"As the world looked on in lead up to the proceedings of Myanmar’s[1] violation of the Genocide Convention in case of Rohingya at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Hague, the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission’s (MNHRC) stated that they did not “find any evidence that the military tortured them or violated their human rights”– refusing to call them “Rohingya” and instead by the derogatory term “Bengali” – spoke to the complete lack of will by the domestic human rights institution to address accountability or to work to protect human rights. Since its establishment by a presidential decree in 2011 and the passing of its 2014 MNHRC Enabling Law that set its formal mandate, the MNHRC has continued to suffer from a huge public trust deficit. The insitution’s work to promote and protect human rights has consistently been hampered by two interlinked issues: commissioners who lack the human rights sensitivity and mindset as well as relevant experiences, and the structural and procedural issues at the heart of the MNHRC law that ensures the commissioners’ selection process is not independent, but aligned to the Myanmar government and the military – the institution which has committed genocide and continues to act with total impunity. Like most institutions set up by the government in Myanmar, the MNHRC has never recognized the identity of the Rohingya, and rather than upholding the principles of human rights, it has worked to deflect the egregious violence committed against them. The Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar (IIFFMM) in its report, condemned the role of the MNHRC, stating that at no point has the commission worked to “address the systemic discrimination against Rohingya, despite this falling within its mandate.” This was again made clear by commissioner Yu Lwin Aung who stated, “We found that those Bengalis only killed and troubled our ethnic groups such as Mro, Khami, Rakhine and Dainet as well as Hindus. They violated the human rights. We found no evidence that the military did it.” The statement was made in a timely lead up to the proceedings currently taking place at the international court in the Hague on the case of Myanmar’s violation of the Genocide Convention filed at the ICJ by The Gambia..."