Facts
On 25 August 2017, a military crackdown started in Myanmar against the Rohingya people after militants allegedly attacked police posts in Rakhine State. The violent repression forced more than 740’000 civilians to flee massacres, extrajudicial executions and sexual violence.
The United Nations Independent International Fact-Finding Mission in Myanmar concluded that soldiers systematically used rape, gang rape and other violent and forced sexual acts against women, girls, boys, men. The UN investigators qualified this severe crackdown as “genocide” and declared that the generals at the head of the country’s army must answer charges of genocide in northern Rakhine State as well as crimes against humanity and war crimes in the States of Rakhine, Kachin and Shan.
Procedure
On 13 November 2019, the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK (BROUK) filed a complaint to the Argentinian authorities for alleged genocide and crimes against humanity committed against the Rohingya people, including mass killings allegedly committed in August 2017. The complaint outlined the responsibility of military and civilian officials, religious leaders, individuals who disseminated hate speech and corporations suspected of aiding and abetting crimes committed against the Rohingya people.
The prosecutor and investigating judge dismissed the complaint on the grounds that Argentinian courts were not the appropriate forum for such an investigation considering that an investigation into the situation in Myanmar was ongoing at the International Criminal Court (ICC), that there was no connection between Myanmar and Argentina and that, in the future, courts in Myanmar may be able to adjudicate these crimes.
The plaintiff appealed the dismissal, including on the grounds that the complaint, which focused on genocide, addressed different crimes to those within the scope of the investigation by the ICC.
On 29 May 2020, Argentina’s Federal Criminal Chamber 1 reversed the decision by the prosecutor and the investigating judge to dismiss the complaint, requesting that they engage with the ICC as to the scope of its investigation. The ICC Prosecutor confirmed that its investigation was not focused on the crime of genocide and offered no objection to the opening of an investigation by the Argentinian authorities.
On 12 July 2021, the Argentinian lower court again dismissed the case.
The plaintiff filed a further appeal against this decision. During the appeal hearings in August 2021, six female Rohingya survivors appeared remotely before the Federal Appeals Court to speak about their experiences.
On 26 November 2021, the Federal Criminal Chamber 1 ordered the investigating judge to open an investigation into crimes against humanity and genocide allegedly committed against the Rohingya people. On the basis of Article 118 of the Constitution of Argentina, the court stated that the nature of such crimes creates an obligation for all States, under peremptory norms of international law, to conduct a preliminary investigation into harmful acts that violate the peace, security and welfare of mankind.
The court underlined that the existence of the Independent Investigating Mechanism for Myanmar for the collection of evidence would facilitate the complex task of collecting evidence in this case.
In June 2023, seven Rohingya survivors of an attack on one village during the 2017 ethnic cleansing operation in Rakhine State travelled to Argentina to provide testimony during a week of hearings before the court.
In December 2023, the plaintiff, BROUK, submitted a request to the Federal Criminal Chamber for arrest warrants against multiple individuals within the military chain of command.
On 28 June 2024, the federal prosecutor submitted a request to the Federal Criminal Chamber to issue arrest warrants and Interpol Red Notices for 25 officials, military personnel and police officers, including former State counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, acting president and commander-in-chief of the armed forces Min Aung Hlaing, former president of Myanmar Htin Kyaw and chairman of a village in Rakhine State Aung San Mya.
On 27 November 2024, the Prosecutor of the ICC filed an application to the pre-trial chamber for a warrant of arrest for crimes against humanity for acting president and commander-in-chief of the armed forces Min Aung Hlaing.
On 14 February 2025, the Federal Criminal Chamber of Argentina issued arrest warrants for 22 military and three civilian leaders, including Aung San Suu Kyi, Min Aung Hlaing, Htin Kyaw and Aung San Mya, for alleged genocide and crimes against humanity. The court is engaging with Interpol on issuing Red Notices for the same individuals.