The ICC prosecutor promises that more requests will come as the Rohingya seek justice and accountability.
The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has requested an international arrest warrant for Myanmar’s military ruler for the persecution of the Rohingya.
Prosecutor Karim Khan’s office said on Wednesday that Min Aung Hlaing, the commander of the armed group that occupied the Southeast Asian country in the central region. take over the government in 2021, he is responsible for anti-public charges regarding the treatment of the Rohingya minority.
The prosecutor’s office has been investigating crimes related to the 2016-17 violence in the country’s Rakhine state for the past five years, it said.
During that time, Myanmar’s military brutally persecuted Rohingya civilians, sending at least 700,000 to flee to neighboring Bangladesh. killing peopletortured, raped and burned.
Army chief Min Aung Hlaing is “guilty of deportations and persecution of the Rohingya, which took place in Myanmar, as well as in Bangladesh,” the prosecutor’s office said.
“My office reports that these crimes were committed between 25 August 2017 and 31 December 2017 by Myanmar’s armed forces, the Tatmadaw, with the support of national police, border guards, and non-Rohingya people,” Khan said. .
The ICC mission aims to prove the resilience of the Rohingya Muslim minority – more than one million of them were forcibly displaced and military actions – and “their hope in the power of the law”, the prosecutor added.
#ICC Lawyer @KarimKhanQC he speaks to the Rohingya people on the request for an arrest warrant for the incident #Bangladesh/#Myanmar ⤵️https://t.co/OyQHr9q29r pic.twitter.com/vYSJdSNQKe
– Int’l Criminal Court (@IntlCrimCourt) November 27, 2024
Judges at the ICC will now consider whether the request can be approved for his arrest. This process may take several months.
Myanmar’s military government has not commented on the matter.
Chaos has been growing in Myanmar since the coup. Military units he fought military rule and they have won little by little, especially in the areas near the border with China.
This has led to tensions with Beijing, the government’s main arms supplier and Myanmar’s biggest trading partner. Analysts note that China also maintains close ties with armed groups based on its borders.
Earlier this month, Min Aung Hlaing he started his first trip to China since he took power, with Beijing reportedly unhappy with his failure to ensure stability and stop crime.
United Nations investigators said the war against the Rohingya, which included mass killings, rape and destruction, was carried out with “genocidal intent”. Myanmar denies the allegations.
Lots to follow
This is the first time the ICC has issued an arrest warrant for a Myanmar official. The prosecutor, speaking from a refugee camp in Bangladesh, promised “more will follow”.
“By doing this, we will be showing, together with all our friends, that the Rohingya have not been forgotten. That they, like all people in the world, have the right to be protected by the law,” said the lawyer born in Britain.
In 2022, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the UN’s highest court, handed down another case against Myanmar, brought by Gambia, which is investigating the Rohingya genocide.
Five European and Canadian jurisdictions last year joined the ICJ case against Myanmarthey argue that they want to “help explain and stop the murder”.
The request for Wednesday’s arrest comes after the ICC issued arrest warrants around the world to Israeli and Hamas leaders, six months after the prosecutor sought them.
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