Myanmar people this week have been gripped by a rumor that the junta is preparing to hang five anti-regime activists who have been sentenced to death.
A list of the five, including a woman, who are on death row after being convicted of the 2021 shooting deaths of four police officers, went viral online earlier this week. Adding to the public fear, pro-junta Telegram channels posted that the gallows in Yangon’s Insein Prison are being prepared for the hangings, with some stating that the executions will take place next week. Another rumor said it was seven people, not five.
Journalists are having a difficult time tracking down the sources of these claims and haven’t been able to verify the authenticity of the widely circulated rumors.
Though they’re still just rumors, most Myanmar people find it difficult to reject them. Instead, they are saying silent prayers, with a heavy heart, that the rumor turns out to be untrue.
The reason is that they are still haunted by the junta’s 2022 hangings of Ko Jimmy, Ko Phyo Zeya Thaw and two others for anti-regime activism. If the rumored execution plans proceed, it would be the second round of hangings under the regime.
Most importantly, Myanmar people know that if the hangings happen, junta boss Min Aung Hlaing will be behind the move, as he was behind the previous executions.
No one knows better than Myanmar people how uncivilized and what a lunatic Min Aung Hlaing is when it comes to power. For more than three years now, he has terrorized his own people with an array of brutalities that even his predecessors would be ashamed of. He has ordered his troops to conduct relentless bombings, shellings and massacres of civilians simply because the people reject his rule.
Coming at a time when the junta was struggling—as it continues to do—to control the country amid widespread armed resistance, the message he intended to send with the previous hangings in 2022 was clear: Anyone who dares to challenge his rule will face the same fate.
Despite a series of international pleas for clemency for the quartet, Min Aung Hlaing gave his executioners the green light. The killings were the first political hangings in Myanmar since 1978. The world was shocked. Myanmar peoples’ hearts were wrenched.
In other words, he wanted to force the people into submission with fear to keep himself in power. It remains true today and probably will as long as he lives.
Being aware of Min Aung Hlaing’s power-crazed and vengeful ego, no one in Myanmar dares to reject the latest hanging rumor. They know he is unpredictable, too uncivilized to follow society’s norms, and worst of all, will use every means at his disposal to instill fear among people so they will not challenge him.
For the time being, rights and advocacy groups should loudly voice their concerns about the possible executions—even if they are only rumors for now—to attract international intervention.
The international community should not be idle, even if their previous “attempts” in 2022 failed. Rumors can turn out to be true under this regime, so there would be no harm in the international community taking preemptive action. They should warn the regime about the consequences if the rumor turns out be true. This could be helpful not only for the possible seven victims but also for the other 116 activists who have been sentenced to death by the junta.
If the rumor turns out to be true, and we hope it doesn’t, it will be the latest mental torture inflicted on the people of Myanmar, who have been suffering socially, economically, politically and, most recently, from the effects of a natural disaster, under Min Aung Hlaing’s regime. The nation will once again mourn its martyrs.
On the other hand, if it happens, the hangings will only add fuel to the fire of anti-regime sentiment and revolution that is already raging across Myanmar. Myanmar people are more determined than ever to root out the regime at any cost, because things can’t get any worse for them.
For now, all they can do is just keep their fingers crossed.
