ASEAN Beat | Society | Southeast Asia

Rights Groups File Genocide Complaint Against Myanmar’s Min Aung Hlaing

The complaint was accepted by the Attorney General’s Office just days after the general was “elected” president by the military-dominated parliament.

An aerial view of a refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.

Rohingya activists and legal advocacy groups have filed a criminal case against the head of Myanmar’s military junta in Indonesia, accusing him of acts of genocide against the Rohingya minority group.

In a statement yesterday, the Myanmar Accountability Project (MAP) said that Indonesia’s Attorney-General’s Office had “formally accepted a criminal file” accusing the military of inflicting serious physical and mental harm, mass rape, and arson attacks on villages in northern Rakhine State. It also accused the military of “torture, persecution, and imposing conditions of life calculated to bring about the destruction of the Rohingya people in whole or in part,” as per an earlier statement from MAP.

The complaint was filed by Yasmin Ullah, a Rohingya who fled Myanmar, and several prominent Indonesian figures, including Marzuki Darusman, a former attorney-general, it added.

Under Min Aung Hlaing’s command, Myanmar’s military launched a “clearance operation” in August 2017 that drove around 740,000 civilians from Rakhine State into Bangladesh, acts that U.N. investigators later claimed showed “genocidal intent.” More than a million Rohingya remain in refugee camps scattered around the city of Cox’s Bazar in southeastern Bangladesh.

The Indonesian case was filed just days after Min Aung Hlaing was elected president by the country’s military-dominated parliament, strengthening his grip on power five years after he led a coup that overthrew the elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi.

The complaint was made under the principle of “universal jurisdiction,” which allows the victims of atrocities to bring charges in foreign courts against particular crimes of international concern, regardless of where the crime was committed or the nationality of the victims and perpetrators. Indonesia’s new penal code, which entered into effect in January, incorporates the principle of universal jurisdiction, opening a rare space for activists seeking to bring senior Myanmar generals to account for recent atrocities.

“It is the first time under Indonesia’s new penal code that a case has been officially received and I warmly welcome this historic development as a milestone for all Rohingya people on their long march to justice and accountability,” Yasmin Ullah said in the statement.

“The architect of our extermination and other mass atrocities across Myanmar cannot be allowed to sit comfortability [sic] in the presidential palace without facing the consequences of his heinous crimes.”

The case adds to the raft of legal cases against Min Aung Hlaing and the Myanmar military. Legal advocacy groups have also initiated or sought to initiate universal jurisdiction cases against the Myanmar military in Argentina, the Philippines, Turkey, Germany, and Timor-Leste, addressing both the crimes committed against the Rohingya and other post-coup abuses. A court in Argentina last year issued an arrest warrant for Min Aung Hlaing, accusing him of committing “genocide and crimes against humanity” against the Rohingya. In late 2023, Germany’s Federal Public Prosecutor declined to open an investigation into Myanmar’s generals, reportedly citing the absence of Min Aung Hlaing and other named perpetrators in Germany as a “decisive factor.”

There is also an active genocide case at the International Court of Justice, the main court of the United Nations, and in late 2024, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Min Aung Hlaing for crimes against humanity committed against the Rohingya.

Despite all these legal cases, Min Aung Hlaing was last week elected as the country’s next president, the culmination of a political process that began with a controversial three-phase election in December and January. The election was dominated by the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party, which won 231 of the 264 seats up for grabs in the lower house and 108 of the 157 contested seats in the upper house. A quarter of the seats in both chambers are also reserved for the military, making Min Aung Hlaing’s election to the top office a foregone conclusion.

While all of these international legal cases hold out the prospect of accountability, Min Aung Hlaing’s “election” could result in a countervailing normalization of Myanmar’s relations with the outside world. So far, officials from China, Thailand, Cambodia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Nicaragua, and Russia have extended congratulatory messages to Min Aung Hlaing, effectively recognizing the new “civilian” government that he will form after being sworn into office on April 10. India has not yet formally congratulated the general, but Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh is set to attend his swearing-in in Naypyidaw later this week.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has so far refused to recognize the Myanmar election result, but Philippine Foreign Secretary Maria Theresa Lazaro has nonetheless expressed optimism that “something positive” might emerge from the process.

