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President Win Myint freed in broad Myanmar prisoner amnesty

April 18, 2026/in News

Myanmar’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 […]

Rights Group Files Genocide Complaint Against Myanmar Junta Chief: Indonesian AG

April 8, 2026/in News

JAKARTA—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 […]

President Win Myint freed in broad Myanmar prisoner amnesty

April 18, 2026/in News

Rights Group Files Genocide Complaint Against Myanmar Junta Chief: Indonesian AG

April 8, 2026/in News

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President Win Myint freed in broad Myanmar prisoner amnesty

April 18, 2026/in News

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.”

DVB News

Rights Group Files Genocide Complaint Against Myanmar Junta Chief: Indonesian AG

April 8, 2026/in News

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

Spring Revolution

Civil Society Position Paper on ASEAN’s Goal of a Myanmar-Owned and -Led SolutionDecember 18, 2024 - 12:11 pm
Recommendations to ASEAN and Its Member States (1) Move beyond the 5PC to achieve a Myanmar people-led and people-centered solution to the crisis in Myanmar. ASEAN’s “Myanmar-owned and -led” approach must be backed by genuine political will that aligns with and supports the collective aspirations of the people of Myanmar. (2) Cease all pressure on […]
The Airstrikes after the journey to the China of the Junta Military LeaderDecember 10, 2024 - 1:28 pm
Operation 1027 was a coordinated military attack against the junta on October 27th, 2023. It was carried out by the Northern Brotherhood, which includes the Arakan Army, Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army. Several months later, the Three Brotherhood Alliance held three meetings to negotiate with China on January 11 […]
Human Rights Situation weekly update (September 15 to 21, 2024)September 27, 2024 - 8:26 am
Human Rights Violations took place in States and Regions from Sep 15 to 21, 2024 Military Junta Troop launched airstrikes and dropped bombs in Sagaing Region, Mandalay Region, Shan State, Chin State, Rakhine State, and Kachin State from September 15th to 21st. The Military Junta committed arresting, occupying the properties, threatening by using power, and […]

Multimedia

GenocideSeptember 2, 2025 - 9:42 am
Crimes Against HumanityJune 16, 2025 - 7:55 am
International Humanitarian Law Cartoon AnimatonApril 29, 2025 - 8:37 am
အတိတ်မှ ဆိုးရွားသည့် အကြီးအကျယ် လူ့အခွင့်အရေးချိုးဖောက်မှုများ ထပ်မံမဖြစ်ပွားစေရေးအ တွက် အာမခံခြင်း (Guarantees of non-recurrence)February 10, 2025 - 9:58 am

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.

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