Rohingya genocide case at ICJ

[Jack Ryan]

Rohingya Genocide Case: ICJ ruling today

Diplomatic Correspondent
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is set to deliver an order today in response to The Gambia’s seeking provisional measures to stop genocide against the Rohingyas in Myanmar’s Rakhine.

The top UN court, situated in The Hague, Netherlands and comprised of 15 judges, is scheduled to start delivering the order at 3:00pm (Bangladesh time).

The Gambia filed the case with the ICJ, also known as the World Court, in November last year. The West African nation, which is predominantly Muslim, took the legal step on behalf of the Organisation for Islamic Cooperation (OIC), which has held a series of meetings to encourage its 57 members to support the case.

Lawyers from The Gambia and Myanmar took part in the hearing held on December 10-12.

During the hearing, Justice Minister and Attorney General Abubacarr Marie Tambadou led the Gambian side, while the Myanmar side was headed by the country’s State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who has been widely criticised for her role in the Rohingya crisis.

The Gambia argued that Myanmar has been committing genocide against the Rohingya Muslim population living in Rakhine state. To prove its case, it cited reports by the UN Fact-Finding Mission and different global rights bodies.

About 750,000 Rohingyas fled a brutal military campaign since August 2017 and took shelter in Bangladesh. They joined some 300,000 others who had fled previous waves of violence from Rakhine, where they have been denied citizenship since the 1970s and are deprived of basic rights like health and education, and freedom of movement.

More than 24,000 Rohingyas have been killed by Myanmar’s state forces since August 2017, according to a report by the Ontario International Development Agency, which involved researchers and organisations from Canada, Australia, Bangladesh, Norway and the Philippines.

More than 34,000 people were thrown into fire and more than 114,000 others were beaten up, the report said.

It also said 17,718 Rohingya women and girls were raped since the Myanmar army and police systematically targeted the world’s most persecuted group.

The UN termed it a classic example of ethnic cleansing, while an independent UN Fact-Finding Mission described the violence as having genocidal intent and demanded probing the senior military officers.

Though the UN repeatedly adopted resolutions condemning the atrocities by Myanmar, the UN Security Council could take no concrete actions against Myanmar to stop the genocide mainly due to opposition from the country’s close allies -- China and Russia.

Bangladesh, influenced by China and India, signed a bilateral deal with Myanmar for the Rohingya repatriation, but the refugees refused to go back to Rakhine, saying the situation there were not conducive to their return and that there was no guarantee of safety and citizenship.

The Gambian Justice Minister Tambadou, who worked for years as a lawyer at the UN tribunal that dealt with the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, assumed a position of leadership in the lawsuit because of his special expertise.

Both The Gambia and Myanmar are signatories to the UN’s Genocide Convention.

Gambia’s filing the case marks the first time a country without any direct connection to alleged crimes has used its membership in the Genocide Convention to bring a case before the ICJ.

Earlier, the International Criminal Court began an investigation into the rights violation against the Rohingyas by Myanmar. The ICC holds accountable the individuals, while the ICJ holds accountable the state as a member of the UN Genocide Convention.

During the hearing, The Gambia argued that Myanmar had a state policy of eliminating the Rohingyas. Denial of citizenship, Rohingya ethnicity, restrictions on freedom of movement, marriage, health, education, and livelihood since 1970s are all part of that genocidal policy.

Further arguing that promoting the narratives of hatred, mass killings, rape and other forms of sexual violence, burning Rohingya villages in 2016 and 2017 bear the testimony of genocide, The Gambia requested the ICJ to ensure provisional measures to stop the ongoing genocide against the Rohingyas.

Lawyers for The Gambia also requested that Myanmar shall not destroy or render inaccessible any evidence related to the events described in the application.

Myanmar, on the other hand, outright denied the allegations of genocide and ethnic cleansing, though it said its army used disproportionate force and committed crimes against the civilians during clearance operations in Rakhine since August 2017.

Talking to The Daily Star, Nay San Lwin, media coordinator at the Free Rohingya Coalition, a global platform of the Rohingyas, said they were expecting the ICJ to order provisional measures to stop the genocide.

“We expect it because genocide has happened over the years against us. It still continues. It must stop and the evidences of genocide must be protected for holding Myanmar accountable,” he said over phone from Germany, where he lives.

In its analysis, the Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Myanmar is legally bound to comply with the order, if given by the ICJ.

Under article 41(2) of the ICJ Statute, the court’s provisional measures are automatically sent to the UN Security Council. Such an order would increase pressure on the council to take concrete actions in Myanmar, including through a binding resolution to address some of the indicators of genocidal intent.

Asked what would happen if China and Russia used their veto at the UN Security Council, Nay San Lwin said he expects that not to happen.

“If it happens, it means there will be no future for the Rohingyas as well as for the global justice and humanity. But we hope justice will be done.”

https://www.thedailystar.net/frontpage/news/rohingya-genocide-case-icj-ruling

[Jack Ryan]

How Gambia took the case to the ICJ

Porimol Palma
Bangladesh and The Gambia are located nearly 11,000-kilometre away and share no significant economic or political relation. But the countries stand together for one cause, justice for the Rohingyas.

The Gambia, a small country in West Africa, is a member of Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC). After the Rohingyas started fleeing their home in August 2017 following a military crackdown in Myanmar, a delegation of OIC visited Bangladesh, the country that offered shelter to the persecution victims.

Abubacarr Marie Tambadou, justice minister of The Gambia, who worked for years as a lawyer at the UN tribunal and focused on the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, too was in the delegation.

Talking to the Rohingya refugees, Tambadou recalled the Rwanda genocide that wiped out about 800,000 lives in 100 days. Around 250,000 women endured sexual assault during the Rwanda genocide.

