Jeremy Laurence, spokesperson for the UN human rights office, OHCHR, said journalists in Geneva that voting was expected to begin on December 28, in what he described as a poll controlled by the military and conducted in an environment “riddled with threats and violence” and actively repressed political participation.
Many major political parties have been excluded and more than 30,000 political opponents – including members of the democratically elected government and political representatives – have since been arrested. the 2021 coup.
“Far from being a process likely to launch a political transition from crisis to stability and the restoration of democratic and civil rule, this process seems almost certain to further entrench insecurity, fear and polarization throughout the country,» said Mr. Laurence.
“The top priority must be to end the violence and ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid. »
Civilians caught in the middle
Speaking from Bangkok, James Rodehaver, head of the OHCHR team in Myanmar, said THE The elections take place in an environment where civilians are caught between military pressure to vote and aggressive efforts by armed opposition groups to prevent their participation..
The junta claimed to have granted some 4,000 pardons to people accused or convicted of sedition or incitement. But Mr. Rodehaver said such announcements rarely match reality.
Of the approximately 4,000 people sentenced, only around 550 were seen leaving detention centers, while others were released before being rearrested. At the same time, the military boasted of arresting more than 100 people under recently imposed “election protection rules.”
OHCHR has credible information that three young people were sentenced to 49 years in prison for hanging posters showing a ballot box with a bullet.
AI and biometric tracking
Mr. Rodehaver also raised concerns over electronic-only voting system, introduced alongside expanded surveillance using artificial intelligence and biometric trackingwarning that this risks further undermining confidence in the process.
Humanitarian access is also deteriorating, with civilians forced to return to villages to vote despite insecurity, while the military continues to block aid to conflict-affected areas, a long-standing practice. Nearly 23,000 people remain in detention and “should not have been arrested in the first place,” he said.
U.N. human rights officials noted that the military is presenting the vote as a sign of the end of the crisis, despite the secretary-general’s statements. warning in October, that under current conditions, any election “risks greater exclusion and instability”.
Millions of people across Myanmar have been displaced by fighting and disasters and are now sheltering in IDP camps.
“A masquerade”
Beyond the concerns raised by U.N. officials, Myanmar’s independent rights expert issued an even starker warning about the junta’s election plans.
In its October 2025 report at the General Assembly, Special Rapporteur Tom Andrews said the international community should “unequivocally reject and denounce the charade” of the junta’s planned elections.
Mr. Andrews – who is appointed and mandated by the Human Rights Council and is not a UN staff member – said recent institutional changes by the military were only “cosmetic,” intended to reposition the junta for its electoral ploy while power remains concentrated in the hands of military leaders.
Key opposition figures – including Aung San Suu Kyi – remain imprisoned. at least 40 political parties, including the National League for Democracy (NLD), have been dissolved.
New election laws criminalize dissent, restrict digital expression and impose harsh penalties for “disrupting” elections, while large areas of the country remain outside military control, making nationwide voting impossible, the report said.
“Elections organized on the junta’s terms will only deepen divisions and fuel more violence,Mr Andrews warned, adding that while the people of Myanmar are expected to “reject the results as illegitimate”, the junta’s real target audience is the foreign governments whose recognition it seeks.
Originally published at Almouwatin.com
