HURFOM Releases New Report: “Voting Under the Barrel of a Gun – A Country at War, Not at the Polls”
November 13, 2025
The Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) has released a new report, “Voting Under the Barrel of a Gun: A Country at War, Not at the Polls.” The findings show that the junta’s planned election is not a democratic process but a violent campaign to manufacture legitimacy while communities face ongoing attacks and intimidation.
Launched ahead of the regime’s proposed polls, the report draws on interviews and case studies from conflict-affected areas across Mon State, Karen State, and Tanintharyi Region. HURFOM documents how the junta is using fear, coercion, and propaganda to force participation, even as airstrikes, shelling, and mass arrests continue to harm civilians.
HURFOM interviewed politicians, election observers, community members in our target areas, and actors connected to the armed context. One Mon State election observer told HURFOM on 7 October 2025 that the process is “unfair by design,” citing the manipulation of administrative boundaries, population data, and the rollout of a confusing proportional representation system across Mon State.
“Everyone in Mon State, and across the country, already knows the 2025 election is a sham. People understand they will be forced to ‘participate’ in an election held at gunpoint,” the observer said. “At the same time, the junta is trying to make their fake results look more realistic. You can see this in how they are redrawing district boundaries.”
The report shows how life under siege has become unbearable for many communities. With violence and repression intensifying around the election period, HURFOM warns that another decade of military rule is likely if there is no decisive international response.
HURFOM calls on regional and global actors to reject the junta’s planned election and take meaningful action, including pursuing a referral of the human rights situation in Burma to the International Criminal Court.
The full report can be downloaded here:
👉 Download “Voting Under the Barrel of a Gun” (PDF)
The press release is available here:
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