The International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor has requested an international arrest warrant for Myanmar’s military ruler, Min Aung Hlaing, for crimes against humanity involving the persecution of the Rohingya minority. The ICC prosecutor has been investigating alleged crimes committed during the 2016-17 violence in Rakhine State for the past five years. The military crackdown on Rohingya civilians led to at least 700,000 fleeing to Bangladesh amid reports of killings, torture, rape, and arson.
The ICC prosecutor has accused Min Aung Hlaing of being responsible for the crimes against humanity of deportation and persecution of the Rohingya. The judges at the ICC will determine whether the application warrants an arrest order, a process that could take several months. This marks the first application for an arrest warrant against a high-level Myanmar official by the ICC.
The prosecutor, Karim Khan, has promised that more applications will be forthcoming as the Rohingya seek justice and accountability. The ICC’s work aims to support the Rohingya community, who were forcibly displaced by military action, in seeking justice through the power of the law. Myanmar’s military government has not commented on the arrest warrant request yet, as the country continues to face turmoil following the 2021 coup.
In a separate case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Gambia has brought a case against Myanmar investigating responsibility for genocide against the Rohingya. The request for an arrest warrant against Min Aung Hlaing comes after the ICC issued international arrest warrants for Israeli and Hamas leaders, demonstrating the court’s commitment to holding leaders accountable for crimes against humanity.
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