Myanmar junta slams international condemnation of opponents’ execution
Bangkok, Jul 27 (EFE).- Myanmar’s military junta Wednesday rejected “in the strongest terms” the international condemnation of the execution of four opponents of the regime.
“Countries and international organizations should practice and strictly adhere to the fundamental principles of respecting the sovereignty, equality and non-interference in the internal affairs of other states,” the country’s foreign ministry said.
The statement was published by the country’s official newspaper, The Global New Light of Myanmar, controlled by the military that seized power in a coup on Feb. 1, 2021.
The junta said the four executed, including Phyo Zeyar Thaw, a lawmaker from ousted Democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy and former hip-hop artist, and activist Kyaw Min Yu, had been found guilty of “masterminding, arranging and committing brutal and inhumane terror acts and murders which have resulted in the deaths of many innocent civilians.”
The regime said the four opponents, linked to the resistance movement against the junta, were prosecuted in accordance with the country’s laws “with a view to maintaining the rule of law and peace and stability of the State as well as ensuring public safety.”
The response of Myanmar’ junta, whose coup has been met with strong rejection by the population and has plunged the country into chaos, comes after many countries and organizations condemned the use of the death penalty on Monday, for the first time since 1988.
The United States described the executions as ”an affront to the human rights of the Burmese people” while the European Union called them “a further blatant violation of human rights in Myanmar” and the United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres said they “mark a further deterioration of the already dire human rights environment in Myanmar.”
The military coup plunged Myanmar into a deep political, social and economic crisis, while triggering a spiral of violence with the formation of new civilian militias that have exacerbated decades of guerrilla warfare.
A total of 117 death sentences have been handed down since the military coup, according to the nonprofit Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. EFE
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