Protecting Humanity: Enforcing the ICRC Mandate in Myanmar
An Open Letter to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
Date: 11 August 2026
To the Leadership and Representatives of the ICRC,
We, the undersigned 155 Myanmar, regional and international civil society organizations, write to you today with a profound sense of urgency and deep frustration regarding the 3 August 2026 meeting between your resident representative, Arnaud de Baecque, and Myanmar’s State Counsellor, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
While any contact with the State Counsellor, who is being unlawfully imprisoned by the illegal military junta in Myanmar, is a matter of intense public interest, the sequence of events surrounding this visit illustrates our greatest fear: the ICRC's mandate is being actively exploited by the military junta. The meeting demonstrated how humanitarian engagement in Myanmar is increasingly vulnerable to political instrumentalization by the military junta, thereby aiding them to advance their political aims, and in turn prolonging the suffering of the Myanmar people and undermining their expressed democratic will and aspirations.
The junta first publicized the meeting, releasing carefully curated photographs of handshakes and a birthday cake to project an illusion of normalcy and cooperation to the international community as it desperately seeks legitimacy for its violently imposed rule. Only after this propaganda was disseminated did the ICRC issue a brief, reactionary confirmation.
In your statement, you noted that the visit followed "established guidelines" and permitted a "private conversation," and you added that, per your standard procedures, all observations regarding her condition are kept strictly confidential and shared only with detaining authorities. You disclosed nothing regarding her health, her whereabouts, or the reality of her captivity.
A short, sanitized announcement is NOT enough. When the ICRC allows the military junta to exploit its presence as a credible international humanitarian organization for propaganda to advance its political agenda while remaining silent about the realities of the situation, the ICRC is no longer practicing neutrality. The ICRC is instead complicit in the military junta's theater and blatant violations of international humanitarian law.
We anticipate the ICRC’s defence. We know it will rest upon the Fundamental Principles of the ICRC Movement, particularly neutrality, independence and confidentiality. We recognize that confidential dialogue is intended to secure humanitarian access and protect those deprived of their liberty. However, humanitarian engagement also carries a responsibility to safeguard its integrity from political exploitation.
The political instrumentalization of this visit was entirely foreseeable. The military junta has, for more than five years, consistently exploited humanitarian and diplomatic engagement to extract legitimacy and project an image of normalcy. Given this well-established pattern, the ICRC had a responsibility to anticipate and actively prevent such exploitation. The public dissemination of carefully staged photographs and messaging by the junta was not an unforeseeable consequence—it was an entirely predictable outcome.