Crimes against Humanity: Lawyers in Australia sue Suu Kyi

Lawyers in Australia are seeking to hold Myanmar's civil leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, directly accountable for the violent persecution of Rohingyas in Myanmar.

On Friday, lawyers filed a private prosecution application against Suu Kyi in the Melbourne magistrates court, accusing her of crimes against humanity, The Guardian reported.

A statement from the lawyers cited the “extensive and systematic crimes against the Muslim Rohingya population by the Myanmar security forces.”

It added: “Suu Kyi has failed to use her position of authority and power, and, as such, has permitted the Myanmar security forces to deport and forcibly remove Rohingya from their homes.”  

Suu Kyi was in Australia yesterday to attend a special Australia-Asean summit in Sydney.

Before moving forward, the prosecution application would have to receive the consent of Australia's attorney general, Christian Porter.

Following the application, Porter told the Guardian a prosecution case against Suu Kyi could not proceed.

“Aung San Suu Kyi has complete immunity, including from being served with court documents because under customary international law, heads of state, heads of government and ministers of foreign affairs are immune from foreign criminal proceedings and are inviolable – they cannot be arrested, detained, or served with court proceedings.”

As state counsellor, Aung San Suu Kyi is the not the head of state of Myanmar – that position is held by president Htin Kyaw – but she is the de facto, if not de jure, leader of the government. She is also foreign minister, a position that attracts immunity.

Meanwhile, Malaysia's prime minister yesterday warned his Southeast Asian neighbours that the Rohingya refugee crisis in Myanmar could become a serious security threat for the region.

Roughly 700,000 Rohingya have had to flee to neighbouring Bangladesh to escape persecution. Human rights group Amnesty International has reported cases of rape, torture and other abuse by state officials, calling the state-sanctioned attacks “apartheid, a crime against humanity,” in a 2017 report.

Prime Minister Najib Razak raised fears that so many desperate and displaced people could fall prey to extremist groups like Islamic State.

With Myanmar's de-facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi sitting just metres away at the Asean summit in Sydney, Najib said it was no longer a domestic issue.

"Because of the suffering of Rohingya people and that of displacement around the region, the situation in Rakhine state and Myanmar can no longer be considered to be a purely domestic matter," he said.

"In addition, the problem should not be looked at through the humanitarian prism only because it has the potential of developing into a serious security threat to the region.

"Rakhine with thousands of despairing ... people who see no hope in the future will be a fertile ground for radicalisation and recruitment by Daesh and affiliated groups."

Daesh is an alternative name given to Islamic State.

The United Nations on Friday launched an appeal for nearly US$1 billion to care for Rohingya refugees, who have mostly fled to Bangladesh.