Elections scheduled in military-ruled Myanmar next month could never be free or fair, the United Nations insisted Friday, warning that the junta could unleash mass-electronic surveillance on polling stations.

Myanmar's military seized power in a 2021 coup, sparking a civil war, but is trumpeting elections as an opportunity for reconciliation.

The ruling junta has said the polls, scheduled to start on December 28, are the path to peace.

But the vote will be blocked from rebel-held enclaves and monitors are dismissing it as a ploy to disguise continuing military rule.

"This military-controlled ballot will be conducted in an atmosphere rife with threats and violence putting the lives of civilians at risk," UN rights office spokesman Jeremy Laurence told reporters in Geneva.

"The growing

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