THE HAGUE, Nov 27: The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) announced on Wednesday that he would seek an arrest warrant for Myanmar’s military leader, General Min Aung Hlaing, for crimes against humanity related to the alleged persecution of the Rohingya, a mainly Muslim minority group. This legal move follows an extensive investigation into the violence faced by the Rohingya, which includes charges of deportation and persecution that led to a mass exodus to neighboring Bangladesh.
A panel of three judges at the ICC will now determine whether there are “reasonable grounds” to believe that Min Aung Hlaing bears criminal responsibility for the crimes committed against the Rohingya. There is no set timeframe for the judges’ decision, but it typically takes about three months for a ruling on whether to issue an arrest warrant.
The military junta spokesperson in Myanmar did not immediately respond to requests for comment following the announcement.
The ICC prosecutor’s office issued a statement detailing that the arrest warrant request followed thorough, independent, and impartial investigations into the allegations against Myanmar’s military leadership. The prosecutor further indicated that additional arrest warrant applications are expected as part of the ongoing investigation into the persecution of the Rohingya.
More than 730,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled Myanmar since the military launched its violent crackdown in 2017, which United Nations investigators described as being carried out with “genocidal intent.” However, Myanmar, a predominantly Buddhist country, denies accusations of genocide and insists that its military operations were aimed at combating terrorism, not targeting civilians.
While Myanmar is not a member of the ICC, the court’s judges ruled in 2018 and 2019 that the ICC had jurisdiction over alleged cross-border crimes that occurred in Bangladesh, an ICC member state. This ruling allowed ICC prosecutors to open a formal investigation into the persecution of the Rohingya.
The ICC prosecutor’s office emphasized that this request for an arrest warrant marks the first action taken against a high-ranking Myanmar official, with more such applications expected to follow as the investigation continues.
