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Releases New Briefing Paper | Democracy Dies Where Dictators Thrive

June 16, 2026/in Press Releases and Statements

The Network for Human Rights Documentation-Burma (ND-Burma) Releases aNew Briefing Paper | Democracy Dies Where Dictators Thrive: Human Rights Violations by the Military Junta Post-Sham Election 16 June 2026 Today, the Network for Human Rights Documentation-Burma (ND-Burma) releases its latest briefing paper addressing the junta’s sham election ploy and the human rights violations that have […]

Democracy Dies Where Dictators Thrive

June 16, 2026/in Briefing Papers, ND-Burma's Reports

Human Rights Violations by the Military Junta Post-Sham Election More than five years after the attempted coup in Burma on 1 February 2021, coup leader Min Aung Hlaing declared himself president on 3 April 2026.[1] Weeks later, on April 20, the junta announced a ‘100-Day Plan’ outlining its intention to seek peace, economic recovery, and […]

Releases New Briefing Paper | Democracy Dies Where Dictators Thrive

June 16, 2026/in Press Releases and Statements

Democracy Dies Where Dictators Thrive

June 16, 2026/in Briefing Papers, ND-Burma's Reports

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Releases New Briefing Paper | Democracy Dies Where Dictators Thrive

June 16, 2026/in Press Releases and Statements

The Network for Human Rights Documentation-Burma (ND-Burma) Releases a
New Briefing Paper | Democracy Dies Where Dictators Thrive: Human Rights Violations by the Military Junta Post-Sham Election

16 June 2026

Today, the Network for Human Rights Documentation-Burma (ND-Burma) releases its latest briefing paper addressing the junta’s sham election ploy and the human rights violations that have followed. Since the attempted coup in 2021, the military has schemed to fool the international community through its bid for legitimacy. Global and regional stakeholders must not acknowledge or recognize the junta leadership as a government of any kind. The briefing paper released by ND-Burma serves as further evidence of the ongoing perpetration of crimes against civilians since coup leader Min Aung Hlaing asserted himself as the President of Burma.

ND-Burma members have continued to document the worsening human rights situation on the ground. This briefing paper includes member data and media coverage of air and ground attacks. The military junta has neither ceased nor slowed its attacks against innocent civilians. Conflict-affected communities across Burma are in urgent need of basic shelter, medicine, food and clean water. As thousands are deprived of their humanity, the junta is lauding itself as the rightful ruler, despite having no credibility.

Gaps in support for affected populations continue to widen amid a funding crisis that has increasingly limited many organizations’ ability to provide emergency humanitarian assistance to those who remain displaced. The Burma Army has weaponized aid, making it difficult to safely deliver life-saving items. While the resilience of resistance leaders and community human rights defenders endures, their voices must be heard as agents of change and as those dedicated to a lasting peace in the country, one that does not include militarized control.

Additional pressure is required to hold the military accountable for its crimes against humanity. Vulnerable groups have suffered oppression and denial of their basic rights and freedoms, and this will persist as the crisis deepens. We urge global stakeholders to cut all ties with the terrorist military junta. Support, resources, and funding should be directed toward the pro-democracy movement and human rights defenders driving positive change, especially civil society organizations providing local social services, including cross-border aid.

For more information:

Name: Nai Aue Mon

Signal: +66 86 1679 741

Name: San Htoi

Signal: +66 657549336

The Network for Human Rights Documentation-Burma (ND-Burma) comprises 13 organizations representing diverse ethnic nationalities, women, and former political prisoners. Since 2004, ND-Burma member organizations have documented human rights abuses and advocated for justice on behalf of victims. The network has nine full members and four affiliate members

Democracy Dies Where Dictators Thrive

June 16, 2026/in Briefing Papers, ND-Burma's Reports

Human Rights Violations by the Military Junta Post-Sham Election

More than five years after the attempted coup in Burma on 1 February 2021, coup leader Min Aung Hlaing declared himself president on 3 April 2026.^[1] Weeks later, on April 20, the junta announced a ‘100-Day Plan’ outlining its intention to seek peace, economic recovery, and infrastructure modernization, and to invite armed groups to negotiations.^[2] This is the latest sham effort by the junta to mislead the international community with diplomatic theatre that lacks credibility, especially as conflict continues to rage across most of the country.

