Activists in Nepal demonstrate at UN Office against execution of four prisoners in Myanmar

Human rights activists and advocates have demonstrated in front of the United Nations Nepal Office against the execution of four prisoners in military-ruled Myanmar.

Dozens of activists held banners and pamphlets decrying the recent execution of four Myanmar activists namely Phyo Zeya Thaw (former lawmaker), Ko Jimmy (writer and activist), Hla Myo Aung (writer and activist) and Aung Thura Zawor (writer and activist) accusing them of committing "terror acts".

"Burmese again have to lose democracy despite their ever-going fight and struggle to preserve it. More than four thousand have lost their lives since April this year, about eighteen thousand are imprisoned and one million already have been displaced out of which 70 per cent were displaced very recently. Activists from Nepal have one message to the people of Burma, that is- whatever your mode of a struggle it would be whether overt or covert continue it, victory at the end would be your," Kanak Mani Dixit, senior journalist and activist of Nepal said while addressing the event on Tuesday.

The military Junta in Myanmar announced the execution of four activists earlier in June drawing international condemnation. The Junta rose to the power in the wake of a 2021 military coup.

A military tribunal sentenced Ko Jimmy and Phyo Zeya Thaw to death on January 21 under Myanmar's overbroad Counterterrorism Law of 2014, the group said. Hla Myo Aung and Aung Thura Zaw were convicted in April 2021 for allegedly killing a military informant.

The volatile situation in Myanmar following the February 1, 2021 coup has increased armed conflict and subsequent population displacement within and across borders, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

The security situation continues to deteriorate in Southeast Myanmar with the intensification of armed clashes reported between the Tatmadaw and ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) or People's Defence Force (PDF) in several areas. The Military continues to deploy security forces and has increased the use of heavy artillery.

As of June 30, the total number of internally displaced people (IDPs) in Myanmar displaced since February 1, is 758,500, of whom 244,500 are in the southeast provinces - Kayah, Shan, Kayin, Mon States, and Tanintharyi and Bago regions. In Kayah State, more than 4,000 people were able to return to Loikaw and Demoso Townships.

Nevertheless, the security situation in Demoso Township continues to be unstable, with more than 2,000 people unable to return to their places of origin.

( With inputs from ANI )