The junta seized power by force in 2021, after Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's NLD party won a landslide victory in the elections the previous year.
The military coup triggered a civil war and in its attempt to quell all opposition, the junta has displaced hundreds of thousands, is accused of genocide and human rights violations, and has killed civilians in indiscriminate aerial bombings.
At the same time, the military has called for elections starting on December 28. They themselves describe it as a path to peace, but rebel-held areas are not participating, opposition figures are being imprisoned and a number of journalists have been killed.
Holding elections under these circumstances is unthinkable, says Volker Türk, who regrets that the serious situation in the country is not receiving enough attention globally.
How can they even be implemented when significant parts of the country are not under anyone's control, and when the military is part of the conflict and has subjected the population to years of oppression?
