Force and Fear: The Tatmadaw crosses another line
The following submission was written by a member of the National Unity Government. For safety reasons the author has requested anonymity. The essay refers to the recent death sentences handed down to four prisoners.
“This barbarous step is likely being touted as a kindness, a harsh but necessary remedy for a persistently unruly peasantry.”
“The junta have long had a sick obsession with capital punishment. Indeed, extra-judicial killings are the military's bread and butter and even before the coup of 2021, many minorities in Myanmar suffered the military's excesses, particularly the Rohingya. The regime only began a custom of commuting death sentences out of fear and the need for a surge in public support following the uprising of 1988 and the subsequent reforms within the upper echelons of the dictatorship - for what little they were worth. In effect, we can say that the military's underlying ideology is that those unwilling to yield to their authority have committed the gravest of all offences, and consequently, the military have a right, and even a duty, to punish those individuals harshly and in sight of the remainder of the populace. Every bit as grotesque and terroristic as any medieval tyrant or despot.
It is worth noting that prior to the coup, political prisoners were routinely passed over for commutations, sentence reductions, and amnesties, even while violent criminals were regularly released from prison early as a cheap way to win favour. Following the coup, Min Aung Hlaing himself has made clear that his approach to the people's resistance is that of a farmer faced with an obstinate cow and who must now apply the rod to ensure compliance. The imagery alone is very telling, but similar comparisons have been made by other members of the military élite.
Therefore, we must view the reintroduction of the death penalty from the military's perspective. They would see it not as the reimposition of an obsolete form of control, but rather as the military no longer gracing their lowly subjects with the kindness of pro-forma commutations. Metaphors of stern but loving fathers no doubt are circulating in their telegram chats. Certainly we know that pro-military civilian groups have been clamouring for the application of the death penalty for months, and in the echo chamber of the military, this barbarous step is likely being touted as a kindness, a harsh but necessary remedy for a persistently unruly peasantry. A way to bring about the end of the revolution sooner.
In simple terms, the military is resorting to terror tactics. The hopes that executions will scare the public into compliance. Sadly, the military know nothing but force and fear. They treat their own with such contempt and abuse that they have become inured to cruelty, and incapable of compassion.
We cannot be certain why they have chosen the four people they have. Clearly the military hopes to strike fear into the hearts of protesters and revolutionaries. There are in fact criminals in Myanmar on notional death row for high crimes such as rape and murder, yet they have not been in the military's cross-hairs. Only political prisoners face actual execution. Ko Jimmy and Ko Phyo Zeya Thaw are renowned enough to have triggered a significant response as we have seen, but why the military have chosen to send two comparatively unknown revolutionaries to the gallows is perplexing. If the objective of the military were to send shock-waves through society, they would have begun by handing down death sentences to celebrities, and executing the best known activists. Certainly Ko Jimmy and Ko PZT are in this category, but not the other two victims. Given the military's modus operandi, however, we cannot discount that names were taken at random from among the 114 death sentences handed down since the coup in order to meet some grim quota for the first executions in 30 years.
The junta's message in this, however, is not for the international community. By decades-long custom the junta are internally focused and isolationist, treating even their allies with wary suspicion. The junta rarely give interviews to major foreign media and as the coup has continued it seems they have grown even less interested in the opinions of the world, preferring instead to smear the reputation of the NUG and PDF in the hopes of shifting global discourse towards equivocation and a practice of non-interference. Whether or not the world condemns the military's actions makes no difference to the junta. Words, as they say, can never hurt me, and thus far the international community has made no attempt to hurt the junta in any significant way.
Nearly 18 months on, the military have learned that so long as they do not cross international borders, they are free to carry out war crimes and crimes against humanity openly and proudly, with no fear of consequence. The military's long-term strategy therefore is a return to the vaunted days of 1962-2010. In these glory days, before the military felt the need to reform and moderate, the military may have been internationally reviled, but they were accepted as the only legitimate government and, therefore, their money was as good as anyone else's in the global market. In effect, the military is waging a war of political attrition, waiting for their dictatorship to be legitimised by default when international governments, organisations, and companies grow tired of waiting for a decisive end to the revolution. It is in part for this reason that we so desperately need the international community to explicitly recognise the NUG as the legitimate government, and why we need to legally block governments and private parties from engaging with the junta. So long as the political conflict appears to be in a stalemate, the military will press on with their crimes in the hopes wearing down the patience of the international community.
Let us contrast then with the NUG's feelings on this issue, and indeed on the military's long track record of heinous and terroristic crimes. The NUG is opposed to the death penalty, and is preparing legal action to be pursued post-victory against those in the military and civil establishments responsible for this grotesque miscarriage of justice, and indeed, violation of basic human rights. The NUG has repeatedly reached out to international actors expressing an ardent desire to bring Myanmar in line with modern progressive civilised international standards and norms of justice and human rights. The military's application of this outmoded and barbaric tool of suppression is – along with all the military's egregious abuses of the Myanmar people past, present, and future – to be condemned on every level. It is further evidence that the military have no regard for the laws and norms of civilised society and have no moral, legal, or popular grounds to rule. As the matter is now in the hands of the Prison Department, we can only hope that the executions will not actually be carried out, and call once again on everyone in the international community to do their part to protect the innocent civilians of Myanmar by opposing the military, recognising the NUG, and giving us the tools we need to end the revolution, to end the dictatorship, and to finally instate a genuine federal democracy.”