Cambodia hosts Myanmar’s Min Aung Hlaing, drawing sharp rebuke from Human Rights Watch

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet hosts Myanmar regime leader Min Aung Hlaing for a two-day official state visit in Phnom Penh on Sept. 11-12. The visit marks Min Aung Hlaing’s fourth diplomatic mission to an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member state since being inaugurated Myanmar’s president by a military-backed parliament on April 10 following stage-managed elections that ended on Jan. 25. The high-level reception in Cambodia comes despite ongoing international condemnation of the regime’s violent campaign against pro-democracy resistance forces, civilian populations, and ethnic minority groups across Myanmar. Human Rights Watch response & legal obligations The visit prompted immediate criticism from human rights groups as the International Criminal Court (ICC) is considering an arrest warrant for Min Aung Hlaing requested in 2024 by its former Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan. “The Cambodian government should not welcome Myanmar leader Min Aung Hlaing. He has been implicated in many abuses, and the ICC prosecutor has requested an arrest warrant for his alleged crimes against humanity,” said Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch (HRW). Diplomatic events like these cast a dark shadow on ASEAN and highlight the need for its members to stop undermining the Association’s positions. As an ICC member, Cambodia has an important role to play in holding the line.” HRW highlighted that as a state party to the Rome Statute that established the ICC, Cambodia maintains formal legal obligations under it regarding individuals facing ICC prosecutorial actions. Khan formally applied for an ICC arrest warrant against Min Aung Hlaing, as the Myanmar military’s leader, for alleged crimes against humanity in 2017 committed against the Rohingya in Arakan State. Activists warn that bilateral visits by neighbouring Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states like Cambodia, as well as Vietnam and Thailand before that, risk fracturing the regional bloc’s peace plan for Myanmar, known as the Five-Point Consensus. This regional framework was agreed to by Min Aung Hlaing in April 2021, nearly two months after he staged a military coup and ousted Myanmar’s elected government, but it was never implemented upon his return to Naypyidaw. Since October 2021, ASEAN has barred all senior Myanmar regime officials, including Min Aung Hlaing, from high-level summits and meetings. The visits to neighbouring ASEAN member states lend legitimacy to Min Aung Hlaing’s regime and insulates him from international accountability mechanisms, HRW highlighted in its press release on Sept. 11. The post Cambodia hosts Myanmar’s Min Aung Hlaing, drawing sharp rebuke from Human Rights Watch appeared first on DVB.