(Reuters) – A United Nations fact-finding team in Myanmar is closely monitoring reports that executions could be imminent in the country, the team’s head said on Monday, saying such a move could amount to a crime against humanity.
The Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar, which was established in 2018 to analyse evidence of serious violations of international law, said it had received information that several people sentenced to death in closed trials last year could be executed soon.
Myanmar’s secretive military government has made no announcement about possible executions and did not respond to requests for comment from Reuters.
The organization did not provide further clarification on the information received, nor did it provide details about who might be executed.
“Imposing the death penalty, or even a period of imprisonment, based on procedures that do not meet the basic requirements of a fair trial may constitute one or more crimes against humanity or war crimes,” Nicholas Koumjian, head of the Geneva-based organization, said in a statement.
“The mechanism shall monitor and collect information on cases against these persons and others involving the imposition of the death penalty in circumstances that could violate fundamental guarantees of a fair trial.”
The junta was widely condemned in 2022 when it executed four pro-democracy activists for supporting “acts of terror” by a resistance movement, the first executions in the country in decades.
The military at the time defended the resumption of executions, calling it “justice for the people” and brushing aside international outrage, including from its neighbors. It said those executed had received a fair trial and were not activists but murderers who deserved punishment.
Myanmar is in the midst of a civil war between the military on one side and resistance groups allied with settled ethnic minorities who pose a major challenge to the military’s rule.
The military government has stepped up killings and arrests in an effort to silence opponents and recruit soldiers for the escalating conflict. Tens of thousands of people have been detained since the 2021 coup, a UN report showed last week.
Liz Throssell, spokesperson for the UN Human Rights Office, told a news conference last week that at least 1,853 people have died in custody since the coup, including 88 children, according to reliable sources.
Radio Free Asia and the ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights group said anti-junta activists were likely targets for execution. Reuters could not independently verify the information.
(Reporting by Reuters staff; Writing by Martin Petty; Editing by Christina Fincher)