Mizzima-Sept 30
The Southeast Asia National Human Rights Institutions Forum (SEANF) has opened a formal review of whether the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission (MNHRC) still qualifies for membership, a process the commission announced on 26 September it would refuse to take part in. SEANF said on 25 September that its Governing Board began the review after a special meeting on 14 August, convened under Article 11(6) of the forum’s rules of procedure, to assess whether the MNHRC still meets the standards of independence, effectiveness and institutional integrity set out in the Paris Principles. SEANF is the last regional network in which the commission retains a seat. The Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions’ accreditation sub-committee withdrew the MNHRC’s accreditation in December 2024, and the Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions expelled it in May 2025.
In its response, the commission said it rejected the review outright and would dissociate itself from the process, according to the Asian NGO Network on National Human Rights Institutions (ANNI), the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) and the CSO Working Group on Independent National Human Rights Institutions (Burma/Myanmar), which issued a joint statement from Bangkok on 29 September welcoming the review. The three groups said the refusal to engage, despite being offered a chance to answer the concerns, underlined the commission’s unwillingness to confront questions about its independence and its conduct during the military’s rights violations. Since the military seized power in February 2021, they said, the commission has failed to act as an independent body capable of protecting victims or holding the military to account, and its inaction has allowed the regime to present the appearance of human rights oversight while leaving victims without protection or access to justice. Read more at:
