JAKARTA - A group of civil society organisations filed a criminal complaint in Indonesia on Monday accusing Myanmar's newly installed President Min Aung Hlaing of committing acts of genocide against the Rohingya ethnic minority.
The complaint was presented to Indonesia's Attorney General's Office by Yasmin Ullah, a Rohingya woman who fled Myanmar, together with a number of Indonesian participants including a former attorney general and the chairman of Muhammadiyah, which is one of the country's largest Muslim organisations, according to a statement issued by the claimants.
The claimants said they will present evidence alleging forced displacement of Rohingya populations - described by them as the world's largest stateless group - alongside killings attributed to the Myanmar junta. They also said Indonesian prosecutors have accepted the case.
"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 in the statement.
Indonesia, which hosts the Association of South East Asian Nations - ASEAN - headquarters, is the world's most populous Muslim-majority country and is among the destinations for Rohingya fleeing Myanmar or camps by sea. Relations between Myanmar and fellow ASEAN members have been strained since the 2021 coup led by Min Aung Hlaing, which precipitated widespread conflict and a humanitarian crisis with large numbers of Rohingya displaced and concentrated in refugee settlements.
The complaint recalls an offensive launched by Myanmar's armed forces in 2017 under then-junta chief Min Aung Hlaing that forced at least 730,000 Rohingya from their homes into neighbouring Bangladesh. Survivors who reached Bangladesh recounted killings, mass rape and arson, the claimants noted.
In explaining the legal basis for the filing, the claimants pointed to provisions in Indonesia's penal code that allow for universal jurisdiction over especially grave crimes, enabling prosecutions regardless of the nationality of victims or the location where alleged offences occurred.
Indonesia's Attorney General's Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment, the filing's authors said. The Myanmar junta likewise did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.
The filing in Jakarta follows related legal action elsewhere: in January, The Gambia told judges at the United Nations' top court that Myanmar targeted the Rohingya minority for destruction, accusing the state of genocide. Myanmar has consistently denied allegations of genocide.
Min Aung Hlaing was elected president through a parliamentary vote last week after an army-backed party won the December and January elections - contests that Western governments described as a sham - formalising his hold on political power. The 2021 coup has since provoked nationwide protests and an ongoing resistance movement.
Context and significance
The Jakarta complaint represents a domestic legal attempt in a member state of ASEAN to seek accountability for alleged mass abuses against the Rohingya. The case leverages Indonesia's newly revised penal code and its universal jurisdiction provisions, while mirroring international legal efforts initiated in other venues.