Myanmar Rights Advocate Bo Kyi Named 2026 Ramon Magsaysay Awardee

Myanmar human rights advocate and former political prisoner Bo Kyi has been named one of the three recipients of the 2026 Ramon Magsaysay Award, Asia’s premier prize for public service, for his decades-long defense of political prisoners and human dignity.

The Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation announced his selection on August 31, recognizing his “steadfast pursuit of truth, accountability, and justice” and his commitment to democracy and human dignity despite years of imprisonment, repression and exile.

Bo Kyi was a university student when Myanmar's 1988 pro-democracy uprising erupted. After witnessing fellow students being killed, he joined the demonstrations that became known as the “8888” movement.

He was arrested for the first time in March 1990 and sentenced to three years in prison. During his imprisonment, he began learning English in secret. Because prisoners were not allowed books or writing materials, he received lessons from a professor held in a nearby cell. He wrote English sentences on the concrete floor with a piece of brick, memorized them and continued the lessons for about two and a half years.

Prison also exposed Bo Kyi to the experiences of people from Myanmar's different ethnic communities. He heard accounts of torture and other abuses that had been largely hidden from the public.

“Prison taught us a lot,” he recalled, saying the experience taught him that justice is closely connected with the rule of law.

After his release, Bo Kyi began documenting the conditions of political prisoners and sharing information with journalists, international representatives and United Nations mechanisms.

Military intelligence later attempted to recruit him as an informer. He refused and instead called for the release of political prisoners and dialogue with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. He was arrested again and sentenced to another five years in prison.

Released in 1998, Bo Kyi fled to Thailand, where he continued working for prisoners inside Myanmar.

In 2000, in the border town of Mae Sot, he and fellow former political prisoners co-founded the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP). The organization documents political arrests and detention, supports prisoners and their families, and brings abuses in Myanmar to international attention.

Bo Kyi has said that documenting abuses is essential for establishing accountability in the future.

“Everyone must be under the law,” he said, criticizing a political system in which those in power place themselves above the law.

His advocacy has continued through periods of military repression, including after the February 2021 coup. AAPP has documented arrests and human rights violations while providing assistance to political prisoners, former detainees and their families.

For Bo Kyi, the struggle is also deeply personal. He remembers students killed during the 1988 demonstrations and regards his survival as a responsibility to continue the work for which they gave their lives.

Despite decades of repression, he continues to see signs that people in Myanmar have not surrendered their desire for freedom. He has pointed to silent protests and other forms of civil resistance as evidence of people's continuing opposition to military rule.

“We need to pay respect to them,” he said of those who continue to resist.

The Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation said Bo Kyi's work reflects “extraordinary moral courage, personal sacrifice and an unwavering belief that democracy and human dignity are always worth defending.”

Bo Kyi is one of three 2026 Ramon Magsaysay awardees, alongside Singaporean diplomat and legal scholar Tommy Koh and Bangladeshi social development leader Runa Khan.

The award is widely regarded as Asia's premier prize and highest honor, recognizing individuals and organizations whose selfless service demonstrates what the foundation calls “greatness of spirit.”

The 2026 awardees will be formally honored at the 68th Ramon Magsaysay Award Presentation Ceremonies on November 15, 2026, at the Metropolitan Theater in Manila, where they will receive the award's medallion and certificate.