On 3 June, Zaw Min Tun, spokesperson of the military, announced that the convictions and death sentences imposed on four men had been approved by the State Administration Council, paving the way for the executions to be carried out in a matter of weeks.
Phyo Zeya Thaw, a former member of Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, and prominent democracy activist Kyaw Min Yu, also known as Ko Jimmy, were convicted of and sentenced to death by a military tribunal in January 2022 for offenses involving explosives, bombings and financing terrorism under the Anti-Terrorism Law – charges that our organizations believe to be politically motivated. Two other men, convicted of the murder of a woman believed to act as an informer for the military in Hlaing Tharyar Township in Yangon, also had their death sentences confirmed.
The proceedings against all men were secretive and grossly unfair, before a military-controlled court. Following the issuing of Martial Law Order 3/2021, [1] the military transferred the authority from civilian courts to special or existing military tribunals to try cases of civilians. These tribunals have been overseeing trials involving a wide range of offences including those punishable with the death penalty, through summary proceedings and without right to appeal.
The right to a fair trial, the key elements of which are set out in Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), is a fundamental human right and one of the universally applicable guarantees proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It has become legally binding on all states as part of customary international law. [2] Under international law and standards, executions carried out following unfair trials violate the prohibition against arbitrary deprivation of life, as well as the absolute prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment. [3]
Since February 2021, an alarming increase in the resort to the death penalty is being recorded in Myanmar, where the military is using the death penalty as a tool for ongoing and widespread persecution, intimidation and harassment of and violence against the population, including protesters and journalists. According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) documentation, at least 114 death sentences have been imposed since February 2021. All these death sentences were imposed by military tribunals or, in one case, a juvenile court on referral from a military tribunal. The reports indicated that at least 41 defendants were tried and convicted while not being present; some were imposed on people who were below 18 years of age at the time of the alleged offence or had a severe psycho-social disability, [4] in violation of a prohibition set out under international human rights and customary law. Available information indicates that the proceedings were summary, with the defendants unable to access legal representation.
It is alarming that the military authorities are taking steps to carry out Myanmar’s first known executions since the late 1980s. The resumption of executions in Myanmar, after more than three decades without any, would constitute a significant setback for the country’s death penalty and deeply concerning human rights record, and would be contrary to the stated goal of abolition of the death penalty set out in Article 6(6) of the ICCPR. Over the decades, the UN system has worked to limit the use of the death penalty and has repeatedly urged UN member states to remove it from national legislation. Among other instruments, since 2007 the UN General Assembly has adopted – with increased cross-regional support – eight resolutions calling for the establishment of a “moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty”. As of today, 144 countries, including Myanmar, are considered abolitionist in law or practice and the number of those repealing this punishment from national legislation has continued to grow – with Kazakhstan and Papua New Guinea completely abolishing the death penalty in 2022.
We oppose the death penalty unconditionally and we ask Myanmar’s military authorities to uphold their international obligations to promote and protect human rights, including by protecting the right to life, in all cases, and releasing immediately all those detained in relation to the exercise of their rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly.