UN rights chief Volker Turk warned in a statement on Friday that “the profound and widespread despair inflicted on the people of Myanmar” since the 2021 coup “has only deepened with the recent election staged by the military”.
He pointed out that “many people chose either to vote or not to vote purely out of fear, flatly at odds with their internationally guaranteed civil and political rights – and with ripple effects on their enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights”.
“The conflict and insecurity continued unabated in large parts of the country. Opposition candidates and some ethnic groups were excluded,” he said.
His office pointed out that the elections were held in only 263 of 330 townships, and often exclusively in urban centres under military control, and limited in conflict areas.
“As a result, large segments of the population, especially the displaced and minorities, such as the ethnic Rohingya, were excluded,” it pointed out.
Turk decried that five years of military rule in Myanmar had been “characterised by repression of political dissent, mass arbitrary arrests, arbitrary conscription, widespread surveillance and limitation of civic space”.
“Now, the military is seeking to entrench its rule-by-violence after forcing people to the ballot box,” he said.
“This couldn’t be further from civilian rule.”
Read the full article here
