UN Says Myanmar Junta Using 'Violence' to Force Citizens to Take Part in Elections

JAKARTA - The United Nations said on Monday that Myanmar's junta was using violence and intimidation to force people to vote in an election controlled by the military, while armed opposition groups were using similar tactics to keep people away from the polls.

"The military authorities in Myanmar must stop using brutal violence to force people to choose and stop arresting people for expressing different views," said UN human rights chief Volker Turk in a statement, launching Al Arabiya from AFP (23/12).

Myanmar's junta will lead the vote starting Sunday, touting the heavily restricted election as a return to democracy, five years after overthrowing the last elected government that sparked a civil war.

Former civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi remains in prison and her hugely popular National League for Democracy (NLD) party was dissolved after the military ended a decade-long experiment with democracy in the country in February 2021.

International monitors have rejected the month-long phased vote as a rebranding of the military government.

Turk, who last month told AFP that holding elections in Myanmar under the current circumstances "is unimaginable," warned on Tuesday that civilians were threatened by the military authorities and armed opposition groups for their participation in the elections.

His statement highlighted dozens of individuals who have reportedly been detained under the "election protection law" for exercising their freedom of expression.

Many were given "very heavy sentences," the statement said, referring to three youths in Hlainghaya Township in Yangon Region who were sentenced to between 42 and 49 years in prison for putting up anti-election posters.

The U.N. human rights office said it had also received reports from refugees in parts of the country, including the Mandalay region, who had been warned they would be attacked or their homes seized if they did not return to cast their ballots.

"Forcing refugees to return to unsafe and involuntary returns is a human rights violation," Turk said.

On the other hand, Turk said the public also faces "serious threats" from armed groups opposed to the military, including nine female teachers from Kyaikto who were reportedly abducted last month while traveling to attend training on the election.

They were then "released with warnings from the perpetrators," the statement said.

The statement also pointed to how the self-proclaimed Yangon Army bombed administrative offices in Hota Hlegu and North Okkalapa in Yangon region, injuring several election staff, and had vowed to "continue to attack the election organizers."

"This election is clearly taking place in an environment of violence and oppression," Turk said.

"There are no conditions for the exercise of the right to freedom of expression, association, or peaceful assembly that allow for the free and meaningful participation of the people," Turk said.