Myanmar has failed to undertake meaningful reforms to bring its many rights-violating laws into compliance with international human rights standards, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a submission to the United Nations Human Rights Council for Myanmar’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in January 2021.

Despite Myanmar’s commitments in the 2015 review cycle to adopt democratic reforms and respect civil and political rights, the government has made little progress. The government has disregarded its international legal obligations to provide accountability for Myanmar military operations. It has refused to cooperate with the Human Rights Council-established Fact-Finding Mission to investigate crimes and barred the previous UN special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar from entering the country, HRW said.

Under the UPR system, all UN member states undergo a review of their human rights records under the auspices of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva every five years.