The coup junta has sharply criticized Timor-Leste after it accepted a case filed by the Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO) seeking to indict coup leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing and other top junta officers under universal jurisdiction for crimes committed in Chin State.
The junta said Timor-Leste’s move violates the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) charter. Its Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement on January 18 condemning the decision.
Although it is a coup regime, the junta continues to claim it is Myanmar’s legitimate government. Timor-Leste’s action of coordinating with anti-state resistance groups undermines the basic principles set out in the ASEAN charter, the statement said.
The junta also accused Timor-Leste of interfering in Myanmar’s domestic affairs by receiving and supporting CHRO’s application for indictment. “Timor-Leste’s actions and their consequences will be firmly recorded, and we strongly oppose them,” the statement added.
On January 14, Timor-Leste’s President José Ramos-Horta met with the delegation involved in coordinating the indictment, including CHRO representatives, in Dili. The president’s office said they discussed regional justice and accountability.
The CHRO’s case seeks to indict ten military officials, including Min Aung Hlaing, Air Force Commander General Htun Aung, Lieutenant General Zeyar Kyaw of Military Operations Command, and Colonel Ye Kyaw, commander of Tactical Operations in Matupi, along with other battalion and military region commanders.
The charges relate to atrocities in Chin State, including the killing of ten people, among them a journalist and a 13-year-old child, with eight victims killed by throat slashing; the gang rape and killing of a pregnant woman in Tedim Township; the brutal murder of a Christian pastor and three deacons; an airstrike on a hospital in Vawmm’Tu Village, Mindat Township; and systematic attacks on Christian churches across Chin State. CHRO has filed five charges in total, covering war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The indictment application was submitted on January 12, jointly prepared by CHRO, the London-based Myanmar Accountability Project, and the Timor-Leste-based law firm Da Silva Teixeira & Associados Lda.