Win Maw Oo and Jiang Jie Lian were probably born in the same year. They did not know each other, but they shared the same fate: both were murdered by the military for promoting democracy. Win Maw Oo was 16 when she joined the 1988 uprising in Burma. Jiang Jie Lian was 17 when he participated in the 1989 Tiananmen protests in China.

Maw Oo’s mother Khin Htay Win begged her daughter not to join Rangoon’s pro-democracy movement. Jie Lian’s mother Ding Zilin locked the door when the military started firing at citizens on the night of June 3. Maw Oo’s reply was: “If they dare to shoot, then we dare to die.” Jie Lian vowed that if the university students were killed, the secondary school students would stand up. Both gave their lives for their dreams.

In the aftermath of the Tiananmen massacre, critics of the Chinese Communist Party were persecuted. Victims’ families testify that they were pressured by the government to confess to having failed to stop their children from taking part in the “riot”. Some were even forced to change the cause of death on the death certificate. While most of the families who lost loved ones feared to speak up, Ding Zilin searched for other families to document the death toll. In 2000, the group became the Tiananmen Mothers, formed to demand truth, reparation and accountability from a government that has sought by every available means to expunge its atrocities from the public record. To hide their crimes, the authorities have frequently interrogated and detained some of the Tiananmen Mothers. They even bar them from mourning their children in public.

In Burma amid partial democratization, commemoration of the 88 uprising is no longer prohibited. However, justice has not yet been done. Article 2 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights stipulates that states have an obligation to ensure effective remedy for victims of human rights violations. This entails equal and effective access to justice, adequate, effective and prompt reparation for harm suffered, and access to relevant information concerning violations and reparation mechanisms. None of this has yet happened in Burma.

More than 25 years on, the pain of victims’ families is still there. Nevertheless, the parents are not calling for revenge. By telling the truth, Khin Htay Win and Ding Zilin are simply continuing the struggles of their children. Ultimately, though, it is only by building democratic institutions that Burma and China can deliver justice and prevent the repetition of gross human rights violations.

Debby Chan is a PhD candidate at the University of Hong Kong.