Burma Victims Seek Philippine Court to Force DOJ Action

Five Chin state residents in Myanmar have petitioned the Philippine Court of Appeals to compel the Department of Justice to act on a war crimes complaint against Myanmar's ruling junta.

The petition, filed on November 3, seeks an order for the DOJ to docket the complaint and conduct a preliminary investigation into allegations against Senior General Min Aung Hlaing and nine other junta officers.

The complaint, filed in October 2023, alleges that junta forces burned down a town in Chin state and killed civilians during a military crackdown following the 2021 coup that ousted Aung San Suu Kyi.

The Philippine DOJ has not yet formally acted on the complaint, despite the petitioners invoking universal jurisdiction to justify the legal action.

The petitioners argue that the DOJ read Section 17 of Republic Act No. 9851, which allows for the extradition of suspects to international courts or other states, as requiring the accused to be present in the Philippines.

They also invoked the constitutional right to the speedy disposition of cases and the guarantee of due process, noting that three years of silence is not neutrality. For a displaced population whose witnesses are aging, every month of delay is prejudice.