Yangon, June 8 — A coalition of 199 Myanmar and international organizations condemned the military’s attempt to execute four prominent democracy activists, including Ko Jimmy and Ko Phyo Zeya Thaw, calling for the immediate cancellation of the planned executions. These activists, involved in Myanmar’s pro-democracy movement, have been the target of international appeals to halt their sentencing.
Among the four are two well-known democracy advocates and former members of civil society, as well as two parliamentarians from Aung San Suu Kyi’s party. The military junta, which has controlled Myanmar since a coup in 2021, has declared its intention to carry out the first death sentences in the country in decades.
The junta’s plans to execute the four activists—Ko Jimmy, also known as Kyaw Min Yu, and former National League for Democracy (NLD) lawmaker Phyo Zeya Thaw—have been met with significant outcry. The activists have been denied a fair trial, and their convictions are seen as politically motivated.
“The first issue is that the military court stripped away their legal rights to defend themselves, meaning it wasn’t a fair trial,” said U Min Lwin Oo, a Myanmar legal expert based in Norway. “They lost the right to legal counsel during the appeal process. Normally, an appeal against a death sentence takes three to five years. Yet here, they rushed the process. The execution date hasn’t been set yet,” he added.
Should the executions proceed, Ko Jimmy, Phyo Zeya Thaw, Hla Myo Aung, and Aung Thura Zaw would become the first political opponents to face capital punishment in Myanmar in recent history.
Phil Robertson, Deputy Director of Human Rights Watch, expressed deep concern, stating, “The junta’s decision to execute two prominent political leaders will pour gasoline on the already blazing anti-military resistance in the country.”
United Nations spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said, “We are gravely concerned by the junta’s decision to execute two democracy activists. It constitutes a blatant violation of Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which protects the right to life, liberty, and security of a person.”
Since the coup, the military has committed widespread violence across Myanmar, including the killing of over 2,000 people and the arrest of tens of thousands, many of whom are women and children. The junta has targeted civilians, burned villages, carried out sexual violence, and restricted humanitarian aid to the more than 880,000 internally displaced people.
The 199 organizations have demanded the immediate release of all political prisoners, an end to the death penalty, and the cessation of violence, urging the restoration of true democracy in Myanmar.
