JAKARTA, – A criminal case against Myanmar’s newly-elected President Min Aung Hlaing was filed in Indonesia on Monday by a group of civil society organisations, accusing the leader of acts of genocide against the Rohingya ethnic group.
Myanmar is a member of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), but relations have come under strain since a 2021 coup led by Min Aung Hlaing, leading to civil war and a humanitarian crisis, with large numbers of Rohingya Muslims displaced and forced into refugee settlements.
Indonesia, which hosts ASEAN’s headquarters, is the biggest Muslim majority country in the world, and is among the destinations for Rohingya people fleeing Myanmar or the refugee camps by boat.
Myanmar’s armed forces, under then junta chief Min Aung Hlaing, launched an offensive in 2017 that forced at least 730,000 Rohingya from their homes and into neighbouring Bangladesh, where they recounted killings, mass rape and arson.
The complaint to Indonesia’s Attorney General’s office was filed by Yasmin Ullah, a Rohingya who fled Myanmar, and several Indonesian figures, including a former attorney general and the chairman of Muhammadiyah, one of the country’s biggest Muslim groups, they said in a statement on Monday.
They said they would present evidence of forced displacement of the Rohingya, the world’s largest stateless population, as well as killings by the junta, adding that the case had been accepted by the Indonesian prosecutors.
“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,” Ullah said.
The claimants said Indonesia’s penal code allows for “universal jurisdiction” when certain crimes are considered so serious they can be processed regardless of victim nationalities or where the crime was committed.
Indonesia’s Attorney General’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Another predominantly Muslim country, Gambia, told judges in January at the United Nations’ top court that Myanmar targeted minority Muslim Rohingya for destruction and made their lives a nightmare in a landmark case accusing Myanmar of genocide.
Myanmar has always denied genocide. The junta did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.
Min Aung Hlaing was elected president through a parliamentary vote last week after an army-backed party won the December and January election in what Western governments described as a sham, formalising his grip on political power.
The 2021 coup has led to widespread protests and nationwide resistance ever since.
