At the 25th session of the Human Rights Council, QUNO co-sponsored a side-event entitled “Conscientious Objection to Military Service: Challenges and International Responses”, with the Permanent Missions of Costa Rica, Croatia and Poland. During this side event, which was moderated by Rachel Brett from QUNO, the panellists explored different elements of the right to conscientious objection. The Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, Heiner Bielefeldt, addressed the philosophical underpinnings of conscience and the right to conscientious objection. Sir Nigel Rodley, the Chairperson of the Human Rights Committee, discussed developments within the Committee regarding conscientious objection. The third speaker, Emily Graham from QUNO addressed the practical implications of refusing military service, including prosecution and imprisonment but also fines, lack of necessary identity documentation and discrimination.
Myanmar “sham electionsโ: QUNO hostsย Quaker Houseย briefing
On 2 December, the Quaker UN Officeย hostedย diplomatsย at Quaker House forย a private briefingย in advance of theย elections in Myanmarย that began onย 28 December 2025.ย QUNO Director, Sarah Clarke,ย openedย the meeting, noting thatย โthe world will beโฏwatchingโฏcarefullyย to see howย the international communityย respondsย toโฏthe vote.โย Seanย Dunne,ย an expert who hasย supported election observationย with the UN and the Carter Center,ย including in Myanmar, served as an outside briefer.ย In his remarks, Seanย emphasized that the Myanmarย general elections,ย which areย being conducted by the military regime that overthrew the democratically elected governmentย followingย electionsย in 2020,ย โfail to meet any recognized international benchmark for credibility or genuineness.โย Seanย concurredย withย UN experts,ย numerousย Human Rightsย organizations, and media outlets describing theย elections asย a โcharadeโ or โshamย electionโ intended to โsolicit recognition from foreign governments and legitimize the continuation of military rule, rather than reflect the genuine will of the Myanmar people.โย In Myanmar,ย voting kicked off onย 28 December 2025,ย withย polls beingย held inย roughly aย third of Myanmarโsย townships. Despite two more voting phases scheduled on 11 and 25 January 2026, several million people, 56 townships, andย numerousย political parties,ย including the winner of Myanmarโs lastย credible election,ย the National League for Democracy, have been excluded by the military orย haveย chosenย not toย participate.ย ย As Sean explained, theseย exclusionary factorsย amount to โan incredibly sophisticated form of election engineering.โย Theย implementation of biometric voting and surveillance technology, new laws criminalizing criticism of the election, andย manipulation of representative quotas in Myanmarโs […]
