France, Germany condemn executions by military junta in Myanmar

PARIS

France and Germany on Monday strongly condemned the executions of four political prisoners by the Myanmar military junta.

The regime's spokesman confirmed over the weekend the executions -- the first in nearly three decades -- as the Southeast Asian nation sees a steep decline in civil rights and liberties following the 2021 coup.

A French Foreign Ministry statement said the executions “constitute a major setback and a new stage in the escalation of the atrocities committed by the junta since the coup.”

Germany's Foreign Ministry said the executions of pro-democratic activists “show the junta’s contempt for the strong democratic aspirations of the people of Myanmar.”

The executions represent "a new low point in its reign of tyranny" and "show the junta's contempt for the strong democratic aspirations of the people of Myanmar." It also added that with these acts, the military has once again shown its "complete contempt for human rights."

Both countries called on the junta to reinstate the moratorium on the use of the death penalty.

They also called for the release of all those arbitrarily detained, an end to the violence, and the resumption of dialogue for restoring democracy.

The junta seized power after overthrowing the country's first democratically elected government in a Feb. 1, 2021 coup.

More than three-quarters of the members of the former ruling party National League for Democracy (NLD), including its leader Aung San Suu Kyi and former President Win Myint, have been arrested by the junta, along with journalists and civil rights activists.