The execution of four democracy activists in Myanmar by the country’s military leaders has triggered a chorus of condemnation from most leaders around the world.
The junta has killed 326 political prisoners since the military seized power in a coup on February 1 2020, but the executions of Kyaw Min Yu (aka Ko Jimmy), Phyo Zeya Thaw, Hla Myo Aung and Aung Thura Zaw are the first instances of capital punishment in Myanmar since the late 1980s.
It is believed more than 100 others are also on death row after similarly secret convictions. Human rights organisations are urging world leaders to act immediately. The UN issued a statement calling the executions “depraved”, and the National Unity Government of Myanmar (NUG) called on the global community to “punish their cruelty”.
Crikey looks at who has spoken out and who has kept quiet.
The foreign affairs ministers of Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, the Republic of Korea, the UK and the US joined the high representative of the European Union to issue a joint statement calling the executions “reprehensible acts of violence”.
Australia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong issued her own statement today. She said Australia was “appalled” and echoed the sentiments of Japan and others calling on the military to “cease violence”, release detainees, and “fulfil its commitments under the ASEAN five-point consensus”.
A number of key US figures also spoke out: “business as usual” with Myanmar was no more. The US said it would not rule out additional measures, including sanctions.
France and Germany also issued “strong” condemnation of the killings, calling for an “end to the violence perpetrated by the Burmese military regime”.
China’s foreign affairs ministry would not be drawn to comment, maintaining that “China always adheres to the principle of non-interference in other countries’ internal affairs”.
Last month Cambodian Prime Minister and chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Hun Sen, sent a letter to junta chief Min Aung Hlaing, urging him not to proceed with the executions. Neither Cambodia nor ASEAN has commented on the executions.
Russia has offered radio silence.
Is Australia still providing training and cooperation to the Myanmar military?
China doesnt say anything about interfering in other countries affairs. But that doesnt mean they dont do it. Just that they dont talk about it.
Crikey can do much better than this pathetic excuse for an “article”.
I notice not a word about India not “denouncing” Myanmar. Just the usual hatchet job against China and ASEAN.
ASEAN says Myanmar executions ‘highly reprehensible’
Phnom Penh (AFP) July 26, 2022
Myanmar’s execution of four prisoners, including a former member of Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, is “highly reprehensible,” said the chair of a regional bloc leading diplomatic efforts to resolve the post-coup crisis.
Cambodia, which currently heads the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), said the bloc was “extremely troubled and deeply saddened” by the executions — Myanmar’s first in decades.
In a statement issued Tuesday, it accused the junta of a “gross lack of will” to engage with ASEAN’s efforts to facilitate dialogue between the military and its opponents.
The statement also noted the executions had taken place “despite the personal appeal” of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen to halt proceedings.
The 10-nation bloc — of which Myanmar is a member — has led diplomatic efforts to end the chaos unleashed by last year’s putsch.
In April 2021 it reached a “Five-Point Consensus” with the junta which calls for a cessation of violence and “constructive dialogue”.
But violence has continued, with anti-junta groups clashing regularly with the military, which is accused of torching villages.
Divisions in ASEAN, long criticised as a toothless talking shop, have also complicated attempts to resolve the crisis, critics say.
Myanmar’s junta-appointed foreign minister has not been invited to the bloc’s foreign ministers’ meeting next week, according to Cambodian state media.
Myanmar remains isolated on the international stage, with Cambodia’s leader Hun Sen the only foreign head of state to visit since the putsch.
Since Myanmar’s coup, more than 2,100 people have been killed in the military crackdown on dissent, according to a local monitoring group.
“China always adheres to the principle of non-interference in other countries’ internal affairs.” No sense of irony here.
What irony? China doesn’t publicly make statements on events that occur in other countries that don’t impact them. Same with the ASEAN Nations. It’s called minding your own business.
I think he might mean that the deceit of total espionage is sort of like the deceit of diplomacy, multiplied. But ignoring that subtle point of categories and degrees and Aristotelian good taste, what about just not discouraging people from discouraging people from killing people for taking political risks? It just makes politics less savoury. No fun, huh?
Espionage? Pretty certain that China does no more or less than any Western Country in that area. My point is what about India? What about all the other nations that have said diddly squat? Asian culture is very much “mind your own business”. It is not the Western “Everything that goes on in another country is my business”. Sorry but it’s the usual cheap shots and I expect better from Crikey.
It’s the new game for Anglo whities – never waste an opportunity to selectively demonise the yellow people now that they’re threatening Anglo exceptionalism.