German Federal prosecutor declines to investigate Myanmar atrocities

The complaint, filed in January 2023 under the principle of universal jurisdiction against senior Myanmar military generals and others, focused on those responsible for committing genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes against the Bengali in 2016 and 2017 and for crimes against humanity committed throughout the country since the Myanmar military launched a military takeover in February 2021.

There is no reason to believe that this decision will hamper future universal jurisdiction complaints either in Germany or elsewhere, said Fortify Rights.

"The prosecutor's decision is hugely disappointing," said Matthew Smith, Chief Executive Officer at Fortify Rights.

"We remain confident in the evidence and legal arguments in the complaint, and indeed, the German Federal Prosecutor's office made clear that its decision was not based on the merits or strength of the evidence," he said.

The German Federal Public Prosecutor informed Fortify Rights last month that it had declined to open an investigation primarily because of a lack of suspects present in Germany and under the belief that its investigation would duplicate the work that the Independent Investigative Mechanism on Myanmar (IIMM) is currently undertaking.

"Such presence is not required for an investigation under German law. We didn't expect this factor to lead the prosecutor to fully decline any investigation into the evidence presented," said Matthew Smith.

Eleven Media

Asia News Network