The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) says it has requested an arrest warrant for Myanmar’s military leader Min Aung Hlaing for crimes against humanity committed against the Rohingya Muslims.
Karim Khan said there were reasonable grounds to believe Min Aung Hlaing bore criminal responsibility for the persecution and deportation of Rohingyas to neighbouring Bangladesh.
Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fled Myanmar in 2017 to escape a campaign of what the UN has described as genocide launched by the Burmese military.
But Myanmar’s government has denied this, saying it was only carrying out a campaign against Rohingya militants. Attacks on the Rohingya first began in 2017, after Rohingya militants launched deadly attacks on more than 30 police posts in Myanmar.
They said troops responded to this by burning their villages, and attacking and killing civilians.
At least 6,700 Rohingya, including at least 730 children under the age of five, were killed in the month after the violence broke out, according to medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).
Amnesty International says the Myanmar military also raped and abused Rohingya women and girls.
The shocking violence against the Rohingya prompted an international outcry, and demands for accountability – something which proved difficult, with the-then Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi refusing to prosecute her generals.
Myanmar is not a signatory to the International Criminal Court, so initially bringing a case against the military there seemed impossible.
Credit: bbc.com
