Myanmar junta death sentences are ‘war crimes’ and junta bears responsibility

20 June 2022
Myanmar junta death sentences are ‘war crimes’ and junta bears responsibility

If pro-democracy activists Jimmy (aka) Ko Kyaw Min Yu and MP Phyo Zaya Thaw, Hla Myo Aung and Aung Thura Zaw are sentenced  to death, the Myanmar junta will be responsible for any consequences, the General Strike Coordination Body (GSCB) said in a statement last week.

On 3 June, the death sentences of Jimmy (aka) Kyaw Min Yu, Phyo Zaya Thaw, Hla Myo Aung and Aung Thura Zaw were upheld according to the military’s media outlets.

“If the junta continues to commit such war crimes across the nation, including sentencing the anti-military activists, it should be noted with this statement that any impact on the regime's collaborators is the sole responsibility of the military,” the GSCB activist group said in their statement on 15 June.

The GSCB says the such an unjust act would be a violation of both the law of Myanmar and the international code of conduct.

After the Military Council established a Martial Law tribunal, the four people were sentenced to death, including Ko Jimmy and Phyo Zaya Thaw.

After the GSCB released the information, local news media reported Ko Jimmy and Phyo Zaya Thaw would be hung in Insein prison on 16 June.

This turned out to be misinformation.

If this process goes ahead, this will be the first judicial executions since 1990 in Myanmar.

The Military Council has not released a date for the executions.