East Timor triggers Asean first, accuses Myanmar of war crimes
East Timor’s laws allow its domestic courts to investigate and potentially prosecute serious international crimes regardless of where they were committed
Myanmar ’s military government ordered East Timor ’s senior diplomat to leave the country after judicial authorities from the fellow Southeast Asian country accepted a criminal complaint against Myanmar’s armed forces, state media said on Monday.
The move sharply escalates tensions between the two countries and is a rare step between members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which East Timor joined only last year.
There was no immediate response from East Timor’s government when asked for comment.
East Timor, also known as Timor Leste, is Asia’s youngest nation. It gained independence from Indonesia in 2002.
A statement from Myanmar’s Foreign Ministry, published in the state-run Myanma Alinn newspaper, said East Timor’s President José Ramos-Horta engaged in mid-January with the members of the Chin Human Rights Organization, which documents alleged abuses especially in Myanmar’s northwestern Chin State.
It said Ramos-Horta’s government accepted a criminal complaint filed by the CHRO against senior members of Myanmar’s military and appointed a senior prosecutor for the group to examine the case, despite what it described as strong condemnation conveyed through diplomatic channels.