UN rights chief says Myanmar’s military is using ‘brutal violence’ to compel voting, while armed groups also threaten civilians over the upcoming polls.
GENEVA: The United Nations rights chief has accused Myanmar’s junta of using “brutal violence” to force people to vote in upcoming military-controlled elections.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said in a statement on Tuesday that armed opposition groups were also using similar tactics to keep people away from the polls.
“The military authorities in Myanmar must stop using brutal violence to compel people to vote and stop arresting people for expressing any dissenting views,” Turk said.
The junta is set to preside over voting starting Sunday, touting the heavily restricted polls as a return to democracy five years after it ousted the last elected government.
International monitors have dismissed the phased month-long vote as a rebranding of martial rule.
Turk warned that civilians were being threatened by both the military authorities and armed opposition groups over their participation.
His statement highlighted dozens of individuals reportedly detained under an “election protection law” for exercising freedom of expression.
Many had received “extremely harsh sentences”, including three youths in Yangon region sentenced to between 42 and 49 years in prison for hanging anti-election posters.
The UN rights office also received reports from displaced people in several parts of the country who were warned they would be attacked or have their homes seized if they did not return to vote.
“Forcing displaced people to undertake unsafe and involuntary returns is a human rights violation,” Turk stressed.
He said people were also facing “serious threats” from armed groups opposing the military, citing nine women teachers reportedly abducted last month while travelling to attend ballot training.
They were later “released with warnings from the perpetrators”, the statement said.
It also noted how the self-declared Yangon Army bombed administration offices in the Yangon region, injuring several election staff, and had vowed to “keep attacking election organisers”.
“These elections are clearly taking place in an environment of violence and repression,” Turk said.
“There are no conditions for the exercise of the rights of freedom of expression, association or peaceful assembly that allow for the free and meaningful participation of the people.”
