On Monday 25 July Ethnic armed organisations (EAOs) condemned the Myanmar junta's execution of four men, including prominent democracy activists Phyo Zeya Thaw and Kyaw Min Yu (Ko Jimmy) over the weekend.

The Karen National Union (KNU) spokesperson Pado Saw Taw Nee said to Mizzima: "We are not at all surprised because killings are happening everywhere, every day, all around the country right now. However, we strongly condemn this junta terrorist act. We stand opposed to this, it should never have happened. The international community recently warned the junta against doing this, but they did it anyway.”

The United League Of Arakan (ULA), the political wing of the Arakan Army (AA) issued a statement about the executions that said: “The announcement of the absurd death penalty by the State Administration Council (SAC), despite appeals from civilized diplomatic and political circles to refrain from carrying out the execution, has only provoked anger, a sense of righteousness and even worse, in the entire population.”

Despite the AA and the Myanmar Army having an informal ceasefire since the elections in November 2019 they have recently been fighting each other again in Rakhine State.

Lieutenant-General Gun Maw of the Kachin Independence Army/Kachin Independence Organisation (KIA/KIO) said: "If the execution news was true I have to say it was stupid... every action has a reaction."

Ko Zaw Htet, the head of the Yangon-based youth unions said: “It is not just now that the Military Council has been so brutal and cruel. To maintain their position of authority, they will keep doing what they want to. We must also continue doing what we need to do to fight against the regime.”

According to a 22 July statement by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) 117 people, including two children, have been sentenced to death since the February 2021 coup. These figures included the four men, who have since been executed.