AJC - GLOBAL 50/50 WEBINAR ON ‘GENDER AND POWER IN SOUTH ASIA’

 

On 19 August, the Asia Justice Coalition and Global 50/50 convened a global webinar on ‘Whose justice? Gender and power in South Asia’s legal institutions’: an assessment of gender equality across the institutions of global law and justice based on the findings of Gender (In)Justice? Report. The panel consisted of legal experts, including Justice Kumudini Wickremasinghe, Dr. Faustina Pereira, and Maja Daruwala, with recorded opening remarks from Margaret Satterthwaite. The full video recording of the discussion is available here.

 

AJC PRIMER ON ENVIRONMENTAL HARM UNDER INTERNATIONAL LAW

 

On 19 August, AJC published its primer on 'Environmental Harm under International Law’, the eighteenth publication, in a series of primers focusing on international accountability. This primer offers a concise explanation of the following: 1) Relevant accountability frameworks available for environmental harm under international law and relevant for Asia; 2) How does the International Court of Justice advance accountability for environmental harm?; 3) How does the International Criminal Court advance accountability for environmental harm?; 4) How could the future Crimes Against Humanity Convention advance accountability for environmental harm?

AJC - GRIFFITH LAW SCHOOL OPINIO JURIS SYMPOSIUM ON PROSECUTING ASIA-PACIFIC CRIMES

 

From 10 – 14 August, Asia Justice Coalition, Dr. Emma Palmer, and Prasadi Wijesinghe  co-organised an online symposium hosted by Opinio Juris on ‘Prosecuting Asia-Pacific Crimes in Domestic Courts’. This symposium builds on the workshop convened by Griffith Law School and Griffith Asia Institute, in partnership with the Asia Justice Coalition and The Baltasar Garzón International Foundation in May 2026, to explore emerging practices in the domestic prosecutions of international crimes in the Asia-Pacific. The symposium witnessed 11 posts on issues ranging from survivor-centred justice and universal jurisdiction to treaty negotiations and regional accountability strategies. It also focuses on various situation countries like, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Afghanistan, and Timor-Leste.

GCR2P: ‘RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE UPCOMING 63RD SESSION OF THE UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL’

 

Ahead of the 63rd session of the Human Rights Council, the Global Centre called on UN delegations concerning the Myanmar resolution to: (i) express support for the IIMM and ensure it has adequate resources to fulfill its mandate; (ii) condemn the escalating use of airstrikes and other aerial attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure, and call for those responsible to be held accountable; (iii) highlight the heightened risk facing the Rohingya and call for sustained documentation and investigation of violations that may constitute genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, while emphasizing that the current conditions in Myanmar do not permit safe, dignified or sustainable repatriation; and (iv) reaffirm support for complementary accountability efforts, including proceedings before the ICC and ICJ and universal jurisdiction cases, and call for continued cooperation with these efforts.

 

AI: ‘MALAYSIA MUST HALT DANGEROUS RETURN OF ROHINGYA REFUGEES TO MYANMAR AMID ONGOING HUMAN RIGHTS CRISIS’

 

On 29 August, Amnesty International Malaysia strongly condemned the government’s decision to begin implementing its agreement with the Myanmar authorities to return 5,000 Myanmar refugees, starting with the return of 1,476 people (mostly Rohingya) on 29 September 2026. According to AI, “Malaysia must immediately halt all planned returns to Myanmar that could expose people to persecution, serious human rights violations or other irreparable harm. The situation in Myanmar remains fundamentally unsafe, and no assurance by both Myanmar and Malaysia authorities can change that reality”.

 

BROUK, FORTIFY RIGHTS: WEBINAR ON ROHINGYA CRISIS ENTERS TENTH YEAR

 

On 25 August, Asia Justice Coalition members Tun Khin (President, Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK) and Matthew Smith (Co-Founder and CEO, Fortify Rights) joined a panel discussion entitled 'Rohingya Crisis Enters 10th Year' along with Wai Wai Nu (Women’s Peace Network), Lucky Karim (Refugee Women for Peace and justice), and Daniel Sullivan (Refugees International). Watch the full recording here.