Min Aung Hlaing’s self-appointment led him to claim that “Myanmar has returned to the path of democracy.”^[3] Such a statement deliberately ignores the devastating impacts of human rights on civilians. A civil war waged by the junta has plunged thousands into irreversible poverty, decimated progress towards gender equality and protections for the most vulnerable, and eroded livelihood pathways, such as agriculture, on which the majority of civilians in rural areas depend to sustain themselves. The international community must not be fooled. In the short period between early April and mid-May 2026, despite the junta’s so-called commitment to ‘peace and security,’ attacks against civilians were widespread. Over 140 civilians have been killed by airstrikes alone since the 100-day peace announcement, with nearly 300 aerial attacks taking place between 20 April and 1 June.^[4]

The suffering of the nation’s people has not been of concern to the dictators of Burma, who have continued to seek illicit pathways to grow their profits at the cost of local lives. Military-aligned companies have consolidated economic control, allowing them to prosper despite facing several sanctions across Europe and North America. By extension, crony companies serve as key joint venture partners and de facto regulators for state-owned enterprises overseen by the junta’s Ministry of Natural Resources, facilitating the lucrative extraction and export of minerals that are mined on the backs of local workers, who are underpaid, exploited, and employed as day labourers in resource-rich regions of the country.^[5]

While millions displaced are subjected to immense hardships, including a lack of clean water, adequate shelter and nutrition, a rigged and corrupt election resulted in yet another illegal power-grab that the terrorist regime is now using as a catapult to assert legitimacy through the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and international stakeholders. While ASEAN did not formally recognize the sham election, problematic engagement has increased since coup leader Min Aung Hlaing made himself President, including through diplomatic outreach. Thailand, in particular, has sought to bring Burma back into the regional bloc by encouraging its invitation to various summits and meetings.^[6] The junta also continues to seek support from China, Russia and India to leverage their position.

As the junta embraces their illegal rule, it is critical to note that voting did not take place in every part of the country due to conflict ravaging many areas, making it impossible to cast ballots.^[7] Nevertheless, the junta has insisted that their supposed victory was a ‘landslide.’ In reality, extractive and intimidating practices were carried out by junta supporters and members of the Burma Army to violently coerce civilians in local villages and towns to vote for the pro-military Union Solidarity and Development Party. ^[8]

In addition, the hijacking of the legal system continued with laws going into effect which directly undermined voter independence and integrity, including the Law on the Protection of Multiparty Democratic General Elections, which criminalized speaking out or inciting violence against the election or election workers.^[9] Jail sentences for those found guilty were three years to a maximum of life imprisonment or even the death penalty.^[10] This blatant weaponization of the rule of law led to the unlawful detainment of civilians.^[11]

Attacks also dramatically increased in areas where the junta was seeking to control areas to hold voting, where once again civilians were forced to bear the impact of the junta’s volatility.^[12] In the lead-up to the December 2025 vote, the military engaged in a widespread civilian-targeting campaign, recording over 210 deadly attacks that resulted in at least 191 civilian fatalities between December 28, 2025 and late January 2026.^[13]

Prior to the sham election, the former UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Tom Andrews, unequivocally rejected the military junta’s so-called election, declaring it neither free, fair, nor legitimate.^[14] There were also warnings to observers that this election would be rigged as it occurred with ‘total surveillance.’^[15] “To endorse an election under these conditions is to endorse both physical and digital repression,” stated ND-Burma member organization, the Human Rights Foundation of Monland.^[16]

While the junta moves to expand its presence in parliament, loyalists to the regime are carrying out an authoritarian agenda in which human rights violations are being perpetrated daily. The democratic opposition and the emerging federal bodies have been branded ‘armed terrorist factions,’ and face daily threats to their well-being and security. Thousands have been killed in the last five years, with the situation looking to only worsen as 16 million people are in need of life-saving humanitarian assistance.^[17]

Further, this briefing paper by the Network for Human Rights Documentation-Burma (ND-Burma) will draw on a combination of desk research, cases, and case studies from our member organizations to highlight how military impunity persists in the aftermath of the sham election and, specifically, how human rights violations have continued since the junta announced its 100-Day plan.

It is clear that the ruling regime has no intention of promoting or protecting human rights. ND-Burma strongly calls on the international community not to be fooled by the election, which not only lacked transparency but also failed to meet basic electoral standards. ^[18] As human rights violations continue, accountability is needed to ensure justice for victims.

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ND Burma

ND-Burma formed in 2004 in order to provide a way for Burma human rights organizations to collaborate on the human rights documentation process. The 13 ND-Burma member organizations seek to collectively use the truth of what communities in Burma have endured to advocate for justice for victims. ND-Burma trains local organizations in human rights documentation; coordinates members’ input into a common database using Martus, a secure open-source software; and engages in joint-advocacy campaigns.

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