Turkey: Lawyer files criminal complaint against Myanmar

DİYARBAKIR – Anadolu Agency

A Turkish lawyer on Sept. 20 filed a criminal complaint against several Myanmar officials on charges of committing genocide against Rohingya Muslims and crimes against humanity in Myanmar’s Rakhine State.

Lawyer Hasan Bozdaş submitted the complaint against 22 high-ranking officials of the southeast Asian nation to the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, also accusing them of other crimes to be revealed after investigations.

The complaint gave details about the timeline about the crimes against humanity committed in Rakhine state.

It also cited a report of the United Nations Human Rights Council (OHCHR) and a ruling of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The ICC on Sept. 18 launched a preliminary investigation into the crimes committed by Myanmar against the Rohingya people.

According to ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, her office has received a number of communications and reports alleging crimes since the end of 2017.

The preliminary examination will be made on the forced displacement of the Rohingya people, including the deprivation of their fundamental rights as well as killing, sexual violence, enforced disappearance, destruction and looting, the prosecutor added.

Since Aug. 25, 2017, nearly 24,000 Rohingya Muslims have been killed by Myanmar’s state forces, according to a report by the Ontario International Development Agency (OIDA).

According to Human Rights Watch, more than 650,000 Rohingya have fled to neighboring Bangladesh to escape mass killings, sexual violence, arson, and other abuses amounting to crimes against humanity by the security forces.