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Four democracy activists have been executed by Myanmar's military in what is believed to be the first use of capital punishment in decades, BBC reported.

The four - including activist Ko Jimmy and lawmaker Phyo Zeya Thaw - were accused of committing "terror acts". 

They were sentenced to death in a closed-door trial that rights groups criticised as being unjust.

Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi was very sad after hearing the news, a source told the BBC's Burmese Service.

Ms Suu Kyi, the leader of the National League for Democracy (NLD) party, did not make any comments, the source added. She was arrested in February 2021, following an army-led coup.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemned the executions in Myanmar, which is also known as Burma. 

"Such reprehensible acts of violence and repression cannot be tolerated. We remain committed to the people of Burma and their efforts to restore Burma's path to democracy," he tweeted.

Family members of the deceased gathered at Insein prison on Monday desperate for information on their loved ones, according to BBC.

The mother of Zayar Thaw says she was not told when exactly her son would be executed, adding that she was unable to make proper traditional funeral plans as a result. 

"When we met on Zoom last Friday, my son was healthy and smiling. He asked me to send his reading glasses, dictionary and some money to use in prison, so I brought those things to the prison today," Khin Win May told the BBC's Burmese Service. "That's why I didn't think they would kill him. I didn't believe it."

Meanwhile, the sister of Ko Jimmy - whose real name is Kyaw Min Yu - had earlier said they were yet to receive the bodies. 

The families have all submitted applications for information on the executions.

State news outlet Global News Light of Myanmar said the four men were executed because they "gave directives, made arrangements and committed conspiracies for brutal and inhumane terror acts".

It said they had been charged under the counter terrorism laws, but did not say when or how they were executed. 

The executions are the first since 1988, according to the United Nations. Previous executions in Myanmar have been by hanging.

In 2021, the country's military seized power, an event which triggered widespread demonstrations, prompting a military crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, activists and journalists, BBC reported.

China’s finance and investment spending in the Belt and Road countries fell slightly in the first half compared to a year ago, with no new coal projects and investments zero in Russia, Egypt and Sri Lanka, new research showed, Reuters reported.

Saudi Arabia was the largest recipient of Chinese investment with about $5.5 billion, according to the Shanghai-based Green Finance and Development Center (GFDC) in research published on Sunday.

GFDC said total funding and investment stood at $28.4 billion in the period, up from $29.6 billion a year earlier, bringing total cumulative Belt and Road spending from 2013 to $932 billion.

President Xi Jinping launched the Belt and Road Initiative in 2013 with the aim of harnessing China’s strengths in financing and building infrastructure to “build a broader community of common interests” across Asia, Africa and Latin America. .

But it has come under scrutiny for other issues like debt burden on countries and environmental degradation. Some countries have renegotiated their investment projects with China, highlighting credit risks.

No new coal projects received Chinese support in the period following Xi’s pledge at the UN General Assembly last September to end foreign coal financing.

However, a Chinese developer won a bid to build a thermal power plant in Indonesia in February, and there is still 11.2 GW of capacity that has already secured financing, although construction has begun, according to GFDC, part of Shanghai’s Fudan University. remains to be done, according to Reuters.

The GFDC said China continues to support other fossil fuel projects in the Belt and Road countries, with oil and gas accounting for about 80% of China’s foreign energy investments and 66% of its construction contracts.

In the first half of the year, engagement in gas projects stood at $6.7 billion, compared to $9.5 billion in the previous year, it said.

Green energy and hydropower transactions declined 22% compared to a year ago. Investments rose from $400 million to $1.4 billion, but construction spending related to green energy fell to $1.6 billion, less than half of a year earlier, Reuters reported.

Amnesty International, International Commission of Jurists, Human Rights Watch and TRIAL International have today jointly issued a statement with regard to the Bill that the government registered at the Parliament on July 15.

