I.C.C. Prosecutor Seeks Arrest Warrant for Myanmar Junta Leader

The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court on Wednesday sought an arrest warrant for the country’s army leader, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, accusing him of crimes against humanity linked to the persecution and deportations of the Muslim Rohingya.

The request for the court’s judges to issue a warrant marks a rare effort by international institutions to hold the Myanmar military accountable for its actions against civilians.

The decision by the prosecutor, Karim Khan, to seek the warrant also is likely to further isolate the general, who seized power in a coup three years ago and is now a pariah at home and in the international community.

Mr. Khan said that after conducting an extensive investigation, his office has concluded that “that there are reasonable grounds to believe” that General Min Aung Hlaing bears criminal responsibility for the crimes of deportation and persecution of the Rohingya.

An arrest warrant is unlikely to significantly affect General Min Aung Hlaing’s travel plans. Myanmar is not a member state of the I.C.C., and neither are China and Russia, the junta’s top allies.

But the warrant request has the potential to be a galvanizing force for the opposition in Myanmar, which has long sought justice against a military that has answered to no one.