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East Timor war crimes case against Min Aung Hlaing reaches next stage

May 4, 2026/in News

May 4, 2026 A criminal file against Min Aung Hlaing has been formally submitted to the Court of First Instance in Timor-Leste for judicial review, accusing the Myanmar dictator of war crimes and crimes against humanity, according to the Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO) on Monday. The criminal complaint was filed in January with the […]

War Crimes Case Against Myanmar Dictator Moves Forward in Timor-Leste

May 4, 2026/in Member statements

Press Release for Immediate Publication Dili, 4 May 2026: A criminal file accusing Myanmar dictator, Min Aung Hlaing, of war crimes and crimes against humanity has been formally submitted to the Court of First Instance in Dili for judicial review, following the opening of proceedings in February. This is the next phase in the case […]

East Timor war crimes case against Min Aung Hlaing reaches next stage

May 4, 2026/in News

War Crimes Case Against Myanmar Dictator Moves Forward in Timor-Leste

May 4, 2026/in Member statements

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East Timor war crimes case against Min Aung Hlaing reaches next stage

May 4, 2026/in News

May 4, 2026

A criminal file against Min Aung Hlaing has been formally submitted to the Court of First Instance in Timor-Leste for judicial review, accusing the Myanmar dictator of war crimes and crimes against humanity, according to the Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO) on Monday.

The criminal complaint was filed in January with the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Dili by the CHRO’s director Salai Za Uk, calling for a formal investigation and backed by evidence of gang rape of a pregnant woman, mass killings including the murder of a journalist and a 13-year-old boy, targeted attacks on Christian leaders, and indiscriminate airstrikes on a hospital that killed medical staff and patients.

The case is being brought under the principle of universal jurisdiction, which allows Timor-Leste to investigate and prosecute serious international crimes regardless of where they took place or the nationality of the victims and perpetrators.

Another criminal complaint was submitted to the prosecutor’s office in Jakarta, Indonesia in April by a Rohingya survivor and several prominent Indonesian over the alleged genocide case against Rohingya community in Rakhine State.

An Argentine court, meanwhile, issued an international arrest warrant for the coup leader-turned-president in 2025 for genocide against the Rohingya.

Photo: Thantlang town burns after a junta attack in Chin State in 2022. / CDF-Thantlang

Irrawaddy News

War Crimes Case Against Myanmar Dictator Moves Forward in Timor-Leste

May 4, 2026/in Member statements

Press Release for Immediate Publication

Dili, 4 May 2026: A criminal file accusing Myanmar dictator, Min Aung Hlaing, of war crimes and crimes against humanity has been formally submitted to the Court of First Instance in Dili for judicial review, following the opening of proceedings in February. This is the next phase in the case initiated in January by the Director of the Chin Human Rights Organisation, Salai Za Uk. He alleges that Min Aung Hlaing has command and control responsibility for a series of atrocity crimes in Myanmar’s north western Chin State.

These include the gang rape of a seven-month-pregnant woman in front of her husband, the massacre of ten people including a journalist and a 13-year-old boy, who was among eight people who had their hands tied behind their backs and their throats slit, the deliberate killing of a Christian Pastor and three Deacons, a disproportionate and indiscriminate aerial attack on a hospital which killed four medical staff and four patients, and a series of attacks on Christian churches, civilian infrastructure protected under international law.

“I urge the Timorese authorities to take the simple step of opening an investigation against war criminal, Min Aung Hlaing, who is already under investigation by the International Criminal Court in the Hague”, said Salai Za Uk. “The Chin People, against whom the junta is committing gross human rights violations on an industrial scale look for support to the people of Timor-Leste who have a shared history of atrocity crimes such as rape, massacres and indiscriminate attacks on civilians”.

Jose Teixeira, the lead lawyers in the case, from the Timorese law firm Da Silva Teixeira & Associados, said “there is a legal obligation to open an investigation and we believe the court will make this determination. To be clear, such an investigation will place little pressure on the judiciary system in Timor-Leste given that organisations such as the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar, the IIMM in Geneva, have been investigating Min Aung Hlaing and stand ready to support these proceedings as they move forward”.

