Myanmar citizens at home and abroad are furious over the shocking brutal “murder-by-execution” of four political prisoners over the weekend by the Myanmar junta.

The Military Council on Saturday executed prominent democracy activists Kyaw Min Yu also known as Jimmy and Phyo Zayar Thaw, and Hla Myo Aung and Aung Thura Zaw, under what the junta says are the relevant sections of the Counter Terrorism law and the Penal Code. The news was released through junta news agencies on 25 July.

This was “murder most foul” as the families were not informed and were misled, and many citizens had hoped the death sentences – initially announced in January – would not actually be carried out.

On 22 July, the Military Council allowed the family members of Jimmy and Phyo Zaya Thaw to meet them but without them being aware of what was to come. They then quietly went ahead with the hangings and cremation of the bodies, breaking judicial and prison rules.

The family members of the deceased did not know about the executions and they are now demanding to get back the bodies at Insein Prison, with prison staff verifying that the executions are true, but refusing to disclose when and where the executions were carried out.

The actions of the Myanmar generals cement their place as the most brutal South East Asian regime since the horror of Cambodia’s Pol Pot, as one Western diplomat suggests, and will likely ratchet up violence in the country as the resistance forces redouble their efforts to oust the junta. The execution of prominent democracy activists is the latest attempt by the military regime and coup leader Min Aung Hlaing to instill fear among those who oppose the military coup. While Jimmy was a well-known democracy activist and a representative of the 88 Generation, leading the nationwide protest in 1988, Phyo Zayar Thaw was an elected Member of Parliament from the 2015 and 2020 elections and a close aid of State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi.

Myanmar citizens and politicians, together with foreign governments, are in uproar over the events that are viewed as another nail in the coffin of democracy, following the 2021 military coup and the charges

brought against a host of political players including the country’s wrongfully-imprisoned civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Protests erupted in Insein Prison amongst inmates when the news was released.

UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar Tom Andrews called on the UN Security Council to convene to pass a strong resolution of not only condemnation, but clear strategic action, sanctions, economic sanctions and an arms embargo and to refer the case to the International Criminal Court.

In an interview with the media, he called for more support for the humanitarian response, which was just 10 per cent funded, and more coordinated engagement with the “shadow government” in Myanmar, the National Unity Government (NUG), which is leading efforts to undermine the junta.

The alliance of pro-democracy forces and armed ethnic organizations, namely the National Unity Government (NUG), the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), Karen National Union (KNU), Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP), Chin National Front (CNF), the National League for Democracy (NLD), and the All Burma Students Democratic Front (ABSDF), issued a joint statement on 26 July 2022 terming the execution as “one more crime committed by the fascist regime which cannot be forgiven”. They together are resolute to root out the military junta once and for all through all political, military, diplomatic, administrative and other means.

NUG’s Union Minister for Human Rights Aung Myo Min took the junta to task: "This case is not even a death sentence; it is a murder case in prison. It is a crime of killing people who oppose the military dictatorship under the pretext of the death penalty. Therefore, I condemn it in the strongest possible terms.”

As Mizzima provides our deepest condolences to the family members and friends of the deceased, we are reminded that the executions are yet another example of the military misrule that has dogged Myanmar for decades.

The latest black mark against the Myanmar generals shows once again that true democracy is the only acceptable future – do or die. The international community needs to effectively encourage and support the Myanmar people who are fighting against the military dictators to preserve and protect democracy.