Complaint accusing Myanmar president of genocide filed in Indonesia

A criminal complaint accusing Myanmar's newly-elected president Min Aung Hlaing of genocide has been filed by a group of civil society organizations in Indonesia on Monday.

The move, hailed as unprecedented by activists, was made under Indonesia’s new penal law, which allows for universal jurisdiction in cases involving serious international crimes, including genocide.

Yasmin Ullah, executive director of the Rohingya Women Collaborative -- one of the signatories to the statement -- said: “It is the first time under Indonesia's new penal code that a case filed under universal jurisdiction has been officially received.”

“I warmly welcome this historic development as a milestone for all Rohingya people on their long march to justice and accountability,” said Ullah, a Rohingya who fled Myanmar.

“The architect of our extermination and other mass atrocities across Myanmar cannot be allowed to sit comfortably in the presidential palace without facing the consequences of his heinous crimes,” she added.

Min Aung was elected Myanmar’s 11th president earlier this month after winning more than half the votes in parliament. He previously served as the country’s army chief and oversaw the military campaign against the Rohingya, the world’s largest stateless population.

In 2018, the United Nations Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar determined that Min Aung and other Myanmar military generals oversaw atrocities against the Rohingya and did so with genocidal intent.

Marzuki Darusman, who led the fact-finding mission, said: “We have presented irrefutable evidence that genocide is taking place now in Myanmar, against the Rohingya people."

According to the lead lawyer in the case, Feri Amsari, the new law “unambiguously asserts the principle of universal jurisdiction by Indonesia, specifically for the crime of genocide.”

Chris Gunness, director of the Myanmar Accountability Project, said: “The age of universal jurisdiction is dawning and the case against Min Aung Hlaing has never been stronger.”

In 2019, The Gambia filed a case at the International Court of Justice accusing Myanmar of genocide against the Rohingya, a case defended at the time by then-leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

In November 2024, International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan sought an arrest warrant for Min Aung, saying there were “reasonable grounds to believe” he bore responsibility for crimes against humanity, including deportation and persecution of the Rohingya.