According to Chris Gunness, Director of the Myanmar Accountability Project, “this case lays bare the absurdity of the situation in Myanmar. Despot Min Aung Hlaing is attempting to fool the world that he is the rightful leader of Myanmar, following sham elections which he fixed, and is asking governments to normalize relations with his illegitimate junta. The reality”, said Gunness “is that Min Aung Hlaing is a wanted war criminal. Cases against him are piling up in multiple jurisdictions around the world such as Argentina, Turkey, the Philippines and Timor-Leste. There are also cases against him in the world’s two international courts in the Hague: the ICC and the International Court of Justice (ICJ), where Myanmar, under his leadership, stands accused of violating the Genocide Convention for its actions against the Rohingya People”.

“Adding to all these cases, earlier this month, in an unprecedented move, the Indonesian authorities formally accepted a criminal file under the country’s new penal code, in which a Rohingya genocide survivor, Yasmin Ullah, and ten leading Indonesian public figures, accused Min Aung Hlaing, of genocide. This dictator should be in prison, not the presidential palace”, Gunness concluded.

***

For further information and interview requests in Tetum, Bahasa Indonesia, Chin, Portuguese or English, please contact:

Jose Teixeira/Manuel Sa Martins/Sahe da Silva on +670 77287080 or jose.teixeira@dasilva.tl

Salai Za Uk on +91 8798837474 (only on Signal) or zauk@chinhumanrights.org

Chris Gunness on +44 7587 698990 or cgunness@outlook.com

Spring Revolution

Civil Society Position Paper on ASEAN’s Goal of a Myanmar-Owned and -Led SolutionDecember 18, 2024 - 12:11 pm
Recommendations to ASEAN and Its Member States (1) Move beyond the 5PC to achieve a Myanmar people-led and people-centered solution to the crisis in Myanmar. ASEAN’s “Myanmar-owned and -led” approach must be backed by genuine political will that aligns with and supports the collective aspirations of the people of Myanmar. (2) Cease all pressure on […]
The Airstrikes after the journey to the China of the Junta Military LeaderDecember 10, 2024 - 1:28 pm
Operation 1027 was a coordinated military attack against the junta on October 27th, 2023. It was carried out by the Northern Brotherhood, which includes the Arakan Army, Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army. Several months later, the Three Brotherhood Alliance held three meetings to negotiate with China on January 11 […]
Human Rights Situation weekly update (September 15 to 21, 2024)September 27, 2024 - 8:26 am
Human Rights Violations took place in States and Regions from Sep 15 to 21, 2024 Military Junta Troop launched airstrikes and dropped bombs in Sagaing Region, Mandalay Region, Shan State, Chin State, Rakhine State, and Kachin State from September 15th to 21st. The Military Junta committed arresting, occupying the properties, threatening by using power, and […]

Multimedia

GenocideSeptember 2, 2025 - 9:42 am
Crimes Against HumanityJune 16, 2025 - 7:55 am
International Humanitarian Law Cartoon AnimatonApril 29, 2025 - 8:37 am
အတိတ်မှ ဆိုးရွားသည့် အကြီးအကျယ် လူ့အခွင့်အရေးချိုးဖောက်မှုများ ထပ်မံမဖြစ်ပွားစေရေးအ တွက် အာမခံခြင်း (Guarantees of non-recurrence)February 10, 2025 - 9:58 am

ND Burma

ND-Burma formed in 2004 in order to provide a way for Burma human rights organizations to collaborate on the human rights documentation process. The 13 ND-Burma member organizations seek to collectively use the truth of what communities in Burma have endured to advocate for justice for victims. ND-Burma trains local organizations in human rights documentation; coordinates members’ input into a common database using Martus, a secure open-source software; and engages in joint-advocacy campaigns.

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ND Burma

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