To: Member States of the United Nations General Assembly
United Nations Secretary-General
3 July 2026
Open Letter: The UNGA Must Adopt a New Resolution to Reject the Illegal Junta’s Sham Election, Enforce Minimum Engagement, Advance Accountability, and Support Myanmar Peoples’ Efforts to Build a Genuine Federal Democratic Myanmar
Dear Excellencies,
We, the undersigned 191 Myanmar, regional, and international civil society organizations, urgently call upon the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to adopt a robust new resolution that:
1. Rejects the military junta’s fraudulent election and refuses recognition of any rebranded civilian governance structures.
2. Strictly enforces the UN policy of minimal political engagement with the military junta.
3. Responds effectively to the escalating humanitarian and human rights catastrophe.
4. Restricts the junta’s capacity to commit atrocities by blocking access to aviation fuel, arms, and dual use technologies.
5. Combats the transnational criminal economies that fund the junta’s terror campaign.
6. Advances international accountability across all available legal avenues.
Excellencies,
Over the past five years, the illegal military junta has waged a campaign of terror. Since February 2021, over 31,000 democracy activists have been arrested, and documentation records at least 501 massacres. While the junta has launched 9,794 aerial bombardments resulting in 4,853 civilian deaths since the coup, this violence exponentially spiked to manufacture political legitimacy for its sham election. Between December 2025 and January 2026 alone, the OHCHR documented at least 170 civilians killed in 408 military aerial attacks to crush opposition during the voting period. Electoral secrecy was systematically dismantled, and at least 404 people were arbitrarily detained under so called election protection laws. This stark surge in civilian casualties vividly demonstrates that the election was not a political process, but a weapon of war.
Furthermore, the UN Secretary-General’s report confirms the military systematically uses sexual and gender-based violence as tactics of war. Compounding these atrocities, Myanmar has become a regional hub for transnational organized crimes. Cyber scam centers and illicit narcotics production flourish under the junta, generating vital revenue to evade international sanctions and spreading instability globally. In stark contrast, Myanmar’s diverse civil society and democratic resistance groups have bravely established people led governance from the ground up, actively shaping a sustainable federal democracy.
Following this violently coerced process, the junta rebranded itself under a civilian disguise, with Min Aung Hlaing self-appointed as president. The UN Human Rights Council explicitly affirmed these elections were neither free nor fair. Echoing the urgent appeals made by Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun, the UNGA must unequivocally reject the sham election and refrain from action that could be interpreted as conferring legitimacy on governance structures emerging from it. The credentials and representation of Myanmar at the United Nations must continue to reflect the will and democratic aspirations of the people of Myanmar and must not be used to confer legitimacy upon military rule. Any recognition of, or engagement that confers legitimacy upon, such structures risks normalizing ongoing violations of international law and undermining international accountability efforts.
We call on the UNGA to step up efforts to stop the flow of arms to Myanmar, including by specifically calling on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to impose an arms embargo, and by calling on individual UN members to impose unilateral arms embargoes. Increased international efforts must also be made to prevent equipment and revenue that contributes to the military’s capacity to commit serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law. The UNGA should call on the UNSC to impose targeted sanctions prohibiting to supply of aviation fuel to the Myanmar military.
Decades of impunity have encouraged and enabled the Myanmar military to continue to violate international law on a daily basis. The Myanmar military have for decades ignored UNGA resolutions calling on them to abide by international law and end violations of international law. UNGA must now go further in efforts to uphold international law in Myanmar. Specifically, UNGA should call on the UNSC to refer the situation in the whole of Myanmar to the International Criminal Court (ICC), call on the UNSC to hold a meeting to address the Myanmar military violating the provisional measures ordered by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), and welcome the application of universal jurisdiction in UN member states to address violations of international law by the Myanmar military.
Excellencies,
While we acknowledge the UN’s strict policy of minimum engagement with the junta, current operational practice by certain UN Agencies demonstrates and raises concerns consistency with stated UN principles and policies:
- Indirect Financial Support: Certain operational arrangements may result in financial benefits to the junta-controlled institutions.
- Inconsistent Application: Agencies prioritize engagement with junta-controlled authorities and operations in junta-controlled territories while restricting engagement with resistance-controlled regions.
- Engagement with Military-Linked Businesses: Credible reports indicate continued interactions with companies identified by the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar as having links to the military.
- Coercion of National Staff: Documented reports indicate that Myanmar-based national staff are subjected to pressure and coercion by junta administrators/authorities to engage with military-controlled institutions, placing their safety, independence, and professional responsibilities at risk.
- Compromised Partnerships: Technical collaboration and public engagement with military created front organizations raises concerns regarding the perceived impartiality and credibility of UN engagement.
Serious concerns remain regarding the implementation of the recommendations of the 2019 Rosenthal Report, which identified systemic failure of the UN in its response to the Rohingya crisis. Greater transparency and accountability are needed to ensure these lessons are fully incorporated across the UN system. All UN agencies must strictly enforce the Human Rights Up Front Action Plan by executing these priority institutional measures.
• Enforce Core Principles: Eliminate inconsistent application of neutrality across all programming.
• Reroute Aid: Bypass junta-controlled channels. Directly fund and collaborate with local civil society, the NUG, and EROs.
• Halt Legitimization: Cease all institutional cooperation or public visibility in Nay Pyi Taw that validates the illegal authorities.
• Corporate Due Diligence: Establish robust due diligence and vetting procedures to ensure no UN agency contracts with sanctioned individuals.
• Strengthen Headquarters Oversight and Accountability Mechanisms: Ensure stronger oversight of UN country operations and greater accountability across the UN systems to support humanitarian access and uphold intentional legal obligations.
Excellencies,
For too long, fragmented institutional approaches have allowed the military cartel to exploit international presence. UN Agencies must explicitly align with the UN’s stated resolutions and speak with a unified, principled voice.
Furthermore, because the UN Security Council has repeatedly failed to exercise its authority under Chapter VII of the UN Charter to address the Myanmar crisis—due to certain veto wielding members blocking a new resolution—we urgently call upon the UN General Assembly to assume a stronger leadership role in advancing international action on Myanmar. The UNGA must adopt a robust resolution that reflects the urgency of the crisis, rejects the rebranded military junta’s attempts to legitimize its military rule through the sham election, and supports a rights-based federal democratic future grounded in international law, justice, and accountability.
For more information, please contact:
• Khin Ohmar, Progressive Voice; info@progressive-voice.org
• Tun Khin, Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK; tunkhin80@gmail.com
• Debbie Stothard, ALTSEAN-BURMA; debbie@altsean.org
• Salai Za Uk Ling, Chin Human Rights Organization; zauk@chinhumanrights.org
• Mark Farmaner, Burma Campaign UK; Mark.Farmaner@burmacampaign.org.uk
Signed by 191 civil society organizations, including 22 organizations that have chosen not to disclose their names.