Press Release for Immediate Publication
Manilla, 2 April 2025: As the Myanmar junta continues to block rescue efforts and conduct air assaults following Friday’s earthquake, five victims of atrocity crimes in Myanmar’s Chin State have lodged an appeal at the Philippines Department of Justice, demanding that their case is heard under the principle of universal jurisdiction. Their complaint was made in October 2023, but the Philippine authorities have not opened a file.
“We have waited long enough for justice and accountability against the junta whose soldiers have murdered our family members, burnt our homes down and forcibly displaced thousands of us, driving whole communities across the border into India. We appeal to the Philippines’ authorities to take swift action and open an investigation”, said Ngun Thawng Lian, uncle of Pastor Cung Biak Hum, who was killed on 18 September 2021, when soldiers opened fire on him while attempting to put out fires started by the Burmese army in the town of Thantlang. Once killed, the Pastor’s body was mutilated.
The complainants include the daughter of Pu Ral Tu, who was shot and killed by the Burmese army on 29 September 2021 in Thantlang along with his friend, Pu Hram Cung. The two men were murdered as they went to Thantlang to bring medicines for civilians, who like them, had fled the fighting. Her name was withheld for security, but she told journalists in Manila the sacrifice of her father and his friend “must never be forgotten”.
The lawyer representing the victims from Chin State in north western Myanmar, Romel Bagares, argues that “the Department of Justice has admitted that the facts alleged in the complaint correspond to the elements of specific war crimes punishable under the Philippines International Humanitarian Law Act. According to their own reasoning, this compelling evidence we presented warrants a full-blown preliminary investigation, where we would subpoena the Myanmar generals to answer the complaint”.
“The recent arrest and incarceration at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague of former President Duterte has potentially given new impetus to the Chin case in Manilla”, said Bagares, who represented a coalition of rights activists in the Supreme Court as they opposed the country’s withdrawal from the I.C.C.. “The Philippines under President Bong Bong Marcos has just shown ASEAN and the world great leadership in advancing international accountability. We trust that his administration will open ways towards a mechanism for international accountability for atrocities in the ASEAN region more generally, including against the Myanmar junta, even if preliminarily.”
“The attacks on Chin State are on-going and part of Myanmar’s forgotten war against the Chin People,” according to Salai Ling, one of the complainants, who is also Executive Director of the Chin Human Rights Organisation, CHRO. “Christians are being murdered, churches and faith-based schools are being destroyed in a systematic campaign by junta forces. With the persecution of Myanmar’s Christians continuing, we pray that our brothers and sisters in the Philippines will hear our prayer and grant us justice.”
Director of the Myanmar Accountability Project, Chris Gunness, who supported the case said “With the junta attacking earth quake victims and blocking rescue and recovery efforts the need for accountability has never been greater. We in MAP will continue the quest for justice for the people of Myanmar, seeking accountability in all available avenues. The Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar, the IIMM, which has the most comprehensive evidence of atrocity crimes in Myanmar, has indicated that it is prepared to support our universal jurisdiction cases and we look forward to jurisdictions in South East Asia working with them. The nationwide campaign of indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks following the coup in February 2021 is now its fifth year. It is time for urgent action against a regime that has left a stain on the conscience of all governments in South East Asia”.
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For interview requests with the complainants, please contact Salai Ling on +91880818672.
Salai Mang Rhe Lian, CHRO and (Global Human Rights Defender Awardee, US State Department): +9161285481
Romel Bagares is on +639171530738.
Chris Gunness is on +447587698990.
Fires raged across Thantlang Town following heavy artillery strikes in 2021 on civilian houses by the Myanmar military. Photo by CHRO
Romel Bargares (second from right), Salai Za Uk (second from left), Salai Mang Hre (CHRO, far right). Michael Hearn (CHRO, far left) present appeal at the Justice Department in Manila.
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