An international human rights organisation is criticising the Australian government's response to the execution of four pro-democracy activists by Myanmar's military, accusing Canberra of being a "laggard" and out of step with its allies.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong this week said Australia was "appalled" by the executions, adding that sanctions against members of the military regime were under "active consideration".
Myanmar's military spokesperson Zaw Min Tun defended the executions, saying they were enacted under the law.
But Human Rights Watch deputy Asia director Phil Robertson told the ABC News Daily podcast the four executions were politically motivated and could be just the first of dozens, with suggestions more political prisoners might have already been executed in the days since.
Mr Robertson described Australia's delay in deciding whether to issue sanctions against members of Myanmar's military regime as "appalling".
"It's time for Australia to get off the fence," he told ABC News Daily.
"It's ridiculous that Australia has been such an incredible laggard in the consensus of like-minded countries to at least do some limited, targeted sanctions against the military and its business interests."
"The fact that they're still considering this is really rather appalling — it should have already happened, and it should happen now."
Treatment of men's families 'cruelty compounded'
Little is known about the circumstances of the four executions, which Myanmar's military junta confirmed on Monday without providing further details.
Mr Robertson said the men were probably killed by hanging as that was the practice in the country, and their families had not been notified in advance.
He said the families had held video calls with the men on Friday and there was no suggestion they would be their final conversations, and since the deaths they had been denied access to the men's bodies.
"We understand now that the authorities are refusing to return the bodies of the executed political prisoners to the families," he told ABC News Daily.
"We also understand that the bodies may have been actually cremated, and that refusal also covers providing the ashes to the families — so, you know, cruelty compounded, frankly."
Violence and more killings likely, observers say
The four deaths are the first executions to be carried out in Myanmar in 30 years, according to the United Nations, with Human Rights Watch and Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) both telling the ABC they feared further killings would follow.
It is thought that anywhere between 115 and 140 prisoners have been sentenced to death in Myanmar since the country's military ousted the civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021.
Mr Robertson said their convictions were legally unsound, and their lives were now in grave danger.
He suggested the four executions confirmed this week were likely a sign that the junta was coming under immense pressure.
"They are trying to intimidate the Burmese people, I think that is quite clear," he told ABC News Daily.
"They're desperate. This is a military regime that is facing massive opposition from the people — a determined opposition that is really countrywide and growing — while at the same time the military itself is stretched even more thinly.
"They've decided that they need to pull out all the stops."
Mr Robertson also said his organisation had received unconfirmed accounts that more executions of prisoners had already taken place this week.
"Right now we're tracking rumours coming out of Myanmar that there may have been more executions," he told the ABC News Daily podcast.
"The concern right now is that we're going to see more executions taking place."
Australian prisoner likely to face 'a long prison term'
Since the military coup 18 months ago, Australia has imposed no new sanctions on Myanmar's military generals, despite steps from the US, the UK and Canada.
Even before this week's executions, the government was being urged to take a stronger stance due to the ongoing detention of an Australian economist in Myanmar, Sean Turnell, who Senator Wong has previously described as Australia's top priority.
Mr Robertson suggested the time Australia was taking to determine whether or not to impose sanctions on the Myanmar military could be part of a strategy to secure Professor Turnell's release.
He said if that was the case, it was unlikely to succeed.
"Everybody is concerned about Sean Turnell, but the reality is that this kind of weak-kneed response to provocations in Myanmar is not doing him any favours," Mr Robertson said.
"No matter what Australia does, they're going to convict him anyway.
"The reality is he was a close colleague of Aung San Suu Kyi."
"Sean Turnell is probably going to face a long prison term."
"I would hope that the Foreign Minister and the new government would find the courage of their convictions, catch up with the rest of the international community and hit Myanmar with the kind of sanctions that are really required."
