UN expert: Fair polls claim preposterous if Myanmar opposition jailed
The United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar said there were gross injustices taking place in the country.
“You can’t have a free and fair election if you have...
Any claim by Myanmar’s military junta that there can be clean and fair elections in 2023 should be rejected as preposterous, said Thomas Andrews.
The United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar said there were gross injustices taking place in the country.
“You can’t have a free and fair election if you have locked up your opponents.
“You can’t have a free and fair election if you have put your opponents on death row,” he slammed.
It was reported that Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s former de facto leader who was ousted during the February 2021 military coup, was put into solitary confinement last week.
Meanwhile prominent former MP Ko Phyo Zeya Thaw and well-known pro-democracy activist, Kyaw Min Yu, are set to be the military junta’s first known judicial executions since seizing power last year.
Having spent a week in Malaysia speaking to stakeholders, Andrews (above) told a press conference yesterday that this is the first Asean member state to welcome him.
He met with Malaysian government officials, members of Parliament, civil society leaders, and individuals from diverse Myanmar communities who have fled the military’s violence and persecution.
He was in Malaysia upon the invitation of Foreign Affairs Minister Saifuddin Abdullah.
Andrews lauded the minister’s call to put Asean’s five-point consensus on Myanmar into strategic action.
‘Don’t fall into propaganda trap’
Andrews said the military junta tries hard to create an impression of legitimacy.
“The propaganda machine works round the clock and they will take any thread of evidence that they could find to make it appear as if the international community recognises them as legitimate.
“We need to be very cautious of not falling into that propaganda trap, including any suggestion that this election could, in any way, be free or fair,” he reiterated.
He urged the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) to work with countries around the world in exerting all kinds of pressure including economic, political, and diplomatic pressure on the junta.
Andrews called on the bloc, of which Myanmar was a member, to bring the pressure to bear on the military junta to release all political prisoners and stop the violence.
“Make it clear that what is happening in Myanmar is not only unsustainable and horrific for the people of Myanmar but it has a direct impact on the people of Asean.
“The military junta has carried out a campaign of violence, oppression, and terror against the people of Myanmar killing more than 2,000 civilians.
“They have arrested more than 14,000, internally displaced over one million people in Myanmar and plunged the country into an economic and humanitarian crisis that threatens the lives and wellbeing of millions,” he said.
Those fleeing Myanmar fear persecution
Andrews is one of 80 UN special rapporteurs, each with a specific country or thematic mandate from the United Nations Human Rights Council.
Covering Myanmar, Andrews’ primary objective was to gather information on the situation of human rights in Myanmar and better understand the Malaysian and Asean responses to the crisis.
“I am grateful to the Shan, Kachin, Rohingya, Chin, Rakhine, and Burman refugees with whom I met in Malaysia.
“I spoke with refugees who have been here for years and those who have been here for a matter of just weeks and what they have in common is that they fled Myanmar for the very reasons that make people refugees.
“They all fear persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion,” he explained.
Andrews said this was the first of a series of visits to the region for a greater understanding of the perspective and insights of those who have a great deal at stake in developments in Myanmar.
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