ND Burma
ND-Burma formed in 2004 in order to provide a way for Burma human rights organizations to collaborate on the human rights documentation process. The 13 ND-Burma member organizations seek to collectively use the truth of what communities in Burma have endured to advocate for justice for victims. ND-Burma trains local organizations in human rights documentation; coordinates members’ input into a common database using Martus, a secure open-source software; and engages in joint-advocacy campaigns.
Recent Posts
- Successfully Conducted a Workshop on Nepal’s Transitional Justice (TJ) with Experts from Nepal.
- East Timor war crimes case against Min Aung Hlaing reaches next stage
- War Crimes Case Against Myanmar Dictator Moves Forward in Timor-Leste
- Open letter from Myanmar, regional and international civil society organizations to ASEAN to End Myanmar Military’s Violence, Advance Accountability and Operationalize Cross-border Humanitarian Aid
- Press Release – Rights-Based Reform: ASEAN Five Years on from the 5-Point Consensus
[Open Letter] SEANF must remove membership of junta-controlled Myanmar National Human Rights Commission
/in Member statementsTo: Honorable Chair and Members of the Southeast Asia National Human Rights Institution Forum (SEANF)
Honorable Chairperson Dato’ Seri Mohd Hishamudin Yunus
Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM)
Honorable Chairperson Ms. Anis Hidayah
National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM), Indonesia
Honorable Provedor Mr. Virgilio da Silva Guterres
Provedor de Direitos Humanos e Justiça (PDHJ) , Timor-Leste
Honorable Chairperson Atty. Richard Paat Palpal-latoc
Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines (CHRP)
Honorable Chairperson Ms. Pornprapai Ganjanarintr
National Human Rights Commission of Thailand (NHRCT)
21 April 2026
[Open Letter] SEANF must remove membership of junta-controlled Myanmar National Human Rights Commission
We, the CSO Working Group on Independent National Human Rights Institution (Burma/Myanmar) (Working Group), the Asian NGO Network on National Human Rights Institutions (ANNI), and the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) respectfully urge the Southeast Asia National Human Rights Institution Forum (SEANF) to take decisive steps toward the formal removal of the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission (MNHRC) from its membership.
As SEANF convenes its first Technical Working Group Meeting under the leadership of the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM) from 20–22 April 2026, we encourage meaningful progress, including necessary amendments to the Rules of Procedure, to enable the removal of the junta-controlled MNHRC.
This action is essential to uphold SEANF’s integrity, credibility, and commitment to accountability.
MNHRC’s alignment with the military junta
Since the attempted coup in 2021, the Myanmar military junta has perpetrated widespread and systematic human rights violations against civilians. In this context, the MNHRC has failed to act independently and has instead reinforced the junta’s narratives, thereby undermining its mandate and legitimacy.
For over five years, the MNHRC has remained silent in the face of grave violations. It also openly defended the junta against criticisms.
The MNHRC’s 15 January 2026 statement criticizing SUHAKAM—following SUHAKAM’s concerns over the junta-led sham election held between 28 December 2025 and 25 January 2026—further illustrates its unwillingness to engage constructively and its continued failure to maintain independence as required under the Paris Principles, the minimum international standards expected of national human rights institutions.
Such conduct reflects a fundamental lack of independence, credibility, and meaningful engagement with regional human rights mechanisms.
Recent escalations further underscore the severity of the crisis. Reports of continued airstrikes targeting civilian areas, including attacks in Sagaing Region and Karen and Kachin States, have resulted in significant civilian casualties and destruction of homes, hospitals, schools, and places of worship. These incidents reflect a pattern of increasing atrocity crimes by the Myanmar military and reinforce the urgent need for accountability, contradicting the junta’s narratives portraying a transition to civilian governance.
Myanmar’s illegitimate junta Chief, now self-appointed president, Min Aung Hlaing, also remains subject to international accountability efforts, including proceedings before courts in Argentina and the International Criminal Court, as well as universal jurisdiction cases initiated in Timor-Leste and Indonesia.
