As part of this week’s amnesty for over 2,000 political prisoners, Myanmar’s military commuted the death sentences of 38 people. The country’s human rights commission said it was “deeply delighted” at the decision to reduce the death penalty to life imprisonment, as well as the release of individuals incarcerated for opposing the coup. “The Commission hopes that similar positive steps will be continued in future,” the Human Right Commission disclosed in a statement.
It did not go into detail on the situation of the prisoners who had their sentences overturned. Myanmar’s military, which seized control from the elected government in February 2021, has used ruthless aggressions against individuals opposed to its authority, in a vain attempt to thwart huge protests that have evolved into an armed insurgency.
Many citizens have joined the People’s Defense Forces, which were formed by the National Unity Government of elected legislators ousted by the generals, with some working alongside long-established ethnic armed organizations.
The Assistance Association for Political detainees, a group that has been following the crackdown, has said, there are currently 112 post-coup detainees on execution row.
Last July, the world watched in shock, as the generals executed four renowned political activists. This was the country’s first use of capital punishment since the 1980s. Phyo Zeya Thaw, a close supporter of now-incarcerated civilian leader, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, was among the four men assassinated.
Dissidents are convicted behind closed doors in secretive military-run courts, which rights groups claim violate international due process and fair trial standards. According to Human Rights Watch, convictions are usually based on confessions obtained through torture and other forms of ill-treatment.
Moreover, a military tribunal sentenced seven university students to death by hanging in November for the murder of a retired military officer in Yangon. Three more individuals were condemned to death in the same month for the murder of a municipal official. Human Rights Watch later appealed for the sentences to be mitigated in a statement.
Rohingya Delegation Visits Myanmar Amid Latest Repatriation Plans
On the other hand, a Rohingya refugee delegation has arrived in Myanmar to visit new facilities built to restart a long-stalled effort to return the persecuted minority to their homeland. Bangladeshi officials disclosed that, 20 Rohingya and seven officials, including a border guard officer, were inspecting two model communities built for the piloted return project.
“We departed from Teknaf jetty with 20 Rohingya members, including three women,” Bangladesh’s deputy refugee commissioner, Mohammed Khalid Hossain, claimed. “They will see the various facilities created for the purpose of repatriation to Myanmar,” he added as their vessel left the river port for neighboring Maungdaw Township in Myanmar’s Rakhine state.
Around a million Rohingya live in Bangladesh, the majority of them fled a 2017 military crackdown in neighboring Myanmar, which has since become the subject of a UN genocide investigation. Both countries agreed to return the refugees later that year, but little progress has been achieved thereafter, and the UN has repeatedly warned that the conditions for their repatriation are not favorable.
Since the idea became public knowledge in March, Rohingya refugees, who have spent nearly six years living in overcrowded and filthy camps in Bangladesh, have been continuously nervous and wary of it.
Many people are worried that none of their issues about security or the recognition of their right to citizenship in the Southeast Asian country have been addressed. “Why will we be sent to Myanmar without citizenship,” a refugee, who is part of the visiting delegates said.
READ ALSO: England’s Local Elections
