CSW welcomes the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor’s request for an arrest warrant for Myanmar’s Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, an important initial step towards accountability for the atrocities committed against the Rohingya population in Myanmar.

In August 2017, the Myanmar army attacked Rohingya villages and civilians, resulting in thousands killed, 700,000 people fleeing to Bangladesh and hundreds of villages burned. Since then, there have been reports of ongoing atrocities against the predominantly Muslim Rohingya, including the burning of homes, schools and mosques, the deliberate burning of people to death inside their homes, mass rape, torture, execution without trial, and the blocking of aid.

The ICC prosecutor’s request underscores credible evidence linking Senior General Min Aung Hlaing to the mass violence that forced hundreds of thousands of Rohingya to seek refuge in Bangladesh and constitutes grave breaches of international law. This marks the first arrest warrant application against a senior official from Myanmar.

The 2018 Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar concluded that acts of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes had been committed against the Rohingya. If the arrest warrant is issued, ICC state parties will be obligated to detain Senior General Min Aung Hlaing upon entry into their territory.

CSW’s Founder President Mervyn Thomas said: ‘CSW welcomes this significant development, which a first step towards justice for the Rohingya. We note the prosecutor’s intention to pursue further accountability measures and call on regional actors re-evaluate their adherence to ‘non-interference’ policies, which have enabled the military junta to evade accountability. The pursuit of justice for the Rohingya should serve as a foundation for addressing the ongoing suffering of Myanmar’s diverse ethnic and religious communities, who continue to suffer grave crimes at the hands of Myanmar’s military regime.’