 

BHRN: ‘NINE YEARS AFTER MYANMAR MILITARY’S GENOCIDAL ATTACKS, ROHINGYA STILL FACE ATROCITIES AND PERSECUTION’

 

On 24 August, Asia Justice Coalition member Burmese Human Rights Network remembered the Rohingya men, women and children who were killed, subjected to sexual violence, injured and driven from their homes during the 2017 attacks, as well as the survivors and families who have waited nine years for justice. In addition to calling on the UN Security Council and Member States to support international and universal jurisdiction efforts to hold perpetrators accountable, BHRN also called on the ULA/AA to immediately end forced labour, forced conscription, arbitrary detention, land confiscation and discriminatory restrictions imposed on Rohingya.

 

HRW: ‘ETHNIC KAREN FACE DEPORTATION TO MYANMAR’

 

On 17 August, Human Rights Watch called upon Thai authorities to halt the imminent deportation of 26 ethnic Karen villagers from Phetchaburi province to Myanmar and release them from immigration detention. According to HRW, “On August 10, 2026, district and forestry officials along with the Thai military raided the Karen community in Ban Pa Deng village in Phetchaburi province’s Kaeng Krachan National Park, targeting those without proof of Thai citizenship”. HRW called on “concerned governments and UN agencies to press the Thai government to ensure that the fundamental rights of Karen are respected and protected.”

ICJ: WEBINAR ON 'THE RIGHT TO KNOW THE TRUTH: REMEMBERING THE VICTIMS OF ENFORCED DISSAPEARANCE'.

 

On 28 August, to mark the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, the International Commission of Jurists organised a webinar on enforced disappearance in Myanmar through the lens of international human rights law. The discussion focused on the significant rise of enforced and involuntary disappearances in Myanmar since the military coup in February 2021, leaving victims and their families searching for answers about the fate and whereabouts of their loved ones. The speakers included Saw Albert (Karen Human Rights Group), John and Micheal Howard (Chin Human Rights Organization), Miriam Lang-Treglown and Pratubjit Neelapaijit (UN Human Rights – Asia), and Zar Li Aye (ICJ).

 

GCR2P: NINTH ROHINGYA GENOCIDE REMEMBRANCE DAY

 

On 25 August, the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect called upon the international community to move beyond remembrance and act, protect Rohingya facing ongoing atrocities, adequately support refugees, and host communities and advance justice and accountability. According to GCR2P, “Rohingya in Myanmar remain at risk of genocide, facing ongoing atrocities, persecution and forced displacement. Across the region, refugees face restrictions on their rights and movement, detention, pushbacks, trafficking and exploitation. With few opportunities for durable solutions, many continue to undertake dangerous journeys by land and sea in search of safety”.

 

FORTIFY, AI, HRW, AJAR, BROUK, BHRN: JOINT STATEMENT ON ‘ACCOUNTABILITY NEEDED FOR MYANMAR MILITARY JUNTA’S ATROCITIES AGAINST THE ROHINGYA’

 

On 24 August, Asia Justice Coalition members, Fortify Rights, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Asia Justice and Rights, Burma Human Rights Network, and Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK, along with other civil society organisations, published a joint statement to mark nine years since the Myanmar military and authorities launched a widespread campaign of atrocity crimes against the Rohingya population in Myanmar’s Rakhine State. The statement called upon the United Nations Security Council to intensify efforts to secure accountability for past and ongoing crimes committed against all communities by referring the situation in Myanmar to the ICC, imposing targeted financial sanctions, and establishing a global arms embargo on the Myanmar junta.

 

FORTIFY: ‘NEW REGULATIONS ON DEPORTATIONS RISK ENABLING FORCIBLE RETURNS OF REFUGEES’

 

On 6 August, Fortify Rights called upon the Thai government to immediately suspend the adoption of new draft regulations on deportations from Thailand and comprehensively review them. According to Fortify, “New draft regulations lack adequate safeguards and could enable authorities to forcibly return refugees and other people to countries where they face persecution, torture, enforced disappearance, or death. It would also allow the authorities to return individuals to the last country where they lived if their nationality cannot be confirmed, putting groups such as the Rohingya from Myanmar at particular risk”.