On 10 April 2026, Min Aung Hlaing re-appointed the Commissioners of the MNHRC shortly after assuming the self-appointed presidency. The lack of independence of the MNHRC is again evident, as the Commissioners are selected by the military, reflecting continued military control over the entity and falling short of the independence and pluralism required by the Paris Principles.
This sustained non-compliance has resulted in the MNHRC’s expulsion from the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI) in March 2025 and the Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions (APF) in May 2025.
To preserve its standing as a credible regional human rights body, SEANF must follow suit without further delay.
Safeguarding SEANF’s credibility
Continued inclusion of a dis-accredited institution risks undermining the SEANF’s collective integrity. The removal of the MNHRC, alongside full disengagement from the junta-controlled body, is essential to promoting accountability.
We recognize the ongoing efforts of SEANF members—including its Chair, SUHAKAM—in demonstrating solidarity with the people of Myanmar. We also acknowledge current initiatives to amend the Rules of Procedure to clarify membership and procedural standards, with a view to strengthening accountability and safeguarding the integrity of SEANF.
ANNI and the Working Group extend our support to these efforts and to members actively advancing accountability, while respectfully encouraging timely and concrete progress.
GANHRI’s decision sends a clear message that non-compliance with the Paris Principles cannot be tolerated. We respectfully call on SEANF to act with similar resolve. Doing so would reinforce regional commitment to human rights standards and principled institutional leadership. The removal of the MNHRC also presents an opportunity for SEANF to strengthen its institutional coherence and renew its collective efforts to advance human rights, justice, and accountability across Southeast Asia.
We further encourage SEANF to publicly announce the removal of the MNHRC’s membership and to promptly update all relevant official platforms. In parallel, all forms of engagement with the MNHRC should cease without delay. Transparency in this process will be critical to maintaining public trust.
We look forward to confirmation of the MNHRC’s formal removal from SEANF and remain ready to engage constructively in support of independent and accountable national human rights institutions in the region.
Sincerely,
CSO Working Group on Independent National Human Rights Institution (Burma/Myanmar)
Asian NGO Network on National Human Rights Institutions (ANNI)
Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)
For more information, please contact:
About the Asian NGO Network on National Human Rights Institutions (ANNI)
The Asian NGO Network on National Human Rights Institutions (ANNI) was established in December 2006. It is a network of Asian non-governmental organisations and human rights defenders working on issues related to National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs). ANNI currently has 33 member organisations from 21 countries or territories. ANNI members work on strengthening the work and functioning of Asian NHRIs to better promote and protect human rights as well as to advocate for the improved compliance of Asian NHRIs with international standards, including the Paris Principles and General Observations of the Sub-Committee on Accreditation (SCA) of the Global Alliance of NHRIs (GANHRI). The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) has served as the Secretariat of ANNI since its establishment in 2006.
More information at: https://forum-asia.org/anni/
About the CSO Working Group on Independent National Human Rights Institution (Burma/Myanmar)
The CSO Working Group on Independent National Human Rights Institution (Burma/Myanmar) advocates for the establishment of a new NHRI—tentatively named the Union Human Rights Commission—to replace the illegitimate MNHRC which has aligned itself with the illegal military junta. The Working Group was previously known as the ‘CSO Working Group on MNHRC Reform.’ Currently, it consists of 21 Myanmar civil society organizations. From its founding in 2019 until the attempted coup in February 2021, the Working Group consistently advocated for an effective MNHRC that demonstrates a commitment to the international standards set forth in the Paris Principles.
More information at: https://www.facebook.com/WGonNHRIBurma
President Win Myint freed in broad Myanmar prisoner amnesty
/in NewsMyanmar’s President Win Myint was freed Friday as part of a broad prisoner amnesty by Min Aung Hlaing, who was inaugurated as president by a pro-military parliament on April 10, to mark the traditional Myanmar New Year.
The pardon order applied to more than 4,500 prisoners, but it was not immediately clear how many people imprisoned for opposing military rule were included and there was no sign that 80-year-old former leader Aung San Suu Kyi would be freed as well.
