Survivors of military abuses in Myanmar have filed criminal complaints in Germany to investigate and bring to justice those responsible for atrocities during the crackdown on opponents of the February 2021 coup and the Rohingya minority. asked the public prosecutor.
Advocacy group Fortify Rights announced Tuesday it had filed a complaint.
The group said the case involving 16 individuals from Myanmar was submitted to the German Federal Prosecutor’s Office last week.
Fortify Rights CEO and co-founder Matthew Smith said the complaint was filed in Germany because that universal jurisdiction law applies.
“Germany is uniquely positioned to help prevent impunity in Myanmar,” Smith said at a press conference in Bangkok, Thailand.
“The complaint provides new evidence proving that the Myanmar military systematically committed killings, rapes, torture, imprisonment, disappearances, persecution and other genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in violation of German law. I do,” he said.
“Members of the military regime cannot escape justice in this world and must be held accountable.”
There was no immediate comment from the Myanmar military.
The complaint was filed just days before 1 February, the second year since General Min Aung Hlaing took power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.
The power grab has plunged Myanmar into conflict, which has faced genocide accusations in its 2017 campaign against the Rohingya.
Enraged by the military’s brutal suppression of peaceful protests, civilian militias took up arms and deposed lawmakers established parallel governments. Min Aung Hlaing thwarted his attempt to step up the coup and responded with more violence. By doing so, he burned the entire village to the ground.
Fortify Rights said it was forced to seek help from Germany after the UN Security Council refused to refer Myanmar’s military to the International Criminal Court.
About half of the 16 people in the complaint are Rohingya who survived the crackdowns in Rakhine State in 2016 and 2017, while the rest are victims of post-coup atrocities in states and territories across the country in 2021 and 2022. was a victim of
They include Arakan, Bahman, Chin, Karen, Karenni and Hmong members.
“For the first time in history, we call for the Myanmar military to be held accountable for all crimes against all ethnic groups,” said Fortify Rights investigator Pavani Nagaraja Bhatt.
“Despite coming from different regions, ethnicities and backgrounds, all the complainants have suffered deeply since the coup, losing their homes, families, livelihoods and freedoms, and many living abroad. Despite this, they still live in constant fear.What they have witnessed and survived is terrifying,” she told reporters. says enough.”
Individuals in the case include Nicky Diamond, who now lives in Germany.
“We trust Germany to launch an investigation and seek justice for the genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes committed by Myanmar’s military and its leaders,” he said. “Now is the time to end impunity and ensure that military perpetrators and others cannot get away with their crimes.”
Others include a 51-year-old Rohingya woman who accused security forces of killing seven members of her family during a crackdown in 2017. She also heard an individual under military control raping her daughter-in-law while security forces beat her in the next room. They reported witnessing soldiers stabbing, beating and killing scores of Rohingya men and children as the bodies of Rohingya civilians piled up.
“The Myanmar government and military have been trying to wipe out the Rohingya community for 50 years,” she said in a statement.
Another petitioner was Thi Da, a 35-year-old mother of three who accused the military of enforcing the disappearance of her husband in 2021.
“I’m still angry [Myanmar junta] soldiers,” the Chin woman said in a statement. “They don’t think of us as humans, they treat us like animals and objects.”
Fortify Rights, whose primary purpose is to enable German federal prosecutors to initiate investigations, collect and preserve evidence for prosecution, and issue arrest warrants for those responsible for crimes committed in Myanmar. I said yes.
German prosecutors are currently investigating over 100 cases of international crimes linked to other countries and situations. These include Russian war crimes in Ukraine.
It also noted that German courts had heard cases dealing with torture in Syrian prisons and crimes committed by members of ISIL or ISIS, including against the Yazidi community.
