The officials raised concerns that the process will deepen the country’s instability rather than move it toward democratic rule.
Voting is expected to begin on December 28, but Jeremy Laurence, Spokesperson for the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR), said in Geneva that the military is preparing a ballot “rife with threats and violence,” while political participation is being actively suppressed.
More than 30 000 political opponents have been detained since the 2021 coup, including members of the democratically elected government. Many major political parties have been barred from contesting the poll.
“Far from being a process that could spearhead a political transition from crisis to stability and the restoration of democratic and civilian rule, this process seems nearly certain to further ingrain insecurity, fear and polarisation throughout the country,” Laurence said, stressing that ending violence and ensuring humanitarian access must be the immediate priority.
Speaking from Bangkok, James Rodehaver, head of OHCHR’s Myanmar team, said civilians face mounting pressure from both sides: the military is pushing people to vote, while armed resistance groups are actively working to prevent participation.
The junta has claimed it has pardoned roughly 4 000 people charged or convicted of incitement or sedition, but OHCHR says the numbers do not match. Only about 550 people have been confirmed to have left detention facilities, while others released have reportedly been rearrested.
Meanwhile, the military has announced the arrest of more than 100 people under new “election protection rules,” and OHCHR says it has credible reports that three young people were sentenced to 49 years in prison for hanging posters depicting a ballot box struck by a bullet.
Rodehaver raised further alarm over the adoption of an electronic-only voting system alongside expanded surveillance using artificial intelligence and biometric tracking. He warned these measures could further erode public trust, particularly in a climate of fear and coercion.
Humanitarian conditions remain dire. Civilians are reportedly being ordered to return to unsafe villages to vote, while aid access continues to be blocked in conflict-affected areas. Nearly 23 000 people remain in detention who, according to OHCHR, “should not have been arrested in the first place.”
UN officials say the military is using the elections to project a false sense of normalcy and progress, despite earlier warnings from the UN Secretary-General that, under current circumstances, any vote “risks further exclusion and instability.”
–UN/ChannelAfrica–
