Human Rights Watch submitted a report to the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade References Committee on the state of democracy and human rights in Myanmar, five years after the February 2021 military coup. Since the coup, the military junta has systematically dismantled the country’s infrastructure, economy, civil and political institutions, and public services, including healthcare and education, while committing widespread atrocities against civilians.
In 2025, the junta intensified repression to consolidate power and orchestrated sham elections through the military proxy party, the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP). These elections, held in phases between December 2025 and January 2026, were designed to guarantee military control, while significant parts of the country remained inaccessible due to ongoing conflict. Since the coup, key political figures, including Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint, were imprisoned on fabricated charges, and opposition parties were disbanded or criminalized under restrictive political laws. Legal measures also targeted dissent, with harsh penalties for criticizing the elections, including imprisonment and death.
Conflict-related abuses by the military escalated, with airstrikes, paramotor attacks, and the use of banned weapons affecting civilians in opposition-held areas. Attacks have targeted residential areas, schools, hospitals, and religious sites, causing thousands of deaths and displacing millions. The junta has also imposed restrictions on humanitarian aid, exacerbating food insecurity, malnutrition, and preventable disease, while forcibly conscripting young men and children into military service.
The junta has carried out mass arbitrary arrests, detention, and torture, targeting activists, journalists, humanitarian workers, lawyers, and religious leaders. Over 30,000 people have been detained since the coup, including women and children, with thousands reportedly dying in custody. Security forces routinely employ sexual and gender-based violence, beatings, starvation, and denial of medical care as forms of repression, while expanding surveillance and restricting freedom of expression online.
Ethnic minorities, especially the Rohingya, continue to face grave human rights violations, including persecution, forced labor, and displacement. Fighting in Rakhine State has displaced hundreds of thousands and forced Rohingya refugees to flee to Bangladesh, with dangerous sea journeys leading to many deaths or disappearances. International accountability mechanisms, including the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice, are engaged in cases against the junta, but rulings and enforcement remain pending.
The post-coup environment has also fueled illicit economies, including opium and synthetic drug production, human trafficking, and unregulated mining of rare earth metals. These activities, often linked to foreign operators, have resulted in widespread environmental damage, exploitation, and health hazards for local communities.
Human Rights Watch recommends that the international community, including Australia, reject the results of the junta’s fraudulent elections, expand and enforce sanctions against the military, and work with ASEAN states to ensure compliance. Increased support should be provided to civil society groups, the National Unity Government, and Myanmar refugees, including resettlement and alternative visa programs. Efforts to hold the junta accountable through international justice mechanisms are essential to restoring human rights, dismantling military impunity, and re-establishing civilian democratic rule in Myanmar.
