Petition to Argentina court seeks arrest warrant for Min Aung Hlaing over Rohingya genocide

By Admin 29 Jun 2024

DMG Newsroom
29 June 2024, Sittwe

The Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK (BROUK) on Friday petitioned a court in Argentina to issue international arrest warrants for junta boss Min Aung Hlaing and six other Myanmar officials responsible for genocide against the Rohingya people.

Those named for arrest warrants include Min Aung Hlaing, his deputy Soe Win, Commander of the Bureau of Special Operations No. 3 Lieutenant-General Aung Kyaw Zaw, Commander of Western Command Major-General Maung Maung Soe, commander of 33rd Light Infantry Division Brigadier-General Aung Aung, police officer Kyaw Shae and village administrator Aung Hsan Mya.

“This is a historic and unprecedented step towards accountability for the decades-long genocide against the Rohingya people. It shows that our long fight for justice is starting to bear fruit,” said Tun Khin, president of BROUK.

“Those committing genocide should have nowhere to hide from the law,” he added.

“The First Instance Federal Court Number 1 in Buenos Aires and the Prosecutor will now consider BROUK’s request for an arrest warrant. If the court accepts it, it will automatically trigger a request to Interpol to issue international arrest warrants for the individuals identified,” BROUK said in a statement.

The case in Argentina is the first universal jurisdiction case anywhere in the world concerning the Rohingya genocide, according to the statement.

Under the principle of universal jurisdiction, such crimes can be investigated anywhere in the world regardless of where they were committed, the statement noted. The Myanmar case was opened in 2021 based on a petition by BROUK.

“Our fight for justice is not just for the Rohingya, but for all victims of the Myanmar military, regardless of what ethnic groups they belong to,” said U Tun Khin.

DMG reached out to junta spokesman Major-General Zaw Min Tun for comment, but he did not reply.

The regime also faces a lawsuit at the International Court of Justice for genocide of the Rohingya during its clearance operations in 2017.