On Thursday, a court in Buenos Aires, Argentina issued arrest warrants for 25 Myanmar military and state officials, including jailed State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, former President Htin Kyaw, regime leader Min Aung Hlaing, and his deputy Soe Win, on accusations of genocide against the Rohingya in a case launched by the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK (BROUK) under the legal principle of universal jurisdiction.
“This is a historic step towards justice for [the] Rohingya and everyone in Burma suffering under the Burmese military,” said Tun Khin, the BROUK president. “This brings a ray of hope to Rohingya who have suffered through decades of genocide, watching their families and culture be destroyed with impunity.”
The case, opened in 2021, is based on a 2019 petition by BROUK which examines the role of Myanmar’s military leaders in genocide and crimes against humanity in a Rohingya village located in Rathedaung Township of northern Arakan (Rakhine) State, on Aug. 27, 2017. Rathedaung is located 44 miles (70 km) north of the Arakan State capital Sittwe.
Later, six Rohingya women survivors joined the case as formal parties. Under the legal principle of universal jurisdiction, victims can pursue justice and countries can prosecute people for serious crimes which harm the international community, regardless of where it was committed.
Five residents of Myanmar’s Chinland (Chin State) – displaced from their homes due to the conflict since the 2021 military coup – filed a criminal complaint with the Department of Justice in the Philippines in October 2023.
With legal representation and support from the Myanmar Accountability Project (MAP), the five Myanmar nationals requested an investigation into 10 regime officials, including Min Aung Hlaing, for their alleged involvement in an attack on Thantlang Township in September 2021. Thantlang is located 22 miles (35 km) west of the Chinland capital Hakha.
“The Philippines is an overwhelmingly Christian country. So we encouraged a case [of a crime committed by the Myanmar military] against a Christian community,” Chris Gunness, the MAP director, told DVB. He added that the five complainants held a press conference in Manila to address the alleged war crimes committed by the military.
Even though the Philippines’ prosecutor refused to accept the case, Gunness said that MAP would appeal to the Supreme Court of the Philippines and pursue similar cases in regional countries such as Indonesia and Timor-Leste.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan requested an arrest warrant for Min Aung Hlaing in November for alleged crimes against humanity for the forced deportation of Rohingya to Bangladesh during the 2016-2017 military crackdown in northern Arakan.
A 2019 genocide case brought by The Gambia against Myanmar at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the U.N. high court, is underway. The regime has not followed the ICJ provisional measures to prevent genocide against the Rohingya and preserve evidence.
Rather, it has forcefully conscripted Rohingya men into military service to assist in its fight against the Arakan Army (AA), which has seized control of 14 out of 17 townships in Arakan from the regime in Naypyidaw.
*This story was updated on Feb. 15
