U.S. officials have accused Burma’s military junta of reversing «decades of democratic progress» in the country on the second anniversary of general elections held just months before the February 2021 coup.
«Two years ago, people across Burma voted in credible and peaceful elections that were a cornerstone in the framework of decades of democratic progress after more than half a century of military rule,» Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.
Thus, he expressed that these elections reaffirmed the «commitment of the Burmese people to democracy», while the Army has decided to «deny the will of the voters». «In February 2021, they carried out a coup d’état that reversed decades of progress», he warned.
Blinken has also pointed out that the Armed Forces have carried out a «brutal campaign of violence against the people, which has resulted in more than 2,400 victims and 16,000 detainees.» «The people are suffering one of the worst humanitarian crises, while the regime is limiting access to essential humanitarian aid,» he added.
In this regard, he warned that in recent months the junta has engaged in increased violence and has «executed activists» while attacking and killing «the most vulnerable people in society».
Blinken warned that the United States «is convinced that the regime is planning to carry out fraudulent elections, which cannot be free in the current context and will only lead to increased violence and a continuation of the crisis».
«We call on the international community to reject these elections and engage with pro-democracy leaders who seek a more inclusive and prosperous vision for Burma,» he said, before asserting that «the United States, along with other allies, will continue to take action in the face of the regime’s atrocities.»
«We will persist in working with allies to ensure justice and (…) continue to pressure the regime to end the violence and respect the will of the people and their democratic demands,» he concluded.
The coup d’état was perpetrated by the army precisely to annul the results of the general elections of November 2020, in which the National League for Democracy won the parliamentary majority, arguing that there had been fraud, a claim questioned by international observers.
Despite this, the formation’s parliamentarians were sworn in at an informal ceremony and re-elected the country’s hitherto ‘de facto leader’ Aung San Suu Kyi for a second term. However, both Suu Kyi and the country’s then president, Win Myint, remain imprisoned.
