Rohingya crisis: Suu Kyi faces legal action
BUENOSAIRES: Former democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi is among several top Myanmar officials named on Wednesday in a case filed in Argentina for crimes against the Rohingya, the first time the Nobel Laureate has been legally targeted over the crisis.
Rohingya and Latin American human rights groups submitted the lawsuit in Argentina under the principle of “universal jurisd i c t i o n, ” a l e g a l c o nce p t enshrined in many countries’ laws. The premise is that some acts - including war crimes and crimes against humanity - are so horrific they are not specific to one nation and can be tried anywhere.
“This complaint seeks the criminal sanction of the perpetrators, accomplices and cover-ups of the genocide,” lawyer Tomas Ojea told AFP.
The lawsuit demands top military and political leaders - including army chief Min Aung Hlaing and civilian leader Suu Kyi - face justice over the “existential threat” faced by the Rohingya Muslim minority.
Argentinean courts have taken up other universal jurisdiction cases, including in relation to ex-dictator Francisco Franco’s rule in Spain and the Falun Gong movement in China.
A separate case was filed Monday against Myanmar by The Gambia at the UN’S top court in The Hague. And in a third legal process, prosecutors at the International Criminal Court last year launched preliminary investigations in Bangladesh, where the Rohingya are refugees.