Media Release from Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK
For Immediate Release Friday 14th February 2025
Argentina court issues international arrest warrant for Min Aung Hlaing
- A historic step towards justice for Rohingya genocide
An Argentinian court’s issuance of international arrest warrants for the architects and perpetrators of the genocide against the Rohingya is a landmark moment for justice, the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK (BROUK) said today.
A court in Buenos Aires yesterday requested arrest warrants for Min Aung Hlaing and other Burmese military officials involved in the genocide of the Rohingya.
“This is a historic step towards justice for Rohingya and everyone in Burma suffering under the Burmese military,” said Tun Khin, President of BROUK. “This brings a ray of hope to Rohingya who have suffered through decades of genocide, watching their families and culture be destroyed with impunity. It is also a victory for international justice at a time of growing violations of international law worldwide.”
“This courageous decision by the Argentinian judiciary sends a clear signal to Min Aung Hlaing and other officials that no one is above the law. They will eventually have to stand trial for the unspeakable suffering they have brought to not just generations of Rohingya, but to all victims of the military’s brutality in Burma.”
The development is part of the investigation in Argentina into the role of Burma’s civilian and military leaders in committing genocide and crimes against humanity against the Rohingya. Under the principle of universal jurisdiction, such crimes can be investigated anywhere in the world regardless of where they were committed.
Because of political obstacles and the limitations of international justice mechanisms, so far only violations of international law against Rohingya have reached advanced stages at international courts. However, everyone in Burma benefits from international arrest warrants for Min Aung Hlaing and other leaders of the Burmese military.
The case was opened based on a petition filed in 2019 by Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK (BROUK) and Tun Khin with the legal representation of Tomás Ojea Quintana, former UN Special Rapporteur for the human rights situation in Myanmar. Later, six female Rohingya survivors joined the case as formal parties. The investigation was supported by the United Nations Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM).
Those named in the Court’s request include 23 Myanmar military officials. These include senior military leaders with command responsibility, such as Min Aung Hlaing, Myanmar’s Commander-in-Chief and current leader of the military coup in 2021, and Soe Win, Deputy Commander-in-Chief. The request also names lower-ranking officials, who were direct perpetrators of killings and rapes during an attack on a Rohingya village in Rakhine State in 2017. They are accused of crimes including genocide and crimes under the Argentinian penal code including aggravated murder, sexual abuse and torture.
In December 2023 BROUK requested international arrest warrants against military officials only. Subsequently, in June 2024 the Argentinean Prosecutor had independently decided to include civilians, such as Aung San Suu Kyi, in his request to the Court for arrest warrants. In response we made a formal request to the court to ask them to consider the current political context in Burma and whether issuing arrest warrants for Aung San Suu Kyi and Htin Kyaw serves the best interests of justice at this time.
The development in Argentina follows the International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Karim Khan’s decision to seek an arrest warrant for Min Aung Hlaing on 27 November 2024. The ICC has yet to rule whether to grant the arrest warrant, however, while the Argentinian court’s decision has triggered an automatic request to the Prosecutor to issue the warrants.
Eventually, this could lead to INTERPOL, the International Criminal Police Organization, issuing a ‘red notice’ in all its 196 member states to detain Min Aung Hlaing for extradition to Argentina to stand trial. In theory, police in Burma would even be required to act on the warrant, although that is highly unlikely to happen for political reasons.
“Slowly but surely, the net is closing in around Min Aung Hlaing and the rest of the Burmese military. They are now essentially international fugitives, hiding from the law for the atrocities they are responsible for. I call on police forces everywhere to act on these arrests warrants as soon as they are issued,” said Tun Khin.
The case in Argentina is the first universal jurisdiction case anywhere in the world concerning the Rohingya genocide. Since the case opened, BROUK has further intensified its investigation against the Burmese military and those abetting their crimes, including by requesting information from Facebook on how anti-Rohingya hate speech was shared on the platform.
The arrest warrants in Argentina will complement other international justice processes against the Burmese military, such as the cases in the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court.
These efforts have taken on new urgency since 1 February 2021, when the Burmese military tried to seize power of the country through an attempted coup. Since then, the military and its proxies have killed thousands of people opposing its rule and arrested tens of thousands.
“This is not just about the Rohingya, but about all victims of the Burmese military – regardless of ethnicity, gender or age. The people of Burma deserve to build a common future based on mutual respect and human rights, free from the brutality of the military. For that to happen, we need to bring Min Aung Hlaing and others who have propped up his rule to justice, once and for all,” said Tun Khin.
For more information, please contact Tun Khin on +44 7888714866.
CORRECTION: This media release was updated at 10.30am on 14 February to correct editing errors which has led to misunderstanding regarding arrest warrants being issued for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and President Htin Kyaw, and to clarify the total of arrest warrants issued by the court, which is 25.
