The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) says it has requested an arrest warrant for Myanmar’s military leader Min Aung Hlaing for crimes against humanity committed against the Rohingya Muslims.
Karim Khan said there were reasonable grounds to believe Min Aung Hlaing bore criminal responsibility for the persecution and deportation of Rohingyas to neighbouring Bangladesh.
Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fled Myanmar in 2017 to escape a campaign of what the UN has described as genocide launched by the Burmese military.
But Myanmar’s government has denied this, saying it was only carrying out a campaign against Rohingya militants.
Attacks on the Rohingya first began in 2017, after Rohingya militants launched deadly attacks on more than 30 police posts in Myanmar.
They said troops responded to this by burning their villages, and attacking and killing civilians.
At least 6,700 Rohingya, including at least 730 children under the age of five, were killed in the month after the violence broke out, according to medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).
Amnesty International says the Myanmar military also raped and abused Rohingya women and girls.
The shocking violence against the Rohingya prompted an international outcry, and demands for accountability – something which proved difficult, with the-then Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi refusing to prosecute her generals.
Myanmar is not a signatory to the International Criminal Court, so initially bringing a case against the military there seemed impossible.
However, ICC prosecutors later argued that as some of the alleged crimes, mainly deportation, also occurred in Bangladesh – which is a signatory – there were grounds for an indictment.
Now, after five years of investigation, the chief prosecutor says he has enough evidence to request an international arrest warrant against Min Aung Hlaing.
A panel of three ICC judges must now rule on the prosecutor’s request.
There is also an ongoing genocide case against the military at the International Court of Justice.
Human rights organisations welcomed news of Min Aung Hlaing’s arrest warrant, with one calling it a “day of celebration”.
“The ICC prosecutor’s request for this arrest warrant is a strong warning to Myanmar’s abusive military leaders that they’re not beyond the reach of the law,” said Maria Elena Vignoli, senior international justice counsel at Human Rights Watch.
“This is a rare day of celebration for the Rohingya,” Tun Khin, president of the Burmese Rohingya Organisation in the UK, told Reuters news agency. “Today we have finally taken another step towards justice and accountability.”
Myanmar is currently in the midst of a civil war, with Min Aung Hlaing’s army having suffered significant losses.
Min Aung Hlaing first came to power in 2021, after he led a coup against the elected government of Aung Sang Suu Kyi.
He has become an international pariah since launching his disastrous coup, and rarely travels – and it’s unlikely he will ever end up in court at The Hague.
But for the hundreds of thousands of Rohingyas stuck in miserable camps in Bangladesh, this case may at least show that they have not been forgotten.