 

FORTIFY RIGHTS: ‘MYANMAR JUNTA BOMBING OF DETENTION CAMP IN KARENNI STATE MAY CONSTITUTE A WAR CRIME’

 

On 4 August, Fortify Rights published a news release reporting that Myanmar’s military junta carried out an airstrike on a resistance-operated detention camp in Karenni State on March 5, 2026, killing at least five people, including three women, an 18-year-old man, and an 8-year-old girl, and injuring others, in what may amount to a war crime. The detention camp was holding exclusively women and children, many of whom were family members of junta soldiers.

‘ICJ HOSTS JOHANNESBURG ROUNDTABLE ON THE DRAFT CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY TREATY WITH THE MALALA FUND AND OTHER CIVIL SOCIETY ACTORS’

 

On 5 August 2026, the International Commission of Jurists, together with Lawyers for Human Rights, the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, the Malala Fund, and the End Gender Apartheid Campaign, convened a civil society roundtable in Johannesburg on the ongoing negotiations for a Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes against Humanity. The roundtable discussions focused on key substantive and procedural issues in the negotiation process, including the imperative of ensuring that diverse civil society from around the world can meaningfully inform and participate in the process, and how to ensure that the eventually adopted Convention be responsive to the lived experiences of both historical and today’s victims and survivors of crimes against humanity.

 

‘BROUK ASKS ARGENTINIAN COURT TO SEEK MIN AUNG HLAING’S EXTRADITION FROM THAILAND’

 

On 3 August, Asia Justice Coalition member Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK reported that it has petitioned the Argentinian judiciary to seek the extradition of Min Aung Hlaing from Thailand during his upcoming visit to the country. Ahead of the formal visit of Burmese military leader Min Aung Hlaing to Thailand, BROUK wrote to the Argentinian judiciary, urging it to send an international letter rogatory (a formal request for assistance between two courts) to the Thai authorities to facilitate the arrest and extradition of Min Aung Hlaing under Thai law.

HRW: ‘FORCIBLY RETURNING MYANMAR REFUGEES RISKS LIVES’

 

On 3 August, Human Rights Watch called on the Malaysian government to reverse plans that would permit the forced return of refugees to Myanmar, where they face persecution and other rights abuses. Recent announcements by Malaysian officials about UNHCR’s role and plans to send people back to Myanmar come amid surging immigration raids and xenophobic rhetoric that have fostered intense public hostility toward refugees and mistrust of UNHCR. HRW reported, “On July 30, the home minister said that preparations were already underway to identify individuals who could be sent back through a new process to issue a Refugee Registration Document (Dokuman Pendaftaran Pelarian, or DPP), Malaysia’s new system for assessing asylum claims and registering refugees”. According to HRW, “Conditions for safe, dignified, and voluntary return to Myanmar do not currently exist. People fleeing Myanmar have come to Malaysia seeking protection and should be able to stay while their asylum claims are fairly assessed, without living in fear of harassment, arrest, and forced return.”

 

LAW: ‘ROHINGYA ARTISTS PAINT MEMORIES OF HOME AND HOPES FOR JUSTICE’

 

From 24 to 31 August 2026, the Rohingya Centre in Cox’s Bazar Camp 10 was filled with images of a homeland their creators remember but cannot yet safely return to. Presented under the title ‘ Nine Years On: Rohingya Aspirations for Justice, Dignity and Home’, the works portrayed cultural life in Myanmar, the violence of forced displacement and the realities of prolonged exile. Moreover, the artwork answered a key questions for Rohingya survivors: What justice for the atrocities they lived could look like? The paintings were created earlier that month during collaborative sessions between Rohingya Survivor Advocates working with Legal Action Worldwide and artists from Artolution. Participants used colours to portray their history and express ideas of identity, belonging and a safe future.

