Press Release

Civil society welcomes GANHRI’s final decision to remove accreditation of junta-controlled Myanmar National Human Rights Commission, urges APF and SEANF to follow suit

[16 January 2025] 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) applaud the final decision of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Commission (GANHRI)[1] to revoke membership and remove accreditation status of the junta-controlled Myanmar National Human Rights Commission (MNHRC). We urge the Asia Pacific Forum (APF) and the Southeast Asia National Human Rights Institution Forum (SEANF) to follow GANHRI’s principled decision and to immediately remove the MNHRC from their respective human rights networks.

What happened

At its October 2024 session, GANHRI’s Sub-Committee on Accreditation (SCA) affirmed its 2023 recommendation to remove MNHRC’s accreditation status, restating that “the MNHRC has not demonstrated its compliance with the minimum requirements of the Paris Principles.” The MNHRC appealed this decision but failed to receive sufficient support from other GANHRI Bureau members. GANHRI has now finalized its decision to remove the MNHRC’s accreditation status and membership from its global network.

Why we support GANHRI’s decision

Since the attempted coup in 2021, the junta has killed more than 6,000 people, and the MNHRC has fully aligned itself with the military junta. The MNHRC’s persistent silence and inaction regarding the junta’s atrocious human rights abuses violate the Paris Principles, which set the standard for credible, independent, and effective national human rights institutions (NHRIs). The MNHRC served as a proxy for the junta, echoing its false narratives and claims, thereby lending legitimacy to these perpetrators of human rights violations. Ultimately, the MNHRC has been an accessory to the junta’s crimes.

GANHRI’s pivotal decision to remove the MNHRC from the world’s largest NHRI network comes after almost four years of consistent efforts and repeated calls by the Working Group and ANNI alongside their local, regional, and international partners. Together, we have urged the GANHRI Bureau to revoke the MNHRC’s membership and to strip it of its “B” status.

Khin Ohmar, Chairperson of Progressive Voice, member of the Working Group, said: “We welcome GANHRI’s principled decision to finally remove the junta-controlled MNHRC from its global network. The decision affirms to the Myanmar people that GANHRI does not condone the MNHRC’s flagrant non-compliance with the Paris Principles. Without further delay, APF and SEANF must demonstrate the same principle and spirit, aligning themselves with GANHRI’s decision and removing the MNHRC from their respective human rights networks.”

Mary Aileen Diez-Bacalso, Executive Director of FORUM-ASIA, which serves as the Secretariat of ANNI, said: “We thank GANHRI for the long-awaited decision to remove the accreditation and membership of the MNHRC. This landmark decision is a victory for civil society. It is the right step toward accountability and justice in Myanmar, serving as an inspiration for more wins in the advocacy for stronger NHRIs across the region.”

Bo Bo, Executive Director of Generation Wave, member of the Working Group, said: “We are heartened by GANHRI’s long-awaited decision that proves what the people of Myanmar already know: the MNHRC has utterly failed to function as an effective, impartial, and independent commission. This decision provides a ray of hope for the people of Myanmar who have been suffering from the junta’s campaign of terror. Going forward, we believe that GANHRI will lend support to us in our efforts to establish a new independent human rights commission that is in line with the Paris Principles.”

For more information, please contact:

• The CSO Working Group on Independent National Human Rights Institution (Burma/Myanmar); [email protected]
• ANNI Secretariat, FORUM-ASIA; [email protected]

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 http://l.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 20 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 demonstrated a commitment to the international standards set forth in the Paris Principles.

More information at https://www.facebook.com/WGonNHRIBurma

[1] GANHRI is one of the largest human rights networks worldwide, with a current membership of 118 national human rights institutions (NHRIs) after recently removing the membership of MNHRC along with the Russian NHRI. GANHRI’s Head Office is based in Geneva, Switzerland.

Download PDF.