Legal professionals in Myanmar told DVB that the sentencing and execution of alleged criminals by ethnic armed groups in areas of the country under their control amounts to extrajudicial killings and serious human rights violations.
“The accused in areas controlled by ethnic armed groups are denied the right to legal representation,” Min Lay, a lawyer who joined the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) following the 2021 military coup, told DVB.
This follows the public execution of five individuals accused of murder and armed robbery by the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) in Lashio, northern Shan State, on April 10.
The MNDAA seized control of Lashio on Aug. 3 after defeating regime forces stationed inside the Regional Military Command (RMC) headquarters. Lashio is located 107 miles (172 km) south of the Myanmar-China border town of Muse and 243 miles (391 km) north of the Shan State capital Taunggyi.
In December, six people convicted by the MNDAA of murder and rape were publicly executed in Laukkai, the capital of the Kokang Self-Administered Zone, which came under MNDAA control in January 2024 after it launched Operation 1027 on Oct. 27, 2023.
The Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) sentenced a man to death on April 7 for the alleged abduction and murder of three children living at a camp for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Laiza, the KIO headquarters. Laiza is located 71 miles (114 km) south of the Kachin State capital Myitkyina.
The United Wa State Army (UWSA) publicly executed a man for allegedly killing an eight-year-old in Hopang town on Oct. 30, reported the Wa News Land, a UWSA-affiliated media outlet. Hopang is located 336 miles (540 km) northeast of Taunggyi and 92 miles (148 km) east of Lashio.
The UWSA gained control of Hopang and Panlong as the Brotherhood Alliance, which includes the MNDAA, the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), and the Arakan Army, handed over the towns on Jan. 10, 2024 after it seized control of them during Operation 1027. DVB requested more information from the UWSA, MNDAA and KIO on the legal system in areas under their control but received no response.
