Myanmar expels Timor-Leste's representative over war crimes case
The Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO) said this month Timor-Leste had opened its own case against the junta for both war crimes and crimes against humanity.
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YANGON: Myanmar's junta on Sunday (Feb 15) announced the ejection of Timor-Leste's top representative in the country, after a rights group said Dili had opened a legal case against the military for war crimes.
Myanmar's military - which snatched power in a 2021 coup - has for decades been accused of rights abuses, mostly targeting the nation's ethnic minorities.
The nation is currently defending itself from prosecution at the International Court of Justice over allegations of genocide against the mostly Muslim Rohingya minority.
But the Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO) said this month Timor-Leste had opened its own case against the junta for both war crimes and crimes against humanity.
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The CHRO - which represents Myanmar's Chin ethnic minority - said "a senior Timorese prosecutor has been appointed to look into the criminal file" presented by the organisation.
A junta statement said Dili's reported appointment of a prosecutor to probe the case was a "great disappointment".
It said Timor-Leste's charge d'affaires had been summoned on Friday and was given a week to leave Myanmar.
According to the CHRO, its case against the junta includes "irrefutable evidence" of gang rape, a massacre of ten people, the slaughter of religious officials and a hospital air strike.
The organisation entered the complaint under the principle of universal jurisdiction, which allows domestic courts to try international offences.
The case - and increasing diplomatic tension - pits two countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bloc against each other.
Timor-Leste only joined the bloc in October 2025, becoming its 11th member.
The junta statement accused Timor-Leste of violating ASEAN charter articles that "underscore the importance of upholding respect for sovereignty and non-interference".
The junta previously expelled Timor-Leste's top diplomat in August 2023, over a meeting his government held with a banned shadow administration founded in the aftermath of the coup.
It is "quite unusual" for an ASEAN member to be taking such legal action against a fellow member, which signals that Timor-Leste will not give up some of its principles that make it "quite unique" in the bloc, said analyst Susannah Patton.
"More broadly, there is a disagreement among ASEAN members about how to engage with Myanmar, especially following the sham elections in Myanmar," noted the deputy research director and programme director for Southeast Asia at Sydney-based think-tank Lowy Institute.
"I think certainly, Timor-Leste is now going to represent one extreme end of that spectrum, which would still very much push for accountability and for action against the Myanmar military."
Nevertheless, Patton said she does not think Timor-Leste's move will fundamentally shift other ASEAN members' approach to Myanmar.
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