Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Friday called on Southeast Asian and global leaders gathering for the ASEAN Summit and East Asia Summit in Kuala Lumpur later this month to take a firm stand against Myanmar’s military junta and its plan to hold national elections in December, describing the process as a “sham” that would further entrench repression and violence.

In an open letter addressed to governments attending the ASEAN, ASEAN Partners, and East Asia Summits, HRW urged member states to deny recognition of the junta’s planned elections, intensify diplomatic isolation of Myanmar’s military rulers, and increase humanitarian and refugee assistance amid what it described as one of the worst displacement crises in Asia since the Second World War.

Since seizing power in a February 2021 coup

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