After a military court sentenced seven students to death at the University of Dagon in Myanmar, human rights organization Altsean-Burma is calling for a halt to all executions in the country. “This must end immediately,” the group wrote on Twitter yesterday. According to human rights activists, the sentences imposed a few days ago will be carried out on Wednesday.
Death sentences as a “political tool” against the opposition
At the weekend, UN Human Rights Commissioner Volker Türk accused the military junta of using death sentences as a “political tool” against the opposition. “The military continues to conduct proceedings before secret courts, which violates the basic principles of fair trials,” said the Austrian expert. He also called for a halt to all executions.
Students at Dagon University had already protested draconian punishments for their fellow students on Thursday. “We do not accept the decision of the courts, which are the pillars of the terrorist military,” he said on the Facebook page of the University of Dagon student union. The penalties now imposed would target innocent people.
The junta executed four prominent democracy activists in July, lifting a decades-old moratorium on the death penalty. According to information from human rights organizations, there are currently 139 opponents of the junta sentenced to death in the country’s prisons.