Responding to the announcement that the International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan is seeking an arrest warrant for Myanmar military leader Min Aung Hlaing for his responsibility for the crimes against humanity of deportation and persecution of the Rohingya committed in both Myanmar and Bangladesh, Agnès Callamard, Secretary General at Amnesty International, said:

“Today’s announcement by the ICC prosecutor is a decisive step and an important signal – both for Myanmar and the rest of the world – that those who are allegedly responsible for crimes under international law will be sought to face arrest and trial, no matter how powerful they are or how long they have escaped scrutiny.

“The cycle of impunity in Myanmar has to be broken now. No senior leader has ever been held accountable for the atrocities committed against the Rohingya who lost their lives, homes and entire communities and continue to face multiple crimes.

“In the absence of accountability, more violations will occur. Min Aung Hlaing has been at the centre of multiple human rights catastrophes in Myanmar. He oversaw violent operations against the Rohingya in 2016 and 2017, and he led the 2021 coup, which has led to the killing of nearly 6,000 civilians and plunged Myanmar into economic, political and social chaos.

“Though the arrest warrant sought in this case deals with the 2017 crisis, Rohingya people are still being persecuted and driven into Bangladesh from Myanmar to this day. This year marked the worst year of violence against the community since 2017, as Rohingya men, women and children died in bombings or drowned while being trapped in the middle of an armed conflict between the Myanmar military and the rebel Arakan Army.

“If the arrest warrant is granted, Min Aung Hlaing should be subject to immediate arrest and surrender to the International Criminal Court to face trial. In the meantime, more can be done to build on this momentum and pursue accountability for Rohingya and all the peoples of Myanmar. This should start with the UN Security Council referring the entire situation in the country to the International Criminal Court.”

‘More will follow’

The ICC prosecutor’s statement said that this is the first application for an arrest warrant for a senior Myanmar military official but that more will follow and alleges that the crimes were committed in a four-month period between 25 August and 31 December 2017.

Starting in August 2017, Myanmar’s military drove more than 740,000 Rohingya men, women and children into Bangladesh in a campaign that Amnesty said at the time amounted to crimes against humanity under international law. In a 2018 report, Amnesty identified 13 individuals against whom the organisation had gathered extensive, credible evidence of direct or command responsibility for crimes against humanity. Min Aung Hlaing was at the top of this list.

Amnesty has also called for the United Nations Security Council to refer the full situation in Myanmar to the International Criminal Court Prosecutor, so that an investigation of all crimes committed in Myanmar can be conducted.