NEW YORK—The Open Society Foundations are appalled and deeply saddened by the recent horrific executions by the military regime in Myanmar of former NLD Member of Parliament Phyo Zeya Thaw, prominent activist Kyaw Min Yu, as well as Aung Thura Zaw, and Hla Myo Aung. The executions are the first in Myanmar in more than three decades.

The executions, which were unanimously condemned by the UN Security Council on July 27, mark a further regression in the already dire human rights situation that has prevailed in Myanmar since the military coup of February 2021. Since the coup, Myanmar’s military regime has engaged in countless human rights violations including military air assaults targeting villages of ethnic communities, burning civilian facilities, and cracking down civil society organizations inside the country.

Open Society calls on the international community to step up its efforts to end the crisis in the country, with steps including:

• the imposition of a full arms embargo
• action to expand the number and type of sanctions on senior military leaders and those around them
• fully supporting and expediting the work of the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar established by the UN Human Rights Council in September 2018

Open Society is also calling on Myanmar to allow unimpeded access to UN investigators and human rights monitors, and urges the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to adopt a more effective diplomatic response to the crisis, drawing on support from civil society and humanitarian groups. We urge G20 leaders and donors to increase support for humanitarian aid, including funding for civil society to document these heinous acts and push for international accountability.

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