In Buenos Aires, Argentina, a representative of Burma’s Rohingya Muslim minority testified in court Thursday as a trial got underway against senior Burmese military officials, charging them with crimes against humanity. The case was brought under the principle of universal jurisdiction, which allows for serious international crimes to be prosecuted — even if they were committed in another nation. First to testify was activist Maung Tun Khin, one of an estimated 730,000 Rohingya Muslims who fled Burma after a military-led crackdown in 2017.
Maung Tun Khin: “My brothers and sisters were brutally killed and murdered by Burmese military, and thousands of our sisters were raped by Burmese military. … I am a victim. I’m a genocide survivor. Many genocide survivors, we want to see — we want to get justice. … So we are seeking justice under a universal jurisdiction case.”