Myanmar’s military government has ordered the expulsion of Timor Leste’s top diplomat after the Southeast Asian country opened legal proceedings against junta leaders for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The junta announced on Sunday that charge d’affaires Elisio do Rosario de Sousa must leave within seven days. State media said the decision followed Timor Leste’s acceptance of a criminal complaint filed by the Chin Human Rights Organization and the appointment of a senior prosecutor to investigate it. The foreign ministry described the move as setting an unprecedented practice, negative interpretation and escalation of public resentments.
The Chin Human Rights Organization, which advocates for the Chin ethnic minority, filed the complaint last month with Timor Leste’s justice department. It alleges that the military authorities committed war crimes and crimes against humanity following the 2021 coup that removed the elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi. In early February, the group said judicial authorities in Timor Leste had initiated proceedings against the junta including its leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.
The complaint details alleged atrocities in Chin State, a majority Christian region. It cites irrefutable evidence of the gang rape of a seven month pregnant woman in front of her husband, the massacre of ten people including a journalist and a 13 year old boy among eight individuals whose hands were tied behind their backs and whose throats were slit, the deliberate killing of a Christian pastor and three deacons, a disproportionate and indiscriminate aerial attack on a hospital killing four medical staff and four patients, and repeated attacks on Christian churches and civilian infrastructure protected under international law.
CHRO executive director Salai Za Uk said the group chose Timor Leste because it sought an ASEAN member with an independent judiciary and a country sympathetic to the suffering of the Christian population in Chin State. He also cited Timor Leste’s own history of human rights abuses during Indonesian occupation and its subsequent pursuit of justice. Salai Za Uk welcomed the proceedings and said his organisation looks forward to working with Timorese authorities and civil society groups to pursue justice for the Chin people and all people in Myanmar.
The junta condemned the involvement. “Such unconstructive engagement by a Head of State of one ASEAN Member State with an unlawful organization opposing another ASEAN Member State is totally unacceptable,” the state run Global New Light of Myanmar quoted the foreign ministry as saying.
A spokesman for the Myanmar authorities did not respond to calls seeking comment. Timor Leste’s embassy in Myanmar did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
This is the second expulsion of a Timor Leste diplomat. In August 2023 the junta ordered the departure of the previous charge d’affaires after a meeting between Timor Leste officials and Myanmar’s banned shadow administration, the National Unity Government formed after the coup.
Myanmar has faced sustained turmoil since the military takeover, which triggered nationwide protests that escalated into civil war. Resistance forces and ethnic armed groups have captured territory in recent offensives. Nearly 5.2 million people have been displaced and about one third of the population requires humanitarian assistance. A magnitude 7.7 earthquake in March 2025 killed more than 5,000 people and worsened the humanitarian crisis.
The junta also conducted a three phase election ending in January 2026 that its backed Union Solidarity and Development Party won amid widespread exclusion of opposition groups and areas outside military control. ASEAN has not recognised the poll, with Philippine Foreign Secretary Theresa Lazaro stating the bloc has not endorsed it. The organisation continues to promote its Five Point Consensus peace plan but progress remains limited due to non compliance by the military authorities.
Myanmar additionally faces proceedings at the International Court of Justice over alleged genocide against the Rohingya minority, which the country denies. Human rights monitors say security forces have killed at least 7,738 civilians and activists since the coup and detained more than 30,000 people. Analysts warn the expulsion could further isolate Myanmar within ASEAN and complicate regional attempts to address the conflict and human rights situation.
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