APHR Condemns Imposition of State of Emergency and Martial Law in Myanmar

JAKARTA, 30 April 2026—ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) condemns in the strongest terms the declaration of a 90-day state of emergency and the imposition of martial law across 60 townships in nine states and regions of Myanmar, announced by Min Aung Hlaing on April 23, 2026.

The ordinances, issued jointly by the President’s Office and the Office of the Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services, transfer all executive and judicial authority in the designated townships to regional military commands under newly appointed military chief Ye Win Oo.

Military tribunals are now authorized to try civilians and to hand down sentences as severe as the death penalty. These 60 townships span Kachin, Kayah, Kayin, Chin, Shan, and Rakhine States, as well as Sagaing, Magway, and Mandalay Regions, among the most heavily contested battlegrounds in the country’s ongoing civil war.

“This marks a serious escalation. While the regime publicly references dialogue, it is simultaneously expanding sweeping emergency powers that remove any pretense of civilian governance and increase the risk of violence against the population. This is military consolidation dressed in civilian clothing,” said Mercy Chriesty Barends, Member of the Indonesian House of Representatives and Co-Chair of APHR.

The junta’s justification of restoring ” rule of law” mirrors the rationale used since the February 2021 coup. In practice, what emergency rule has consistently produced is the detention of political opponents and journalists, the forced displacement of civilian populations, and the use of airstrikes on civilian areas, including hospitals.

“Placing millions under martial law strips away human rights and concentrates power in military hands. There is no independent judiciary, no right of appeal, and no civilian oversight. This is the erosion of the rule of law,” said Wong Chen, Member of Parliament for Subang, Malaysia, and APHR Board Member.

More than five years since ASEAN adopted the Five-Point Consensus, not one of these points has been meaningfully implemented by the military authorities. ASEAN’s own leaders acknowledged in 2023 the “lack of substantial progress on the implementation by the authority in Myanmar.” Continued reliance on this framework without enforcement has emboldened impunity.

APHR urges ASEAN to move beyond the language of consensus and toward concrete consequences including the suspension of military-to-military ties with the junta and the denial of recognition to any government formed under conditions of martial law.

APHR calls on ASEAN member states and the 2026 ASEAN Chair to:

• Publicly condemn the imposition of martial law across 60 townships and the authorization of military tribunals empowered to impose the death penalty on civilians;
• Reject the legitimacy of any political process organized under conditions of martial law;
• Suspend military-to-military cooperation with the junta until emergency ordinances are revoked and credible steps toward civilian governance are taken; and
• Mobilize the AHA Centre to provide humanitarian assistance to displaced communities in conflict-affected townships;

Five years of the Five-Point Consensus have produced five years of military impunity. ASEAN cannot keep renewing the same failed framework and calling it diplomacy. The Philippines, as 2026 ASEAN Chair, must use this moment to demand accountability, not manage its absence.

APHR stands in solidarity with the people of Myanmar and will continue to hold both the junta and the region’s leaders to account.

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