Myanmar’s generals and Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel peace prize winner, could face prosecution in the court for crimes against humanity as well as war crimes and genocide.

Rohingya and Latin American human rights groups lodged the case in Argentina on Wednesday under the principle of “universal jurisdiction”.

“This complaint seeks the criminal sanction of the perpetrators, accomplices and cover-ups of the genocide. We are doing it through Argentina because they have no other possibility of filing the criminal complaint anywhere else,” lawyer Tomas Ojea told AFP.

“For decades, the Myanmar authorities have tried to wipe us out by confining us to ghettos, forcing us to flee our home country and killing us,” said Tun Khin, president of the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK (BROUK).

If sufficient evidence is collected by the Office of the Prosecutor to establish that specific individuals bear criminal responsibility, a request will be made to judges to issue either summonses to appear or warrants of arrest.