Win Myint is Aung San Suu Kyi’s longtime loyalist and was elected as president in 2018. He served as president under State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi because the military-drafted constitution barred her from holding the presidency.
Both were arrested during the military coup on Feb. 1, 2021. Win Myint was later given 12-year combined prison sentences for several offenses, which was reduced to eight years in 2023.
Regime-run MRTV television reported that Win Myint, who was in a prison in Taungoo Township in Bago region, had received amnesty.
Outside Insein Prison in Yangon, buses carrying prisoners were welcomed by relatives and friends who had been waiting since early morning. Among those released was filmmaker Shin Daewe, who was sentenced to life imprisonment under a counterterrorism law in January 2024.
The amnesty comes a week after Min Aung Hlaing was sworn into office following an election that critics say was neither free nor fair and was orchestrated to keep the military’s iron grip on power.
Aung San Suu Kyi expected to be transferred to house arrest
Regime-run media in Myanmar said in addition to the 4,335 prisoners pardoned, nearly 180 foreigners would be released and deported.
If the freed prisoners reoffend, they will have to serve the rest of their original sentences in addition to any new sentence, according to the terms of their release. A separate report said death sentences were commuted to life imprisonment, life sentences were reduced to 40 years and prison terms of less than 40 years were cut by one-sixth.
Under that measure, Aung San Suu Kyi’s 27-year sentence would be reduced by 4 1/2 years, leaving her with 22 1/2 years still to serve.
A senior military officer from the capital, Naypyidaw told the Associated Press on Friday that she will be transferred to house arrest as part of the clemency. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to release information.
Aung San Suu Kyi has been serving a prison term on a variety of criminal convictions at an undisclosed location in Naypyidaw and has been moved to house arrest at least once in April 2024.
In his inauguration speech last week, Min Aung Hlaing said his government would implement amnesties that contribute to social reconciliation, justice and peace and support the country’s overall development.
Prisoner releases are common on holidays and other significant occasions in Myanmar.
Since the 2021 military coup, nearly 8,000 civilians have been killed and some 22,170 political detainees, including Aung San Suu Kyi, remain jailed, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), a rights monitoring group.
Total deaths in the ongoing conflict are estimated to be much higher.
Many political detainees have been held on incitement charges, a law widely used to arrest critics of the government or military and punishable by up to three years in prison.
Others have been prosecuted under a counterterrorism law that carries a potential death penalty and has been used to target political and armed opponents, journalists and other dissenters.
The human rights advocacy group Burma Campaign UK said in its statement on Friday that the slow, staged release of political prisoners is designed to gain positive publicity while making no real reforms.
“If the Burmese military regime were genuine about reform, they could release all 14,000 political prisoners today,” said the group’s advocacy and communications officer Minn Tent Bo, referring to the country’s former name.
“These people should not have been arrested in the first place. The Burmese military could stop arresting activists and could repeal all repressive laws. They haven’t done that.”
AP
DVB News
Rights Group Files Genocide Complaint Against Myanmar Junta Chief: Indonesian AG
/in NewsJAKARTA—Rohingya representatives and a rights group filed a complaint Monday with Indonesia’s attorney general against Myanmar junta chief-turned-president-elect Min Aung Hlaing for alleged rights abuses against the minority group, the prosecutor’s office in Jakarta told AFP.
Myanmar’s military, which grabbed power in a 2021 coup, has for decades been accused of rights abuses, mostly targeting the country’s ethnic minorities including the Rohingya.
The complaint was filed in Indonesia by a Rohingya woman who fled from Myanmar, and other figures including former Indonesian Attorney General Marzuki Darusman and representatives of local rights group KontraS, the office’s spokesman Anang Supriatna told AFP.
“They came to deliver a complaint of crimes against humanity and genocide committed against the Rohingya people in Myanmar by the military junta government” including Min Aung Hlaing, Anang said.
The office will forward the complaint to a division of the attorney general’s office that specializes in serious crimes, he added.
