ABSTRACT
Widespread suffering in Myanmar did not begin with the February 2021 coup. The coup exacerbated all aspects of suffering and spread it more widely throughout society, including during the COVID-19 pandemic, but Myanmar before the coup was far from perfect. Civil conflicts between various ethnic armed groups and the military have been a constant feature of Myanmar since independence. Notable for their acute suffering throughout Myanmar’s history, however, are the Muslim Rohingya minority of Rakhine State in western Myanmar. Communal violence in 2012 in which entire villages were burnt were merely a precursor to the pogroms and massacres that occurred in 2017. Thousands were killed, rape and torture was widespread, and around 740,000 fled across the border to Bangladesh in a matter of months. As a result of these egregious breaches of human rights, several international court cases were brought against Myanmar and its military, most notably cases at the International Criminal Court and through a genocide case at the International Court of Justice, although cases were also brought under universal jurisdiction in Germany and Argentina. Some courts are now examining war crimes and crimes against humanity committed since the coup. This chapter analyses these processes and assesses the prospects for accountability and international justice, including pathways for productive international assistance in this endeavour.
