High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell has strongly condemned the execution of four political opponents in Myanmar on 25 July.
The four people executed were accused of organising and conducting acts of terrorism. These individuals were former Burmese MP Phyo Zeya Thaw, who was a member of the National League for Democracy party; activist Kyaw Min Yu, better known as Ko Jimmy, who was part of the pro-democracy “88 Generation Students Group”; and two other men, Hla Myo Aung and Aung Thura Zaw, who were both accused of killing an alleged informant for the military junta.
These are the first executions to take place in Myanmar—which suffered a coup in February 2021 (see EUROPE 12648/4)—since the late 1980s.
Josep Borrell stated that the EU expresses its sincere condolences to the families and friends of the victims. “The executions are reprehensible acts that show that the military authorities have no respect for the life or dignity of the very people they are supposed to protect,” he pointed out. He added that the EU stands with the Burmese people and their aspirations for freedom. The EU “urges the military regime to end all acts of violence without further delay and calls for the unconditional and immediate release of all those arbitrarily detained, as well as to return to a democratic path.”
Since 1 February 2021, the EU has imposed several sets of sanctions on Burmese officials (see EUROPE 12895/3). However, the country is still one of the beneficiaries of the ‘Everything But Arms’ Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) for its exports to the EU.
Josep Borrell also signed a joint statement condemning the executions alongside the foreign ministers of Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)