Indonesian law gives the country’s courts “universal jurisdiction” over cases that involve serious crimes committed elsewhere in the world.
The world’s largest Muslim-majority country has for years been receiving Rohingya refugees as thousands risk their lives on long and dangerous sea journeys to reach Indonesia or Malaysia.
Irrawaddy News
Releases‘Defying a Dictatorship’: An Overview of the Human Rights Situation in Burma
/in Press Releases and StatementsThe Network for Human Rights Documentation – Burma Releases
‘Defying a Dictatorship’: An Overview of the Human Rights Situation in Burma
July-December 2025
17 March 2026
For Immediate Release
Today, the Network for Human Rights Documentation-Burma publishes its latest bi-annual report, ‘Defying a Dictatorship,’ which outlines the human rights situation in various States and Regions of ND-Burma members from July to December 2025.
During this period, ND-Burma’s member organizations documented 462 human rights violations across 279 incidents in seven regions and six states in Burma. Of these, 271 violations were committed by the military junta, 5 by Ethnic Revolution Organizations (EROs), and 3 cases could not be attributed to a perpetrator. In total, 881 individuals, including 357 males, 187 females, 182 children, and 155 individuals of unknown gender or age, had their rights violated. Significantly, 352 individuals, including 173 males, 80 females, 82 children, and 17 of unknown genders or ages, were killed.
The situation on the ground for civilians remains increasingly volatile as the armed actors continue to evade accountability for their widespread and systematic crimes. The most vulnerable, especially women and children, are forced to endure the worst suffering as their calls to the international community for action go largely unanswered. With over 3.5 million people displaced nationwide, the urgency for action is clear. It is vital that global stakeholders are not deceived by the regime’s insistence that the situation is normal. Quite the contrary. Humanitarian aid and elections are routinely weaponized as tools to control and surveil the population.
Furthermore, as shown in the latest report by ND-Burma, there are numerous cases in areas where members are actively documenting human rights violations, providing evidence of how the junta is terrorizing innocent people. A rule of law or a federal democracy cannot exist with the junta in any leadership role. Therefore, the international community must respond to the longstanding calls of civil society by pursuing coordinated and meaningful actions that hold the regime accountable at the highest levels, including referring the human rights situation in Burma to the International Criminal Court. The survival and future of a new Burma depend on it.
For more information:
Name: Nai Aue Mon
Signal: +66 86 1679 741
Name: San Htoi
Signal: +66 64 9369 070
Defying a Dictatorship
/in ND-Burma's Reports, Periodic ReportDefying a Dictatorship
An Overview of the Human Rights Situation in Burma: July-December 2025
The Network for Human Rights Documentation-Burma (ND-Burma) is deeply grateful to the interviewees for their courage in speaking out against the violations committed against them. We also appreciate our member organizations and fieldworkers, who continue to gather invaluable testimonies at their own personal risk. This report would not be possible without the work and contributions of ND-Burma members, the bravery of victims, and their coordinated efforts to collect evidence of human rights abuses despite the threats to their safety and security.
The voices of civilians in this report remind us that there is still a long way to go for peace in Burma. We are motivated by their resilience to continue in the face of abject human rights abuses and crimes against humanity perpetrated by the Burmese Army and its various militias and accomplices on the ground. We sincerely thank our supporters and institutions offering unwavering support in making this report possible.
Report briefer link for Eng
Open Letter: The UNHRC Must Reject the Junta’s Sham Election Results to ConsolidateIllegitimate Rule and Advance Accountability
/in Press Releases and StatementsTo: Member and Observer States of the UN Human Rights Council
CC: UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar
18 February 2026
Open Letter: The UNHRC Must Reject the Junta’s Sham Election Results to Consolidate
Illegitimate Rule and Advance Accountability
Excellencies,
We, the undersigned 235 Myanmar, regional, and international civil society organizations, urge
the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to take decisive, principled, concrete and
time-bound action to protect the rights and dignity of the people of Myanmar. As the Council
considers its 2026 resolution on Myanmar, we call for the adoption of a robust resolution that:
electoral process conducted under the military-drafted 2008 Constitution and refuses
recognition of any outcomes or governance structures arising from it;
through measures that restrict access to aviation fuel, arms, and dual-use technologies;
networks) that enable the junta to continue its terror campaign; and
Excellencies,
The Myanmar crisis is the direct consequence of the military’s attempted coup in February 2021
and its subsequent campaign of systematic violence to unlawfully seize and consolidate power
against the will of the people. Since then, the military junta has deliberately applied terror and
repression with total impunity.
