Regional Rights Forum Expels Myanmar Junta-Controlled Commission: CSO Working Group Hail Historic SEANF Decision
21 October 2026
The CSO Working Group on Independent National Human Rights Institutions (Burma/Myanmar) (Working Group) today welcomes the South East Asia National Human Rights Institutions Forum’s (SEANF) decision to expel the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission (MNHRC), effective 1 October 2026.
SEANF’s Governing Board reached the decision by consensus of all five member chairpersons (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Timor-Leste) after a formal eligibility review opened on 14 August 2026. The junta’s MNHRC refused to engage, rejecting the review in a 24 September letter and a 26 September press statement. The Board found that MNHRC no longer meets the definition of a national human rights institution under its own rules. The commission is now barred from the 2027 rotating chairpersonship and from the 23rd SEANF Annual Conference.
The MNHRC has operated as a smokescreen for the military since its inception in 2011, whitewashing atrocities, denying documented violations, and shielding perpetrators instead of protecting victims.
Khin Ohmar, Founder and Acting Executive Director of Progressive Voice, member of the Working Group, said: “We thank SEANF for its leadership in protection of the human rights of the people of Myanmar, who face daily violence and violations at the hands of the military. MNHRC is a military body in human rights clothing. The CSO Working Group on Independent National Human Rights Institutions (Burma/Myanmar), of which Progressive Voice is a member, has long advocated for the removal of this junta-controlled MNHRC from GANHRI [the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions] and APF [the Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions], and now from SEANF. Expelling this criminal junta-controlled commission from its ranks is truly a principled action.”
The Working Group would like to acknowledge the Asian NGO Network on National Human Rights Institutions (ANNI) and our regional partners for their unwavering support and solidarity throughout our persistent advocacy over the past five years to remove the MNHRC from global and regional NHRI bodies. Without the principled stand of NHRI members in SEANF’s leadership and support, this historic decision would not have been possible.
Bo Bo, Executive Director of Generation Wave, member of the Working Group, said: “This is a long-awaited decision. Our civil society has called for the removal of MNHRC from global and regional NHRI bodies such as GANHRI, APF, and SEANF since 2021. Following the decisions of GANHRI and APF, SEANF has finally made the principled decision to remove the junta-controlled MNHRC. We thank SEANF for heeding the voices of civil society.”
The Working Group notes that SEANF will consider reapplication only if the MNHRC demonstrates genuine and sustained compliance with the internationally recognized Paris Principles, which require NHRIs to be effective and independent. Under the illegal criminal junta, this condition cannot be met.
For more information, please contact:
- The CSO Working Group on Independent National Human Rights Institution (Burma/Myanmar); WG_NHRI@protonmail.com
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 demonstrated a commitment to the international standards set forth in the Paris Principles.
More information at https://www.facebook.com/WGonNHRIBurma
