Bombs to Ballots: Myanmar Junta’s Bloody Race for Recognition

Today, the Network for Human Rights Documentation-Burma (ND-Burma) releases its latest briefing paper, Bombs to Ballots: Myanmar Junta’s Bloody Race for Recognition, which calls for the condemnation and immediate rejection of the election plans proposed by the Burmese military junta. Burma’s future of political and federal democracy faces significant threats. Ongoing preventable deaths mirror the military’s brutal history, while an election—expected to be a sham with violent suppression of opposition—is unavoidable.

Civil society organizations have warned election monitors to pay close attention, as moving forward could lead to even more troubling times. Analysts and election monitors have also cited the election as a ‘sham’ and warned that the lead-up and aftermath will be marred by violence. The election plans pose life-threatening risks to civilians as the junta aggressively attempts to regain lost territories through airstrikes, drones, and shelling.

“The sham election is the latest illegal and unjust attempt by the military junta to claim its misplaced legitimacy. The people of Burma have been clear — they do not accept the junta as any legitimate ruler, and they do not accept any process filled with corrupt tactics to guarantee a biased victory. The sham election effort must be widely condemned and rejected by all international stakeholders. This is not due process, and this is certainly not democracy,” said Nai Aue Mon, Program Director at the Human Rights Foundation of Monland.

Worryingly, the junta has begun weaponizing the rule of law and leveraging its forced conscription efforts to silence dissent and employ violent tactics to coerce civilians into supporting the election. Several people have already been apprehended and charged under the recently reformed draconian election law. Against the backdrop of the junta’s latest selfish bid for legitimacy, attacks have escalated in ethnic areas, particularly those where the regime is desperate to regain lost territories.

Furthermore, ND-Burma calls for strategic and meaningful efforts to continue supporting the initiatives set forth by revolutionaries and rights-based groups, as well as the National Unity Government, in condemning the junta and actively countering and disengaging from the junta’s propaganda. International human rights organizations and businesses working in Burma must also extend their support to pro-democracy groups, including emerging federal bodies.

Local organizations working on the ground in Burma have earned the trust and credibility of their communities and can attest to the junta’s mockery of legal and justice systems. The regime merits neither recognition nor credibility.

For more information:

Name: Nai Aue Mon

Signal: +66 86 1679 741

Name: San Htoi

Signal: +66 649369070

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