Editor’s Note (updated 26/09/2024): In a previous version of this article, we reported allegations regarding two executions in Myanmar, based on statements from ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights and Forum Asia. Recent reports from The Irrawaddy suggest that these allegations may be part of a disinformation campaign by the Myanmar junta. We urge our readers to approach this information with caution.

FORUM-ASIA and ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) have strongly condemned the Myanmar military junta for the execution of pro-democracy activists Maung Kaung Htet and his wife, Chan Myae Thu, on 23 September 2024.

The couple was executed at 4:00 AM Myanmar time for their alleged involvement in the October 2022 Insein Prison bombing in Yangon. These executions are part of an escalating crackdown on dissent under the military’s rule.

Mary Aileen Diez-Bacalso, Executive Director of FORUM-ASIA, criticized the use of the death penalty as a tactic to instill fear and silence opposition, noting that the executions were carried out without due process. She called for immediate international action to hold the junta accountable for its ongoing human rights abuses.

Echoing these concerns, APHR also condemned the executions, expressing deep condolences to the families of the victims.

Mercy Chriesty Barends, Chairperson of APHR and a member of Indonesia’s House of Representatives, urged ASEAN foreign ministers to take a stronger stance. “Break the silence now. ASEAN foreign ministers must speak up against the SAC execution policy,” Barends said. She highlighted that Chan Myae Thu was the first woman executed by the junta since its February 2021 coup, according to the Women’s Peace Network.

APHR Board Member and Philippine parliamentarian Arlene D. Brosas voiced grave concerns about the death penalty being used to suppress dissent in Myanmar.

“We are gravely concerned that the death penalty is being used to silence persons with dissenting views in Myanmar,” she said, pointing to the broader implications for human rights in the country.

Both FORUM-ASIA and APHR expressed alarm over the junta’s plans to execute five more political prisoners—Kaung Pyae Sone Oo, Kyaw Win Soe, San Min Aung, Zayyar Phyo, and Myat Phyo Pwint—on 24 September 2024.

These individuals were sentenced to death in May 2023 following a closed-door civilian trial at Yangon’s Insein Prison. The five were accused of involvement in a 2021 shooting on the Yangon Circular Railway that resulted in the deaths of four police officers. APHR reported that these prisoners were subjected to brutal torture and sexual violence and denied access to legal counsel during their detention.

APHR Co-Chairperson and former Malaysian parliamentarian Charles Santiago called for immediate action. “This must stop. ASEAN foreign ministers must denounce such an unjust act. They must be united to push the SAC to terminate their execution and release them from prison,” Santiago urged.

The planned executions come amid a broader wave of repression in Myanmar. Since resuming executions in 2022 after a 40-year moratorium, the military junta has increasingly used the death penalty as a tool to suppress dissent.

That year, four pro-democracy activists were executed following convictions on terrorism charges, with their trials condemned for their lack of transparency and due process.

According to APHR, the military junta plans to execute over 120 more detainees in the coming weeks, many of whom are activists and human rights defenders.

APHR reports that 15 of those facing imminent execution are women human rights defenders. The organization highlighted the arrest and detention of more than 27,000 people since the junta seized power in February 2021, alongside allegations of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and even genocide committed by the junta.

As Myanmar’s crisis deepens, both FORUM-ASIA and APHR have called for the international community, particularly ASEAN, to step up efforts to end the impunity under which the junta operates.

Barends and Santiago emphasized that merely condemning the junta’s actions is no longer enough. There is an urgent need for concrete international measures to hold Myanmar’s State Administration Council (SAC) accountable and prevent further atrocities.

The Myanmar military has faced mounting criticism for its widespread human rights violations since the February 2021 coup, which toppled the democratically elected government.

The junta has cracked down violently on protests, arresting thousands of political opponents, activists, and civilians in what rights groups describe as a campaign of terror aimed at stifling all forms of dissent.

FORUM-ASIA and APHR’s calls for intervention focus on preventing further executions and ensuring that the international community holds the junta responsible for its human rights abuses.

Both organizations have stressed the importance of united action by ASEAN and global powers to prevent the Myanmar crisis from escalating further.

The ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) has called on Myanmar’s ruling State Administration Council (SAC) to immediately halt the scheduled execution of five democracy activists, set to take place on 24 September 2024.

The activists—Zaryaw Phyo (32), San Min Aung (24), Kyaw Win Soe (33), Kaung Pyae Sone Oo (27), and Myat Phyo Pwint—were sentenced to death in a closed-door hearing at Yangon’s Insein Prison on 18 May 2023.

They were convicted for their alleged involvement in a deadly shooting on a Yangon train in 2021, which resulted in the deaths of six police officers.

The attack occurred amid a national wave of armed resistance to the military coup that had taken place earlier in 2021.

The detainees were charged with murder and illegal weapons possession under several laws, including the 1949 Arms Act and the 2014 Counterterrorism Law.

According to Myanmar Now, the sentences were handed down by District Judge Khin Ni Ni Aye of Ahlone Township, where the attack took place nearly two years earlier.

The court sentenced Kaung Pyae Sone Oo to two death penalties under the Arms Act and terrorism charges, while the other defendants received one death sentence and one life sentence each.

APHR Chairperson Mercy Chriesty Barends, a member of Indonesia’s House of Representatives, condemned the verdicts, calling for the unconditional release of the detainees.

“We call upon the SAC to immediately release them and ensure that, pending their release, the detention conditions comply with international standards,” Barends said. She further stressed the importance of access to legal representation, medical care, and contact with family.

The activists’ death sentences were particularly concerning to APHR, as they were issued by the civilian judiciary, rather than a military court, marking the first such case since the military coup in 2021.

APHR Board Member Wong Chen, a Malaysian MP, called the use of the death penalty a means of stifling dissent. “The use of capital punishment as a tool to suppress dissent is unacceptable and must be condemned in the strongest terms,” he stated.

The group also drew attention to the fact that this sentencing comes at a time when more than 100 post-coup prisoners are currently on death row in Myanmar.

The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) reported that 117 individuals arrested following the 2021 coup await execution, and a further 42 have been sentenced to death in absentia. While the regime has commuted some sentences and pardoned political prisoners, the continued use of capital punishment signals a deepening crackdown on political opposition.

Kasit Piromya, APHR Board Member and former Thai MP, noted the broader implications of these sentences. “This marks the first instance of the civilian judiciary, rather than a military tribunal, issuing death sentences since the coup, signalling a disturbing shift in the judicial proceedings in Myanmar,” he said.

The upcoming execution has raised fears reminiscent of the August 2022 execution of four prominent anti-coup activists, including former National League for Democracy (NLD) MP Phyo Zeya Thaw, whose executions marked the first use of capital punishment in Myanmar in decades and sparked global outrage.

APHR Board Member Arlene D. Brosas, a Philippine MP, said that the SAC’s ongoing use of executions represents a “significant setback” in peace efforts.

“These executions show the absence of political will from the SAC to implement the ASEAN Five-Point Consensus meaningfully,” she added.

APHR continues to advocate for the unconditional release of all political prisoners in Myanmar and urges the international community to increase pressure on the SAC to cease its human rights violations.