The statement says that the Nepali government’s bill to amend its current transitional justice law marks some progress toward accountability but will not fully provide justice to victims or meet Nepal’s obligations under international law in its current form. The four international human rights organizations have demanded that Nepal’s government and parliament should amend the bill to align with international legal standards.

“Victims and their families who have waited anxiously for amendments to the law, hoping that their demands for truth and justice will be met, are disappointed,” said Mandira Sharma, senior international legal adviser at ICJ. “Despite the promise of reform, this bill, if implemented as it stands today, would shield many perpetrators from being brought to justice.”

Successive Nepali governments have stalled the transitional justice process since 2015, when Nepal’s Supreme Court ruled that the current law fails to meet Nepal’s domestic and international legal obligations on several grounds, including that it empowers the two transitional justice commissions to grant amnesties to perpetrators of serious violations of international law. Although the new bill removes some of the previous amnesty provisions, it would still be difficult or impossible to prosecute those responsible for serious violations of international law including war crimes and crimes against humanity, the groups said. 

Several other provisions of the new bill, including those introducing limitations on the right to appeal, would also prevent accountability as required by international legal standards.

As per the joint statement, the major sections of the Bill that violate international law include: Section 2(5) categorizes violations to make it possible that perpetrators of gross violations of human rights, crimes against humanity and war crimes, could be granted amnesties and Section 29 (5) provides that verdicts of the Special Court which will try transitional justice cases cannot be appealed to the Supreme Court, in violation of international fair trial guarantees.

The bill also contains significant omissions: The bill does not establish any special investigation unit in the transitional justice commissions or the prosecutor’s office tasked with evidence collection.

Investigation units with expertise in human rights violations would ensure that investigations are prompt, thorough and effective in accordance with international human rights law and standards and that victims can access effective remedies.

The bill does not clarify the principle of non-retroactivity of criminal law in a manner consistent with international law. This omission makes it unclear how the Penal Code can be used to prosecute conflict era crimes, as stipulated by the bill, and allows the operation of statutory limitations for the crime of rape.

 “A credible transitional justice process is essential to ensure the right of access to justice and effective remedies for victims, who have suffered for years while struggling for justice,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Without major revisions, this bill won’t address the legal obstacles that have repeatedly thwarted the transitional justice process in Nepal.”

Victims’ groups and civil society organizations have issued statements calling on the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs and the Federal Parliament to amend the bill, to ensure that it respects international law and the aspirations of victims which were expressed during recent, brief, consultations organized by the government.

CPN (Maoist Center) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal has said that working class people and revolutionary forces are finding it hard to secure their positions in public posts due to the existing electoral system.

He said that it has been challenging to win the elections for a section of people as the existing electoral system has turned extravagant.

Referring to a report that the local rural municipality chairman spent Rs 100 million to win the election, he said, "It may cost billions of rupees to win the federal election."

In his address to a program organized at the party central office in Parisdanda today on the memorial day of founding leader of Communist Party of Nepal Nara Bahadur Karmacharya, the former Prime Minister said that corruption is being institutionalized because of the existing electoral system and the form of the governance.

"Though the Constitution has institutionalized the federal democratic republic, some forces are intending to weaken it and stand against it," he said.

He said money power and the use of unethical tricks are being dominant in the elections.  

Dahal further said that the party has proceeded with the unification process with those forces having similar ideologies.

The Maoist Center Chair also urged party leaders and cadres to dedicate their time to informing people about pro-people activities undertaken by the incumbent government. 

He insisted on working with a vision, ideologies and plans to consolidate the party presence in the days ahead and was of the view of proving the party a revolutionary touch in practice.

Admitting that the party was marred by several sorts of intra-party deviations, he stressed the need of fighting against such culture.    

The leader recalled Karmacharya as the personality with simplicity, openness, revolutionary zeal and dedication.

On the occasion, party senior leader Narayan Kaji Shrestha stressed on the need of following the path shown by Karmarchaya who, as he described, was the person with ideology, principles and visions.