It was the recent execution of four prisoners that prompted people to revive the protest, regardless. Phyo Zeya Thaw, a rapper and former lawmaker from Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, and prominent democracy activist Kyaw Min Yu, known as Jimmy, were among the dead. They were convicted under anti-terror laws in January. The Guardian spoke to anti-Junta figures in Myanmar and in exile abroad about their executions, which have drawn condemnation from around the world and horror in Myanmar. The people of Myanmar are already well aware of the junta’s brutality, said Salai Za Uk Ling, deputy executive director of the Chin Human Rights Organization, which has documented atrocities, including the burning of homes and the slaughter of civilians, since the coup. However, the brazenness of the executions was shocking, he added. “In such a public display of brutality, I don’t know what excuse they would give,” he said, adding that it shows how the junta doesn’t seem to care about its international reputation. Thet Swe Win, a 36-year-old human rights activist and executive director of Synergy, an organization that tries to promote social harmony in Myanmar, said he feared there could now be a wave of executions. Dozens more prisoners have been sentenced to death. “This is similar to the first bullet they fired at Mya Thwate Thwate Khaing,” he said, referring to the first protester killed by the military since the coup last year. “Then they killed many protesters during the crackdown.” More than 2,100 people have been killed by the junta and 11,759 remain in custody, according to the advocacy group Association for the Assistance of Burma Political Prisoners (AAPP), which monitors arrests and killings. Ei Ei Moe, 33, is a member of Generation Wave, a movement co-founded by Phyo Zeya Thaw, whom she knew personally. He said he always wanted the world to remain united. “I couldn’t even cry when I heard about the execution, I was suffocated in my heart. I did not know what to do. I still believe he is still with us. As long as social media has his pictures, it was more unbelievable to me,” he said. Phyo Zeya Thaw was among the first generation of rappers in Myanmar whose music – and coded criticisms of the previous military regime – resonated with young listeners. He later became an MP. Observers say the executions are a further attempt to crush an opposition that has remained defiant even in the face of a crackdown that the UN rights agency has said may amount to war crimes. But activists say they are undeterred. “This generation will not be afraid. If they killed one Zeya Thaw, there will be countless numbers of Zeya Thaw,” Ei Ei Moe said. Anti-junta protests must be short so that protesters avoid arrest. Photo: Lu Nge Khit/Reuters Activist Ella Chris described Kyaw Min Yu, who emerged as a student leader during the 1988 uprising against the previous military regime, as “an idol for the younger pro-democracy generation”. Before the coup, Ella Chris was an avid cyclist who posted exercise videos on social media in between her work on gender equality and land rights. Like many who took part in anti-coup protests, she was forced to flee her home. “But we are not afraid,” he said. Myanmar’s military junta, which seized power in a coup in February 2021, has struggled to maintain control of the country. It faces both peaceful protest movements and resistance supported by many armed ethnic groups. Some of these powerful ethnic groups condemned the executions, including the Arakan Army and a representative of the Kachin Independence Army, who both called the killings a “senseless” act that harmed the prospect of negotiations. In eastern Myanmar, the Karenni National Defense Force has vowed to fight back against the “war crime”. A Yangon-based group of resistance fighters under the national unity government, formed in exile by elected politicians, representatives of ethnic minorities and activists, also vowed to avenge their deaths. On Monday, rebels in Yangon and Mandalay launched attacks on junta targets, while a flash protest in Yangon displayed a poster reading “we are never afraid” before quickly dispersing to avoid arrest. While many have been driven to join armed resistance groups that use whatever weapons they can get their hands on to fight the junta, others continue to find ways to hold peaceful protests. In urban areas, these are flash mobs that last just a few minutes but must be meticulously planned months in advance, with preparations for the possibility of arrest, said Thinzar Shunlei Yi, a prominent anti-coup activist. “Do we have enough safe houses to relocate to, do we have enough information to close our Facebook accounts and cut off all communication immediately? Because once a person is arrested, then each of us has to move.” Activists continue even though they know they are risking their lives, he added. “Not only our lives, but it could also cost the lives of our families, the lives of our friends,” he said. Even a critical comment on Facebook is risky. Sut Seng Htoi, an activist in Kachin, northern Myanmar, questioned the international response as the junta said it would carry out the executions. “I wonder why they didn’t take any action,” he said. “It made me even more distrustful of the international community and the UN,” echoing the sentiments of many who believe the international community has failed Myanmar. Thet Swe Win, said the international community “must take tangible actions instead of issuing statements on lost paper.” He added: “We do not forget and we do not forgive. We will continue to fight, even if no one helps us.”
