By Elliott Clark | Published 16th December 2025

The Burmese Junta has made numerous violations of human rights since it launched its coup against democratically elected President Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021. This report provides a brief overview of four major issues within Burma today. These being the lack of free and fair elections, the number of political prisoners, use of violence against civilians, and the widespread use of torture, showing that Burma suffers from a regime that is all too eager to egregiously violate the most fundamental of human rights to consolidate its grip upon the nation.

Free and fair elections:

The Junta aims to hold elections on the 28th of December. It is a widely held view that these elections do not possess any iota of legitimacy given that many political parties have been banned by the regime, including the former ruling party, the National League for Democracy. Furthermore, due to the ongoing conflict between the military and several resistance groups, some townships will not be able to safely vote in these elections. Ultimately, this means that some citizens will be refused the right to vote because of their circumstances. With this in mind, it is clear that the elections will neither be free nor fair. Instead, the primary purpose of this election, in many commentators’ eyes, is to provide false legitimacy to the Junta, rather than implement the will of the people. 

If free and fair elections were to take place in Burma, the National League for Democracy, a party that has been banned by the Junta, would be highly likely to win. This is because they won in a landslide only three months before the 2021 coup, ultimately obtaining around 80% of the vote. The NLD’s resounding success in this election indicates that they would be likely to win again if another fair election were to take place. 

The number of political prisoners:

Prior to the large number of political prisoners in Burma reduced in late November due to the upcoming election, Burma was said to have the third most political prisoners globally. The number is estimated to be around 22,000. These include leading figures, like former President Aung San Suu Kyi, along with senior figures from the National League for Democracy. Suu kyi’s current location is unknown and no family has been allowed to see her. Furthermore, the conditions of these prisons have been known to be inhumane. According to some estimates, at least two political prisoners die each month. Beyond this, there is systematic violence within the prisoners. One former prisoner said that he was ‘blindfolded, beaten, deprived of food and water and otherwise tortured during interrogations in Yangon.’ Evidently, the Junta only has utter disregard for the rights of political prisoners and has no hesitancy in using criminal law to project its power through Burmese society. 

Use of violence against civilians:

In order to quash resistance to its rule, the Burmese Junta has made extensive use of violence. Villages have been routinely burned, whilst civilians are executed at scale to dissuade civilians from engaging in acts of resistance and punish those who stand up to the regime. Estimates indicate that around 90% of Burma’s population have been subjected to political violence since the coup of 2021. Undoubtedly, the Burmese Junta is remarkably desperate to maintain control of the territory. Furthermore, the Junta regularly engages in abduction to ensure that its military has enough manpower to continue these depraved operations. Reportedly, there were 170 such incidents in December 2024, a patent abuse of the most fundamental of rights. 

Widespread use of torture:

The U.N. has gathered significant evidence that the use of torture in Burma has only increased in frequency and intensity since the coup. Torture takes place at military-run detainee camps that purport to target ‘terrorists’. The type of torture methods that are used are shockingly diverse. Electric shocks, removal of fingernails with plyers, beatings, strangulation short of death, along with sexualised torture. Depravingly, there is considerable evidence that these methods have been used against children. 

Editor: Emma Burgess