Rights Group Files Suit in Germany Against Myanmar military

A human rights group and 16 people from Myanmar have filed a criminal complaint in Germany seeking punishment of Myanmar's generals for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity they alleged were committed in that country after their 2021 government takeover and during 2017 crackdown on Muslim Rohingya.

The complaint filed on Tuesday comes more than five years after the brutal 2017 counterinsurgency operation Myanmar’s security forces carried out against Muslim Rohingya minority. 

Also in 2021, the military is accused of carrying out deadly force against people who held peaceful protests opposing the 2021 army takeover and sought a return to democracy.

About half the 16 individuals who brought the German complaint are victims of the brutality against the Rohingya and the others suffered abuses carried out after the army takeover.

The group said the evidence submitted in the complaint includes interviews with survivors leaked documents and information from Myanmar military and police deserters and previous reports compiled by u.n. investigators and other parties.

The actions of Myanmar's generals also are under investigation by the international criminal court and in a genocide case at the international court of justice.

Activists also have filed cases in national courts in Argentina, Turkey under the concept of universal jurisdiction. 

The federal prosecutor’s office in Germany would have to decide- whether to file an indictment before the matter can go to court a potentially lengthy process.