REUTERS: ‘MYANMAR'S DETAINED FORMER LEADER AUNG SAN SUU KYI MEETS RED CROSS OFFICIAL’

 

On 3 August, Reuters reported that Myanmar's detained former leader Aung San Suu Kyi met with a representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross. Suu Kyi has been in detention since February 2021, and her exact whereabouts and health condition have been difficult to determine, with no foreign leader or envoy having publicly met with her despite requests for contact from countries in the region. The ICRC confirmed that a delegate had met with Suu Kyi.

 

AP NEWS: ‘MYANMAR REBUFFS ASEAN’S CALL TO FREE AUNG SAN SUU KYI AND QUESTIONS THE NEED FOR AN ENVOY’

 

On 10 August, the Associated Press reported that Myanmar’s military-backed government has rejected the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ renewed call for the unconditional release of detained former leader Aung San Suu Kyi and dismissed the need for the organization’s special envoy on Myanmar. According to Myanmar’s foreign ministry’s statement, “Although the government has commuted her sentences based on humanitarian considerations, the matter of a full and unconditional release shall only be carried out in accordance with the law. The statement also said the government will continue working with ASEAN’s current special envoy, Philippine Foreign Minister Maria Theresa Lazaro, but doesn’t see the need to continue down that path when Singapore takes over on Jan. 1, 2027”.

 

AL JAZEERA: ‘HOW MYANMAR’S WAR DRIVES THE ROHINGYA CRISIS’

 

On 20 August, Al Jazeera investigation documents atrocities committed against the Rohingya during Myanmar’s civil war. “Working with human rights investigators from Myanmar Witness and Rohingya citizen journalists, Al Jazeera examines what has happened to this Muslim minority during the Arakan Army’s takeover of Rakhine. This documentary also exposes how the rebel group is connected to the human trafficking of Rohingya refugees out of Myanmar, including young children and women who are subjected to sexual violence and brutality.”

IIMM: ‘MYANMAR MECHANISM INVESTIGATIONS REVEAL DELIBERATE ATTACKS ON CIVILIANS BY THE MYANMAR MILITARY – ANNUAL REPORT’

 

On 11 August, the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar published its annual report detailing how its investigation shows a pattern of deliberate aerial attacks on civilians, arbitrary detentions, torture and sexual violence committed by the Myanmar military. The Report outlines the Mechanism's investigations into aerial attacks targeting homes, schools, medical facilities, religious buildings and camps for internally displaced persons, causing deaths, injuries and destruction. The Mechanism has also collected and analysed extensive evidence of arbitrary detention, torture and sexual violence in military-run detention facilities, including cases linked to the 2025 law criminalizing criticism of the elections. While most of the evidence collected by the Mechanism concerns crimes committed by the Myanmar security forces and affiliated militias, it is also investigating alleged atrocities involving armed groups opposed to the military.  

 

OHCHR: ‘HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATION IN MYANMAR PLUMMETS TO NEW LOW AMID UNRELENTING VIOLATIONS AND UNREGULATED EXPLOITATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES’

 

On 25 August, the UN Human Rights reported the human rights situation in Myanmar, in particular that of minority communities, has plummeted to a new low, from the ever-worsening brutal abuse of the Rohingya population to the devastating impact of illicit economies, notably illegal mining for rare earths. In a new report, the OHCHR details how unrelenting violence and a conflict economy work hand-in-hand to expose civilian populations to untold misery. It covers the period between 1 June 2025 and 31 May 2026. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, called on “all States, companies and investors to undertake serious soul-searching with respect to their actions – or inaction; to ask: is this fair and just for the people of Myanmar? Can the societal and environmental harm of their activities even be reversed? Their own reputations and their credibility are on the line.”

 

IIMM: UNIVERSAL JURISDICTION CASE UPDATES

 

On 23 July, the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar published its ‘July 2026 Bulletin’ covering an overview of universal jurisdiction cases related to Myanmar. The Bulletin provides a snapshot of complaints and investigations concerning serious international crimes committed in Myanmar and the role of the IIMM.