Myanmar: No End of History

Insight Myanmar

Toby Mendel is a lawyer at the Centre for Law and Democracy, an international human rights organization based in Canada that focuses on foundational rights such as freedom of expression, access to information, association, assembly, and participation. Since 2012, he has worked extensively in Myanmar, engaging directly with government officials on democratic law reform, particularly in the area of freedom of expression, and later supporting civil society and local governance initiatives after the 2021 coup. His experience provides a deep and nuanced perspective on the country’s ongoing struggle for democracy.

Mendel opens by describing Myanmar’s democratic transition as flawed at every stage. Under the Thein Sein administration, he witnessed what he calls a genuine “pivot towards democracy,” with senior military-linked officials putting in place new legislation and structures. Between 2012 and 2015, it felt like an exhilarating period of change, with international organizations energized and ordinary citizens experiencing new hope. “As a long-standing human rights activist, it was a heady time. We were doing great things, and it was exciting to be working in the country and seeing these things getting pushed through.”  The 2015 NLD election victory, however, did not extend this momentum. Progress “came to an abrupt halt,” and during that period the Centre for Law and Democracy achieved almost nothing in terms of legislative reform. He points to the broadcasting law adopted in August 2015, just before the NLD took office. It could have created an independent broadcasting council, but the NLD never implemented it, leaving the reform blocked for their entire term. This was a striking contrast to the Thein Sein period, when at least some laws were being passed that aligned with international human rights standards and military officials were unexpectedly open to external advice.

By the coup of 2021, Myanmar still had only twelve licensed radio stations; this was a media sector that was “absolutely not developed.” Apart from the most repressive countries, Mendel comments that nowhere else in the world looked like that. While he acknowledges that the NLD faced constraints, he adds that these reforms were not military red lines, and earlier engagement with military officials on freedom of information showed they could be persuaded such laws posed no threat. The deeper problem, in his view, was the NLD’s lack of commitment to certain democratic values. As he puts it, they believed in democracy as an abstract principle, but resisted aspects of its practice. “I don’t think they were enthusiastic about having a free and open media which could criticize them,” Mendel says. “They had some pretty serious psychological or attitudinal barriers to accepting a proper democracy.”

That reluctance, he continues, extended to the Rohingya crisis. This, in his view, “didn’t just happen, it was manufactured” during NLD rule. Aung San Suu Kyi, despite her “enormous moral authority and impact on the people of Myanmar,” effectively went along with events during an unfolding human tragedy. As Mendel puts it, “Not using her moral and political authority was a significant failure as a leader.” Since the coup, however, he notes that some anti-Rohingya attitudes have begun to shift, as many Burmese now understand the raw fear and violence that comes from confronting a hostile military firsthand.

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