By Stephanie van den Berg and Shoon Naing
THE HAGUE (Reuters) -The prosecutor of the Worldwide Prison Court docket (ICC) mentioned on Wednesday he would search an arrest warrant for Myanmar’s army chief Min Aung Hlaing for crimes in opposition to humanity over the alleged persecution of the Rohingya, a primarily Muslim minority.
A panel of three judges will now resolve in the event that they agree there are “reasonable grounds” to consider normal Min Aung Hlaing bears felony duty for the deportation and persecution of Rohingya in Myanmar and Bangladesh.
There is no such thing as a set time-frame for his or her choice however it usually takes round three months to rule on issuing an arrest warrant.
A spokesperson for Myanmar’s ruling junta didn’t reply calls from Reuters instantly after the announcement. Reuters has requested remark from the army authorities by e mail.
The ICC prosecutor’s transfer comes as his workplace faces intense political backlash from Washington, amongst others, over its arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former protection chief Yoav Gallant.
The prosecutor’s workplace mentioned in an announcement that it was searching for the warrant after in depth, impartial and neutral investigations. Extra functions for arrest warrants referring to Myanmar will comply with, it mentioned.
Greater than 730,000 Rohingya Muslims fled to Bangladesh through the marketing campaign which U.N. investigators mentioned was carried out with “genocidal intent”.
Buddhist majority Myanmar denies accusations of genocide and has at all times maintained it doesn’t goal civilians, saying it carried out army operations in opposition to terrorists.
Myanmar shouldn’t be a member of the treaty-based ICC, however in 2018 and 2019 rulings judges mentioned the court docket had jurisdiction over alleged cross-border crimes that partially came about in neighbouring ICC member Bangladesh, and mentioned prosecutors may open a proper investigation.
“This is the first application for an arrest warrant against a high-level Myanmar government official that my Office is filing. More will follow,” the ICC prosecutor’s assertion mentioned.
The ICC has been investigating crimes in opposition to the Rohingya for almost 5 years. Its investigation has not solely been hampered by a scarcity of entry to the nation but additionally as a result of Myanmar has been in turmoil because the army ousted an elected authorities led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021, sparking a resistance motion that started as peaceable protests and later advanced into an armed revolt on a number of fronts.
Investigators drew upon all kinds of proof from witness testimonies, together with from plenty of insider witnesses, documentary proof and authenticated scientific, photographic and video supplies, they mentioned.
“The ICC prosecutor’s decision to seek a warrant against Sr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing comes amid renewed atrocities against Rohingya civilians that echo those suffered seven years ago,” Maria Elena Vignoli, senior worldwide justice counsel at Human Rights Watch mentioned.
“The ICC’s action is an important step toward breaking the cycle of abuses and impunity that has long been a key factor in fuelling the military’s mass violations.”