ICC prosecutor seeks arrest warrant for Myanmar's military leader
The International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor is seeking an arrest warrant for Myanmar's military leader Min Aung Hlaing over alleged crimes against humanity committed during the crackdown on the Rohingya minority. ICC's chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, announced that an investigation found reasonable grounds to believe Hlaing is responsible for deportation and persecution crimes against the Rohingya in Myanmar and Bangladesh.
ICC judges to decide on arrest warrant for Hlaing
The decision to issue an arrest warrant for Hlaing now lies with a panel of three ICC judges. The decision on issuing an arrest warrant usually takes around three months. The prosecutor's office has said that more applications for arrest warrants are anticipated in the future. Tun Khin, president of the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK, called this development a "huge step forward in the quest for justice."
Rohingya crisis and Myanmar's denial of genocide accusations
In 2017, over 700,000 Rohingya fled Rakhine state to Bangladesh after a military operation that UN investigators described as having "genocidal intent." The ICC has been probing the events since 2016 and 2017. During the violence, Aung San Suu Kyi was Myanmar's de facto leader. Rights groups accused the pro-democracy activist of standing by while the army carried out massacres. She defended Myanmar against genocide allegations at the UN court before her arrest during the 2021 military coup.
Aung San Suu Kyi's role and arrest amid Rohingya crisis
Myanmar is not a member of the ICC, but judges ruled in 2018 and 2019 that the court had jurisdiction over alleged cross-border crimes committed in neighboring ICC member Bangladesh and that prosecutors could launch a formal investigation. The ICC has issued arrest warrants for several serving national leaders, including Benjamin Netanyahu, Vladimir Putin, and Sudan's Omar al-Bashir. To date, only Kenya's Uhuru Kenyatta, who was charged before his 2013 election, has appeared before ICC. The case was later dropped.
Rohingya refugees continue to face threats in Myanmar
Nearly 1 million Rohingya continue to live in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar refugee camp under deplorable conditions. Back in Myanmar, they still face threats from the military and the Arakan Army. Rohingya activist Nay San Lwin welcomed the prosecutor's move as overdue and urged prompt issuance of an arrest warrant. He said, "We deserve justice, we want justice, only the international court can deliver justice for us."