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Rohingya activists and legal advocacy groups have filed a criminal case against the head of Myanmar’s military junta in Indonesia, accusing him of acts of genocide against the Rohingya minority group.

In a statement yesterday, the Myanmar Accountability Project (MAP) said that Indonesia’s Attorney-General’s Office had “formally accepted a criminal file” accusing the military of inflicting serious physical and mental harm, mass rape, and arson attacks on villages in northern Rakhine State. It also accused the military of “torture, persecution, and imposing conditions of life calculated to bring about the destruction of the Rohingya people in whole or in part,” as per an earlier statement from MAP.

The complaint was filed by Yasmin Ullah, a Rohingya who fled Myanmar, and several prominent Indonesian figures, including Marzuki Darusman, a former attorney-general, it added.

Under Min Aung Hlaing’s command, Myanmar’s military launched a “clearance operation” in August 2017 that drove around 740,000 civilians from Rakhine State into Bangladesh, acts that U.N. investigators later claimed showed “genocidal intent.” More than a million Rohingya remain in refugee camps scattered around the city of Cox’s Bazar in southeastern Bangladesh.

The Indonesian case was filed just days after Min Aung Hlaing was elected president by the country’s military-dominated parliament, strengthening his grip on power five years after he led a coup that overthrew the elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi.

The complaint was made under the principle of “universal jurisdiction,” which allows the victims of atrocities to bring charges in foreign courts against particular crimes of international concern, regardless of where the crime was committed or the nationality of the victims and perpetrators. Indonesia’s new penal code, which entered into effect in January, incorporates the principle of universal jurisdiction, opening a rare space for activists seeking to bring senior Myanmar generals to account for recent atrocities.

“It is the first time under Indonesia’s new penal code that a case has been officially received and I warmly welcome this historic development as a milestone for all Rohingya people on their long march to justice and accountability,” Yasmin Ullah said in the statement.

“The architect of our extermination and other mass atrocities across Myanmar cannot be allowed to sit comfortability [sic] in the presidential palace without facing the consequences of his heinous crimes.”

The case adds to the raft of legal cases against Min Aung Hlaing and the Myanmar military. Legal advocacy groups have also initiated or sought to initiate universal jurisdiction cases against the Myanmar military in Argentina, the Philippines, Turkey, Germany, and Timor-Leste, addressing both the crimes committed against the Rohingya and other post-coup abuses. A court in Argentina last year issued an arrest warrant for Min Aung Hlaing, accusing him of committing “genocide and crimes against humanity” against the Rohingya. In late 2023, Germany’s Federal Public Prosecutor declined to open an investigation into Myanmar’s generals, reportedly citing the absence of Min Aung Hlaing and other named perpetrators in Germany as a “decisive factor.”

There is also an active genocide case at the International Court of Justice, the main court of the United Nations, and in late 2024, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Min Aung Hlaing for crimes against humanity committed against the Rohingya.

Despite all these legal cases, Min Aung Hlaing was last week elected as the country’s next president, the culmination of a political process that began with a controversial three-phase election in December and January. The election was dominated by the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party, which won 231 of the 264 seats up for grabs in the lower house and 108 of the 157 contested seats in the upper house. A quarter of the seats in both chambers are also reserved for the military, making Min Aung Hlaing’s election to the top office a foregone conclusion.

While all of these international legal cases hold out the prospect of accountability, Min Aung Hlaing’s “election” could result in a countervailing normalization of Myanmar’s relations with the outside world. So far, officials from China, Thailand, Cambodia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Nicaragua, and Russia have extended congratulatory messages to Min Aung Hlaing, effectively recognizing the new “civilian” government that he will form after being sworn into office on April 10. India has not yet formally congratulated the general, but Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh is set to attend his swearing-in in Naypyidaw later this week.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has so far refused to recognize the Myanmar election result, but Philippine Foreign Secretary Maria Theresa Lazaro has nonetheless expressed optimism that “something positive” might emerge from the process.

Sebastian Strangio is Southeast Asia editor at The Diplomat. 

Indonesia legal system

International Justice

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