete with junta regimes.

The latest coup, launched in February 2021, has been met with mass civil unrest. The military has used force in its attempts to quell dissent and killed more than 2,000 people, according to a local monitor, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.

The UN estimates that more than 700,000 people have been internally displaced in the country as of June 1, including more than 250,000 children.

Around 117 people have been sentenced to death by the junta since last year’s military coup, including 41 who were sentenced in absentia.