ASEAN says ‘extremely troubled’ over executions by Myanmar junta

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) – The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Tuesday said it is “extremely troubled” and “deeply saddened” over the executions carried out by the military junta in Myanmar.

The execution of four opposition activists, including Phyo Zeyar Thaw, Kyaw Min Yu, Hla Myo Aung, and Aung Thura Zaw, were carried out “despite the personal appeal” by Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen in his capacity as the ASEAN chair, a statement by Sen’s office said.

Other ASEAN member states as well had urged Myanmar to reconsider the execution, the statement added.

The military junta in Myanmar executed four people over the weekend, including top political activists, a spokesperson for the regime had said on Monday.

All four activists were arrested last year and the junta charged them with “brutal murdering cases” on March 14, 2021.

“This is an issue that ASEAN takes seriously,” Sen said.

Cambodia is the current chair of the Southeast Asian regional grouping of which Myanmar is also a member.

“While the complexity of the crisis is well recognized and the extreme bellicose mood can be felt from all corners of Myanmar, ASEAN as a whole has called for utmost restraint, patience, and efforts to avoid escalating the situation,” Sen said.

Expressing regret at the execution, just a week before the 55th ASEAN ministerial meeting, he described it as “highly reprehensible as it created a setback to and presented a gross lack of will to support the efforts, particularly by the ASEAN Chair, in expediting progress on the implementation of the Five-Point Consensus (5PC).”

The ASEAN had issued 5PC to normalize the political situation in the country after the junta launched a military coup last year in February.

It included building trust and confidence to engender a dialogue among all parties concerned, end violence, and alleviate the suffering of the people.

“ASEAN remains committed to the principles of the ASEAN Charter and the mandate of the 5PC,” Sen said.

He added ASEAN remains “resolved to assist Myanmar’s return to normalcy and democratic transition and to find a peaceful political solution to the current crisis through inclusive dialogue that is Myanmar-led and Myanmar-owned, in line with the 5PC and the ASEAN Charter.”

“This is urgently needed to prevent further loss of lives and end the suffering of the people of Myanmar,” the ASEAN chair said.

It is for the first time since the 1980s that Myanmar has carried out executions.

The four slain prisoners were only allowed to meet their families at the Insein Prison in Yangon last Friday through a video link.

Buddhist-majority Myanmar’s history is replete with junta regimes.

The latest coup, mounted last year in February, has been met with mass civil unrest. The military has used force in its attempts to quell dissent and killed more than 2,000 people, according to a local monitor Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.

The UN estimates that more than 700,000 people were internally displaced in the country as of June 1, including more than 250,000 children.

Around 117 people have been sentenced to death by the junta since last year’s military coup, including 41 who were sentenced in absentia.