Over the past five years, the Myanmar military junta has waged a sustained campaign of terror
attacks against civilians, marked by widespread and systematic violations of international human
rights and humanitarian law. These abuses include indiscriminate airstrikes and shelling,
massacres, extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, torture, conflict-related sexual
violence, and mass arbitrary arrest and detention. Since February 2021, at least 30,476 political
prisoners have been arrested, 22,780 of whom remain detained, while 7,804 people have been
killed. Documentation records at least 501 massacres, resulting in thousands of civilian deaths.
Hundreds of thousands of civilian homes and public buildings have been deliberately destroyed,
often through coordinated arson and airstrikes, especially in Sagaing, Magway and Tanintharyi
Regions and Chin, Karenni, Karen, and Rakhine States. The junta has carried out 9,794 aerial
bombardments, including 7,330 airstrikes, 1,305 drone strikes, 820 paramotor attacks, and 339
gyrocopter assaults. These aerial attacks have resulted in 4,853 documented deaths. Since 2022,
approximately 1,853 healthcare facilities have been attacked. IDP camps, schools, places of
worship, and public gatherings are repeatedly targeted.
On 10 December 2025, International Human Rights Day, the military conducted airstrike on
Mrauk-U Hospital in Rakhine State, killing approximately 34 people and injuring more than ten.
In January 2026 alone, 633 human rights violations were documented, alongside 220 aerial
bombardments that killed at least 69 civilians. Two major massacres occurred between 21 and
25 January: in Bhamo Township, Kachin State, at least 27 people were killed during a funeral and
wedding; in Kyauktaw Township, Rakhine State, at least 21 people, including pregnant women
and children, were killed. In February 2026, further airstrikes targeted displaced civilians in
Sagaing Region, killing monastic novices, children, and villagers.
More than 3.6 million people are internally displaced, while acute food insecurity has continued
at catastrophic levels, affecting an estimated 12.4 million people in 2026. The junta’s attacks on
civilian population are deliberate. They form part of a widespread and systematic pattern that
amounts to war crimes and crimes against humanity including war crime of starvation of
civilians. The Council must adopt urgent accountability and civilian protection measures.
In addition, Myanmar has become a regional hub for transnational criminal activities. The
proliferation of cyber-scam centers, human trafficking networks, and illicit narcotics production
has accelerated, particularly in areas under the control of the junta and junta-aligned armed
groups, militias, and military-linked business networks. These criminal economies generate
revenue streams for the junta and actors connected to it, helping the military evade and
withstand international sanctions.
The consequences of these crimes extend far beyond Myanmar’s borders and have directly
affected neighboring ASEAN countries as well as the United States and Europe. Victims—often
trafficked individuals—are subjected to forced labor, detention, torture, and other serious
abuses that may amount to crimes against humanity, including enslavement and imprisonment.
The symbiotic relationship between the military junta and transnational organized crimes is now
a central feature of its survival strategy and must be explicitly addressed by the UNHRC and the
international community.
In stark contrast to the junta’s violence, the people of Myanmar have continued to organize,
resist, and build alternative political and social systems under extraordinary risks. Civil society
organizations, human rights defenders, women, youth and LGBTIQA+ activists, and democratic
resistance groups have established people-led governance from the ground up, challenging the
military-constructed, centralized, repressive state system and exclusionary nationalism. Through
survivor-centered documentation, rights-based advocacy, community education, mutual aid, and
local administration, communities are actively shaping a different political landscape that seeks
to ensure a peaceful and sustainable future based on principles of human rights, justice, and
federal democracy.
