A coalition of 191 Myanmar, regional and international civil society organizations has urged the United Nations General Assembly to adopt a new resolution rejecting the Myanmar military junta’s sham election and supporting the Myanmar people’s efforts to build a genuine federal democracy.
In an open letter dated July 3 and addressed to UN General Assembly member states and the UN secretary-general, the groups called for the international community to refuse recognition of the junta’s election and its rebranded civilian-style administration.
They also urged UN member states to strictly implement the UN policy of limiting political engagement with the junta, increase international accountability efforts and take stronger action to address Myanmar’s worsening humanitarian and human rights crisis.
The groups called for measures to prevent aviation fuel, weapons and dual-use technologies from reaching the junta, and for action against transnational criminal economies that help finance its operations.
According to the letter, more than 31,000 pro-democracy activists have been arrested since the February 2021 coup, while at least 501 massacres have been recorded.
The groups said the junta has carried out 9,794 airstrikes since the coup, killing 4,853 civilians.
Citing the UN human rights office, the letter said the military carried out 408 airstrikes during the voting period between December 2025 and January 2026, killing at least 170 civilians as part of efforts to suppress opposition.
The groups said the election was not a political process but a tool of war, with voter secrecy systematically undermined and at least 404 people arrested under so-called election protection laws.
The open letter also cited the UN secretary-general’s report, saying Myanmar’s military has systematically used sexual and gender-based violence as a tactic of war.
It further warned that online scam networks and illegal drug production have expanded under junta rule, generating revenue that helps the military evade sanctions while spreading instability across the region and beyond.
At the same time, the groups said Myanmar’s diverse civil society organizations and pro-democracy resistance forces are building people-led governance systems from the ground up and working toward a sustainable federal democracy.
The signatories said the junta had attempted to rebrand itself as a civilian government following an election conducted under coercion, with Min Aung Hlaing appointing himself president.
They noted that the UN Human Rights Council has already determined that the election was neither free nor fair, and urged the General Assembly to reject it clearly and unequivocally.
The groups said Myanmar’s representation and diplomatic credentials at the United Nations must continue to reflect the will and democratic aspirations of the Myanmar people, in line with the calls of Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun, and must not be used to legitimize military rule.
They warned that recognizing or engaging with junta-created institutions in ways that confer legitimacy would risk normalizing violations of international law and weakening accountability efforts.
The letter also called on the UN Security Council to impose a global arms embargo on Myanmar and urged individual UN member states to adopt their own arms embargoes.
To reduce the military’s capacity to conduct airstrikes, the groups called on the Security Council to impose targeted sanctions banning the supply of aviation fuel to the Myanmar military.
The letter said decades of impunity have enabled Myanmar’s military to violate international law on a daily basis, and urged the General Assembly to call on the Security Council to refer the situation in Myanmar to the International Criminal Court.
It also called for a Security Council meeting on the military’s violations of provisional measures ordered by the International Court of Justice and welcomed the use of universal jurisdiction by UN member states to prosecute international crimes committed by the Myanmar military.
The groups criticized the gap between the UN’s stated policy of limiting engagement with the junta and the conduct of some UN agencies on the ground.
They said some UN programs risk providing indirect financial benefits to junta-controlled entities, prioritizing areas and authorities under junta control while restricting engagement with areas administered by resistance forces.
The letter also cited credible reports that some UN agencies continue to engage with companies identified by the UN Fact-Finding Mission as having links to the military.
It said UN staff in Myanmar have faced pressure from junta authorities to engage with military-controlled entities, affecting their security, independence and professional responsibilities.
The groups warned that technical cooperation and public engagement with military-created front organizations risk undermining the UN’s neutrality and credibility.
They also expressed concern over implementation of the recommendations of the 2019 Rosenthal report, which documented systemic UN failures in responding to the Rohingya crisis, and called for greater transparency and accountability across the UN system.
The signatories urged all UN agencies to fully implement the Human Rights Up Front Action Plan.
They called for consistent application of impartiality across all UN programs, direct support for local civil society organizations, the National Unity Government and ethnic resistance organizations, and an end to aid delivery through junta-controlled channels.
The groups also urged the UN to stop institutional cooperation and public activities in Naypyitaw that could legitimize the junta, and to establish stronger due diligence procedures to prevent UN agencies from entering contracts with sanctioned individuals or entities.
They called on UN headquarters to exercise tighter oversight over operations in Myanmar, strengthen accountability across the UN system, ensure humanitarian access and uphold international legal obligations.
The groups said the UN Security Council has failed to take effective action on Myanmar under Chapter VII of the UN Charter because of obstruction by some veto-wielding members, and urged the General Assembly to show stronger leadership.
The open letter was signed by 191 organizations, including 22 groups that withheld their names for security reasons.
