The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court asked judges on Wednesday to issue an arrest warrant for Myanmar’s junta chief Min Aung Hlaing for alleged crimes against humanity against Rohingya Muslims.
Karim Khan’s request to the court’s Hague-based judges is the first for an arrest warrant against a high-ranking Myanmar government official in connection with abuses against the Rohingya people.
Khan said in a statement, “After an extensive, independent and impartial investigation, my office has concluded that there are reasonable grounds to believe that Senior General and Acting President Min Aung Hlaing … committed crimes against humanity.” accept criminal responsibility for the crimes against,” Khan said in a statement.
Khan said it included crimes of deportation and harassment, allegedly committed between August 25 and December 31, 2017.
A Junta spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In 2019, the ICC prosecutor opened an investigation into suspected crimes against the Rohingya in Myanmar’s Rakhine state in 2016 and 2017, which led to the exodus of 750,000 of the Southeast Asian nation’s Muslim minority to neighboring Bangladesh.
About one million Rohingya currently live in sprawling camps near the Bangladeshi border town of Cox’s Bazar. Many of the defectors accuse the Myanmar military of mass killings and rapes.
‘More will follow’
Khan said the alleged crimes were committed by Myanmar’s armed forces, the Tatmadaw, supported by national and border police as well as “non-Rohingya civilians.”
“This is the first application for an arrest warrant against a high-level Myanmar government official,” Khan said.
“More will follow,” the prosecutor warned.
Since the military overthrew the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021, Myanmar has been wracked by conflict between the military and various armed groups opposed to her rule.
The junta is reeling from a major insurgent operation last year that seized a large swath of territory, much of it near the border with China.
According to an account of the meeting at the Global New Light of Myanmar (GNLM), earlier this month, Min Aung Hlaing told Chinese Premier Li Keqiang that the military was ready for peace if armed groups were involved. is
‘Cycle of Abuse’
A military crackdown in Myanmar in 2017 sent hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fleeing to neighboring Bangladesh, many with harrowing stories of murder, rape and arson.
Rohingya living in Myanmar are denied citizenship and access to health care and require permission to travel outside their settlements.
Min Aung Hlaing – who headed the army during the crackdown – has dismissed the term Rohingya as “imaginary”.
ICC judges must now decide whether to issue arrest warrants. If granted, the ICC’s 124 members would theoretically be bound to arrest the junta chief if he travels to their country.
China, a major ally and arms supplier to Myanmar’s ruling party, is not a member of the ICC.
Khan’s request comes days after the ICC issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense minister and a senior Hamas leader over the Gaza offensive.
Rights groups hailed Khan’s move to Myanmar, saying it was an “important step toward breaking the cycle of abuse and impunity that has long been a key factor fueling the military’s widespread abuses.” “
“Judges will rule on the prosecution’s request, but the ICC has no right to rule,” said Maria Elena Vagnoli, a senior international lawyer at Human Rights Watch. Member States should recognize this action as a reminder of the court’s important role when other avenues of justice are closed.”
Having opened its doors in 2002, the Hague-based ICC is an independent court established to investigate and prosecute those accused of the world’s worst crimes.
Rohingya ‘happy’ over ICC warrant request
For Rohingya refugees fleeing brutal violence in Myanmar, the announcement sparked celebration.
“We are happy to hear that the ICC has issued an arrest warrant against Myanmar military commander Min Aung Hlaing,” said Syed Alam, a Rohingya civil society leader based in cramped refugee camps across the border in Bangladesh. ” “It’s a success for us.”
Senwara Khatun, a teacher at Rohingya Community School, said she was “delighted”. He said that the Rohingyas were waiting for him. “I hope that the ICC will bring every perpetrator to justice under the law … and take further steps to hold them accountable and punish them.”
“The issuance of the arrest warrant is good news for us,” said Mong Syedullah, leader of a civil rights organization in Cox’s Bazar. “He is the key perpetrator of the 2017 genocide against the Rohingya people.”
However, Syedullah said violence continues in his original home in Rakhine state, which is affected by fighting between Arakan Army forces and junta troops. According to the United Nations, the region is heading towards famine.
“We are still not safe in our homeland, Rakhine,” he said, calling for action to stop the fighting.
A more immediate concern for the civil society activist was the slow pace of international justice. “We want to go back home,” he said. “The international community must work to return us to our homeland, Myanmar, for our repatriation, security and dignity.”