An unnamed war crimes survivor from Myanmar’s Chin State filed an unprecedented criminal complaint with authorities in Denmark today against members of the Myanmar military, leveraging recently enacted Danish legislation that specifically criminalizes war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide under universal jurisdiction principles.
Now a Danish resident, the complainant witnessed regime forces torch 40 homes in her native village in Chin State, alongside the killing and permanent maiming of multiple relatives and close friends caused by military-laid landmines.
The targeted campaign of violence forced her and tens of thousands of ethnic Chin civilians to flee across the international border into India before she eventually resettled in Denmark.
The criminal complaint—supported by Copenhagen-based attorney Eddie Omar Rosenberg Khawaja, the Myanmar Action Group Denmark (MAGD), the Chin Community Denmark (CCDK), and the Myanmar Accountability Project (MAP)—accuses military commanders of orchestrating deliberate civilian killings, widespread arson, and mass forced displacement.
“Under the new Danish legislation it no longer matters where the crimes took place, or the nationality of the perpetrators or the victims. Victims living in Denmark can request that Danish authorities hold commanders under whose watch atrocities against them occurred are held responsible,” Khawaja stated in an Oct. 25 press release from MAP.
“Denmark has a history of aligning itself with the pro-democracy movement in Myanmar since before the 1990s, through development aid, support of activists, bypassing the military government and standing in solidarity with human rights movements. Now, Myanmar people and Danish activists who are part of communities and movements in Denmark are taking a stand for accountability and the international rule of law,” Tracy Bawi Hlei, the MAGD chairperson, stated.
She added that key evidence and survivors had been identified through close civil society collaboration with the Chin Community Denmark. This filing comes after the Danish Foreign Ministry announced that it is closing its embassy in Myanmar.
The U.N. states that nearly 3.8 million people remain internally displaced inside the country with more than 16 million requiring urgent humanitarian aid. Nearly two-thirds of the population are living in or on the brink of poverty as the military continues to deliberately obstruct international relief access.
“The Danish Government has said as a matter of public record that Myanmar suffers from a lack of accountability and continued impunity… So this case offers to the government and authorities in Denmark an opportunity to demonstrate their support for the people of Myanmar and their aspirations for a just and peaceful future,” Chris Gunness, the MAP director, stated.