Against this backdrop, the junta attempted to manufacture political legitimacy through a
systematically coerced and tightly controlled process. The military junta weaponized the entire
electoral system—deploying the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party
(USDP), mobilizing pro-junta networks, and relying on fear, intimidation, and force—to impose a
predetermined outcome. This carefully stage-managed process was falsely presented as a
“return to democracy,” a narrative decisively rejected by the people of Myanmar. The election
was neither legal nor legitimate. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights publicly affirmed
that the military-imposed elections failed to respect fundamental human rights and only
deepened violence and societal polarization.
The junta-controlled Union Election Commission (UEC) functioned as a direct instrument of
military command, seeking to fabricate consent through surveillance, exclusion, and coercion.
The three-phase election, held between December 2025 and January 2026, unfolded amid the
widespread public boycott and junta’s heavy militarization and collapsing territorial control.
Polling stations were largely empty, with participation limited to pro-military supporters or
individuals coerced through threats of arrest, economic punishment, or pressure on family
members. Electoral secrecy and voluntariness were systematically dismantled through
surveillance, forced advance voting, and arrests under so-called election protection laws, under
which at least 404 people—324 men and 80 women—were detained. In addition, the junta’s
sham election took place amid ongoing massacres and airstrikes. The Office of the High
Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) documented and reported that at least 170 people
were killed in more than 408 military aerial attacks during the voting period between December
2025 and January 2026.
While we acknowledge the UNHRC resolution adopted on 4 April 2025, the crisis—now entering
its sixth year—demands far stronger, more concrete, and time-bound actions from UN
mechanisms and the international community.
The UNHRC must unequivocally reject the sham election and its outcomes and make clear that
no UN mechanism will recognize or engage with any governance structures arising from it. Any
recognition, engagement, or technical cooperation that confers political legitimacy on the junta,
including in the aftermath of its sham election, risks normalizing the junta’s atrocity crimes and
further emboldening it.
The Council must explicitly recognize and address the symbiotic relationship between the
Myanmar military and transnational organized crimes and call for coordinated international
action to dismantle these networks and cut off a key source of financing for the military.
We further urge the Council to call for a comprehensive global arms embargo, including targeted
sanctions on aviation fuel, cutting the financial flows that sustain the military’s decades-long
impunity. Any sale, supply, or transfer of weapons, aircraft, drones, or fuel directly facilitates
atrocity crimes and may therefore give rise to state and individual responsibility for aiding and
abetting the Myanmar military’s crimes under international law.
The Council must also mobilize political support for concrete accountability measures, including
the referral of the situation in Myanmar to the International Criminal Court (ICC) or the
establishment of an ad hoc or hybrid international criminal tribunal. We urge the Council to
actively support the NUG’s declaration under Article 12(3) of the Rome Statute, accepting ICC
jurisdiction, and to increase support for cases under the principles of universal jurisdiction,
including those pursued in Argentina, Timor-Leste, and other national courts.
Finally, the UN must move beyond reliance on ASEAN’s failed Five-Point Consensus and adopt an
approach that support a Myanmar people-led, rights-based solution grounded in international
law, justice, and accountability.
Excellencies,
We urge you to support the people of Myanmar in their unwavering resistance against the
criminal military junta and tireless efforts to build a federal democracy from the ground up,
despite immense suffering. We urge the Council to match their courage with decisive action—by
rejecting the junta’s sham election and its results, dismantling the military’s capacity to continue
committing war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other international crimes, and advancing
accountability without delay.
For further information, please contact:
Signed by 235 civil society organizations, including 27 organizations that have chosen not to
disclose their names:
ထောက်ခံလက်မှတ် ထပ်မံရရှိထားသော အဖွဲ့များ
အိတ်ဖွင့်ပေးစာကို PDF ဖြင့် ရယူရန် (မြန်မာဘာသာ ၊ English)