On 7 August, the CSO Working Group on Independent National Human Rights Institution (Burma/Myanmar) (Working Group) and the Asian NGO Network on National Human Rights Institutions (ANNI) issued a press release urging the Southeast Asia National Human Rights Institution Forum (SEANF) to immediately remove the junta-controlled Myanmar National Human Rights Commission from its network. The press release is as follows.
In May 2025, the APF officially removed the MNHRC from its regional human rights network, following the removal of its accreditation by the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI) in December 2024 and subsequently, its GANHRI membership in March 2025.
According to the APF’s Constitution, full members hold an “A” status accreditation from GANHRI, indicating full compliance with the Paris Principles—the international standards for effective, credible, and independent NHRIs. Members with a “B” status accreditation—signifying only partial compliance—are only granted associate membership.
As the APF uses GANHRI’s accreditation decisions to determine membership status in its network, the expulsion of the MNHRC following GANHRI’s removal of the MNHRC’s accreditation status was imminent and necessary.
Five long months after GANHRI revoked the MNHRC’s accreditation, the APF has finally taken the critical decision required under its own constitution. This long-overdue, principled decision is the result of more than four years of consistent advocacy efforts and repeated calls by the Working Group and ANNI alongside their local, regional, and international partners.
How the MNHRC supports the junta
Since the attempted coup in 2021, the Myanmar military junta has continued to commit atrocity crimes against the people of Myanmar—killing more than 7,000 people, torching more than 110,000 homes, and conducting more than 5,000 airstrikes, most of which have targeted civilians.
The MNHRC has been an accessory to these crimes, serving as a smokescreen for the junta by echoing false narratives, thus lending false legitimacy to the perpetrators of these human rights abuses.
For more than four years, the MNHRC has clearly violated the Paris Principles through persistent silence and inaction towards the junta’s grave human rights violations. It has also expressed vocal support for the junta.
Khin Ohmar, Chairperson of Progressive Voice, member of the Working Group, said: “The APF’s long-awaited decision to remove the junta-appointed MNHRC demonstrates that the network is, at last, willing to take a principled stance. This decision sends a clear message to the people of Myanmar that the APF is finally upholding its integrity by refusing to tolerate the MNHRC’s blatant disregard for the Paris Principles and cover-up of human rights violations.
“This is an overdue but necessary commitment to accountability and human rights by the APF. This proxy institution of the Myanmar military—the MNHRC—is irreparable. All regional NHRIs and networks must cease any support for and engagement with the MNHRC. Continuing to do so risks complicity in the crimes of the Myanmar military and undermines the credibility and integrity of their own human rights institutions.”
Mary Aileen Diez-Bacalso, Executive Director of FORUM-ASIA, which serves as the Secretariat of ANNI, said: “The recognition by global and regional NHRI networks of the junta-controlled MNHRC as unacceptable and in violation of international standards is critical in promoting justice and accountability. We call on other international and regional bodies, particularly the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the SEANF to take immediate steps towards disengaging with the discredited MNHRC in order to preserve its credibility and public trust.”
Bo Bo, Executive Director of Generation Wave, member of the Working Group, said: “The APF’s long-overdue decision must serve as a critical push for SEANF to uphold the same principles and remove the MNHRC from its human rights network without further delay. For SEANF’s credibility and integrity as a human rights network, this step must be taken. The removal of the MNHRC from the APF echoes the voices of Myanmar’s civil society that have tirelessly called out the MNHRC’s non-compliance with the Paris Principles and dangerous alignment with the murderous junta.
“SEANF and regional NHRIs must honor these voices. At a time when the Myanmar people continue to suffer under the illegal junta’s campaign of terror, it is all the more urgent and imperative that regional NHRI networks stand with civil society in Myanmar as we work to build a genuinely independent and credible national human rights institution rooted in the Paris Principles.”
