A group of Rohingya women and girls within two months to testify to the Myanmar military in a genocide trial heard in a court in Buenos Aires. I am planning to travel to Argentina.
Each survivor gave a remote testimony to the court of sexual assault. Argentine courts have a history of proceeding on the premise of "universal justice." This legal concept believes that some horrific acts, including genocide, can be tried everywhere.
The incident began with a 2017 military crackdown on Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, the majority of Buddhists. More than 370 Rohingya villages ignited, killing hundreds of civilians during a military security clearance operation in northern Rakhine State to retaliate against the Arakan Rohingya Relief Force (ARSA, armed Rohingya group) I did. The United Nations states that the actions of the Myanmar military are equivalent to genocide. After the crackdown, more than 740,000 Rohingya fled to Bangladesh.
Burma Rohingya Organization UK (BROUK) Chairman Thun Kin told VOA Burma, "The testimony is most likely to be given within up to two months. That testimony is very important. The woman is taken to court. " In Buenos Aires for hearing.
BROUK filed a proceeding against the Myanmar Army on November 13, 2021, and the Argentine Federal Court accepted the proceeding the following month. Proceedings against Myanmar and its leaders are already underway in the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice of the United Nations.
Thun Kin said that in 2017 Rohingya would be the first women and girls to speak in international court about allegations that Myanmar troops violated international law in northern Rakhine State. As part of the indictment, Tun Khin appeared in an Argentine court last December.
The VOA Burmese asked Maj. Gen. Zomin Tung, a military spokesman, about the junta's position on the military accusations heard in Argentina.
"We testified at the ICJ, the official body of the United Nations, and explained that Rakhine State was stable in the past," he said of his appearance in the International Court of Justice. rice field. The Hague. "Conflicts only occur after the emergence of the ARSA terrorist group. Accuser needs to analyze the history of the various ethnic groups living in peace in Rakhine State."
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle -Bachele called on other countries to cooperate with Argentina and Turkey, which are investigating Myanmar's military leaders in violation of international law, in line with universal jurisdiction.
