Is Myanmar junta’s new execution notice driven by ‘paranoia’ over soldiers’ deaths?

The 10 new people on death row include seven university students and come as senior junta soldiers have died at the hands of anti-coup forces

Analysts say it is hard to predict if the military would cave to external pressure, as executions are a part of its campaign of terror to force citizens to accept junta rule

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Protesters march against the military coup in Yangon on July 2021. File photo: AFP

Published: 6:30pm, 6 Dec 2022Updated: 3:33pm, 7 Dec 2022

Rights groups have urged the international community to pressure Myanmar’s military to reverse its decision to execute 10 people, a move observers say comes as a response to the killings of high-ranking soldiers by anti-coup fighters.

Those on death row include seven students from Dagon University who reportedly participated in anti-coup protests and in the resistance against the junta’s rule, while three others also face capital punishment for allegedly killing a ward administrator in Yangon in May.

The announcement last week brought the tally of those on death row to 139 since the February 2021 coup, according to the United Nations, which accused the regime of using capital punishment as a “tool to crush opposition”. In July, an ex-lawmaker and a democracy activist were among four people executed.

Protesters hold the Myanmar Student Union flag as they make the three-finger salute during an anti-coup demonstration in Yangon on June 13, 2021. Photo: AFP

Mikael Gravers, associate professor emeritus at Aarhus University in Denmark, said the deaths of high-ranking officers and regime administrators in recent weeks had triggered a “growing paranoia” among Myanmar’s generals.

Seven junta soldiers were this week killed in southwestern Tanintharyi Region as they clashed with the People’s Defense Forces (PDF) formed by the exiled National Unity Government (NUG). Last month, an army major and a captain were among at least 45 soldiers killed as the PDF and ethnic armed organisations escalated their attacks in various areas, including in Rakhine and Kayah states and Mandalay.

“The death sentences seem to have a three-fold purpose,” Gravers said. To “avenge the killings of regime supporters”, scare off the young fighters from continuing their attacks against regime troops, and “assure the military rank-and-file and their families that the regime protects them”.

Myanmar citizens have taken to social media to protest against the death penalties using hashtags such as “StopExecuteOurStudents”, and urged foreign governments to act against the junta.