By Chidalu Memeh - Nigeria
What is the death penalty?
The death penalty is a sanctioned punishment involving the execution of a person for a specific crime (Hood). The penalty is a topic that is debated greatly across the world, with 170 countries abolishing the punishment, according to the UN ("Death Penalty"). This essay will give insight into the current issues that the population faces, as well as specific examples of injustice, that will hopefully increase everyone’s general knowledge in regards to the death penalty and provoke thoughts about the implications of the penalty. Is it ethical for the state to decide who lives and who dies?
Where is Myanmar?
Myanmar, otherwise known as Burma, is located in South-East Asia, brimming in nature and culture-filled communities. The country borders India, China and Thailand, and it retains over 100 diverse ethnic groups ("Myanmar"). But most importantly, Myanmar is a home for 55 million people, as of 2021, who all deserve the right to life, just as everyone else on Earth.
What is happening to the people of Myanmar?
However, this right is constantly being violated in Myanmar. This is caused by the highest authorities within Myanmar, and their abstention in the 2020 United Nations moratorium on the topic of the death penalty ("Capital Punishment in Myanmar"). Capital punishment, a state-sanctioned action of sending someone to death, is legal in Myanmar to serve as punishment for committing a crime. In Myanmar, all penalties are carried out through the hanging of an individual (Lee). Infants through to the elderly live in this reality, where you can be persecuted to death due to mere juvenile actions. In Myanmar, the reality is that contrasting ideologies and actions holds the possibility of resulting in irreversible punishment, forcefully imposed by authorities who acquire control and potency.
Zayar Thaw
On the 23rd of July in 2022, Zayar Thaw, an activist and hip-hop artist, was arrested by the military regime because of anti-government lyrics that he had written, alongside his involvement in peaceful anti-government demonstrations ("Myanmar: First Executions in Decades Mark Atrocious Escalation in State Repression"). Zayar peacefully exercised his right to freedom of expression, but ended up being wrongfully and horrifically executed because of his pro-democratic beliefs. His execution followed a closed-door military tribunal, in which he was denied the right to legal counsel, showcasing the depleting standard that human rights laws are held to within Myanmar’s government ("Zayar Thaw"). This capital punishment exemplifies the severe willingness of Myanmar’s Junta - a military or political group that rules a country after taking power by force - to stifle opposing opinions. This obstruction of freedom of expression is an indication of how the rights of the Burmese people have been impeded and how they are in urgent need of liberation.
Students of Dagon University
7 students at Dagon University in Yangon, all under the age of 25, were convicted and sentenced to death after being accused of involvement in the shooting of a military officer ("Myanmar: UN Human Rights Chief Alarmed at Death Sentences by Secretive Military Courts"). This caused a large uprising within Myanmar, as students created a prevalent hashtag: ‘Stop executing our friends.’ These protesters felt strongly enough about these wrongful persecutions that they took it to the local news ("Shock As Seven Student Protesters Sentenced to Death"). They spoke on the military’s unjustly use of the death penalty, or ‘Retentionist’. They explained how the Junta felt it was necessary to establish dominance and threaten the youth of Myanmar from exercising the human right that they rightfully should have ("Myanmar Families Plea for Help After 7 Students Sentenced to Death"). A father spoke out on the channel, saying: “We don't have faith in the judiciary system of the military … for us, it is just an attempt to kill our students."
It is fairly impossible for one to properly understand what the families of these victims have suffered emotionally and physically, not just because of the fatalities, but also the forced diminution of their voices and their inability to reach a justified conclusion to all of the persecutions.
Problems with the Death Penalty
Roper V Simmons, a decision made in the Supreme Court in the United States, states that it is, “Unconstitutional to impose capital punishment for crimes committed while under the age of 18.” It states that, “Their own vulnerability and comparative lack of control over their immediate surroundings mean juveniles have a greater claim to be forgiven for failing to escape negative influences in their whole environment.” ("Roper V. Simmons") ("U. S. Supreme Court: Roper V. Simmons, No. 03-633"). Work has to be done in order to enable this decision to be made in Myanmar, so that the youth of Myanmar stay protected.
The death penalty is an inhumane action of great irreversibility and is the ultimate denial of human rights. It carries the risk of executing an innocent individual and violates the constitutional ban against cruel and unjust punishment. One does not need to be innocent to be given a death sentence falsely. Police, prosecutors, and even judges may make severe legal mistakes that lead to false convictions and death sentences, due to the enormous political pressure for a death sentence among other factors ("Death Penalty"). The youth of Myanmar are in desperate need of support in order to achieve emancipation, especially from those who hold the privilege of being safe from persecution.
Conclusion
The death penalty in Myanmar is a deeply blanketed situation, in need of awareness and growth in order to counter the unjust efforts of the junta to oppress the voices of Myanmar. How many citizens of Myanmar will have to die in order for a proper change to occur? The death penalty is inhumane, and deeply discriminatory. It targets the most vulnerable within a community, those who are poor, ethnic and religious minorities, and people with mental disabilities (Strouse). The people of Myanmar deserve more. Foreign intervention would be idealistically beneficial to the people of Myanmar, however the risk of greater hostility and conflict within the country stands. Efforts need to be made by international communities, as there is freedom to increase awareness without the consequences of being suppressed by higher administrations. This will ensure that the people of Myanmar finally reach a place where they have the right to express opinions freely, without the fear of unjust consequences.
Bibliography
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"U. S. Supreme Court: Roper V. Simmons, No. 03-633." Death Penalty Information Center, deathpenaltyinfo.org/facts-and-research/united-states-supreme-court/significant-supreme-court-opinions/roper-v-simmons-resource-page. Accessed 11 Dec. 2023.
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