After the visit, Tambadou told the US-based Public Radio International, “I have had previous experience interacting with surviving victims of genocide, in particular the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

“When I heard the stories being recounted by the witnesses, I noticed there were striking similarities -- not only in the fact that there is a process of historical dehumanisation that has occurred in Myanmar against the Rohingya, but also the fact that Myanmar authorities had engaged in systematic and organised operations which targeted Rohingya, targeted women.”

“The world failed to help in 1994, and the world is failing to protect vulnerable people 25 years later,” he added.

Later, at the OIC conference, he proposed formation of an Ad Hoc Ministerial Committee on Accountability for Crime Against Rohingya.

Bangladesh, which was seeking a permanent solution to the crisis, and other countries of the 57-member body, strongly supported it. 

Eventually, that OIC committee supported Tambadou, whose leadership eventually got the Rohigya genocide case to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

ICJ is scheduled to issue a ruling today on the case that seeks provisional measures to stop the ongoing genocide in the Rakhine state of Myanmar and hold accountable the perpetrators.

The Rohingyas, for the first time, have found a hope of justice.

Many wondered how The Gambia, a low-income country of agrarian economy trying to recover from an authoritarian regime of Yahya Jammeh, comes to lodge such a case.

“Well, our experiences in The Gambia is what has actually informed the position of the government of The Gambia to speak out against the oppression of others, wherever it occurs around the world,” said Tambadou.

The fact that no one helped the Gambians, no one put pressure on President Jammeh to stop his atrocities has led them to go through a very difficult two-decade period, he said.

“We don’t want others to feel our pain or our fate. We know how it feels like to be unable to tell your story to the world, to be unable to share your pain with others in the hope that they will help. We know what it feels like to be helpless. We have lived through it for over two decades, and we don’t want others to suffer the same fate,” he said.

Shireen Huq, co-convener of Bangladesh Civil Society Platform on Justice and Accountability for the Rohingyas, who was present at the ICJ hearing on the Rohingya case in December, said during the visit to Rohingya camp in 2018, Tambadou could smell genocide on the Rohingyas.

“The Gambia has actually created a giant example of standing beside the persecuted minority. It is a struggle for global justice and humanity,” she told The Daily Star.

The Netherlands, Canada and the UK have supported the case. It is time for others to follow the case, she added.

https://www.thedailystar.net/frontpage/justice-for-rohingya-how-gambia-took-up-case-to-ICJ-1857781

[Jack Ryan]

Protect Rohingyas: ICJ orders Myanmar
 

The International Court of Justice on Thursday ordered Myanmar to take urgent measures to protect its Muslim Rohingya population from persecution and atrocities, and preserve evidence of alleged crimes against them.

Mostly Muslim Gambia launched a lawsuit in November at the United Nations' highest body for disputes between states, accusing Myanmar of genocide against Rohingya in violation of a 1948 convention.

Thursday's ruling dealt only with Gambia's request for so-called preliminary measures, the equivalent of a restraining order for states. It gave no indication of the court's final decision, which could take years to reach.

In a unanimous ruling by a panel of 17 judges, the court said Myanmar must now take all steps within its power to prevent serious harm to Rohingya, and report back within four months.

More than 730,000 Rohingya fled Myanmar after a military-led crackdown in 2017, and were forced into squalid camps across the border in Bangladesh. UN investigators concluded that the military campaign had been executed with "genocidal intent".

Moments before the court in The Hague began reading its ruling, the Financial Times published an article by Myanmar's civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi in which she said war crimes may have been committed against Rohingya Muslims but that refugees had exaggerated the abuses against them.

During a week of hearings last month, Suu Kyi asked the judges to drop the case.

The World Court's rulings are final and without appeal, but it has no real way of enforcing them.

More than 100 Myanmar civil society groups published a statement saying they hoped international justice efforts would "bring forth the truth" and end impunity.

"Political and military policies have always been imposed with violent force and intimidation upon the people of Myanmar, systematically and institutionally, on the basis of their political and religious beliefs and ethnic identities and continue until the present," the statement said.

"We understand very clearly that the ICJ case against Myanmar is directed towards those responsible for using political power and military might, and not to the people of Myanmar."

https://www.thedailystar.net/online/news/world-court-orders-myanmar-take-steps-protect-rohingya-1858081

[Jack Ryan]

A victory for humanity: Foreign minister

The verdict of the International Court of Justice hopefully will stop recurrence of ethnic cleansing and genocide in the world, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen said in an instant reaction.

“A victory for humanity, a milestone for human rights activists across all nations. A victory for Gambia, OIC, the Rohingya and of course, for Bangladesh. God bless humanity and also the ‘mother of humanity' Sheikh Hasina,” he said in a statement this afternoon.

The Gambia’s Ministry of Justice hailed the verdict and said, “The ICJ unanimously grants essential Provisional Measures requested by the Gambia against Myanmar. Major step towards holding Myanmar accountable for alleged acts of genocide against the Rohingya”.

The African nation, which initiated the legal battle against Myanmar, tweeted the statement after the UN’s top court granted essential provisional measures against Myanmar.

The World Court, the ICJ accepted all four provisional measures’ request in a unanimous (all 15 judges) verdict and asked Myanmar to submit a report within four months confirming measures taken; followed by reports every 6 weeks.

The court used the term 'Rohingya' and also rejected Myanmar’s claim and also asked the country to stop genocide and atrocities against Rohingyas.

Besides, the ICJ ordered Myanmar to take urgent steps to prevent the alleged genocide of the minority Rohingya Muslims.

This is the first time that Myanmar has faced justice over the 2017 military crackdown against the Rohingyas that forced around 740,000 Rohingya to flee neighbouring Bangladesh.

The International Court of Justice in The Hague granted a series of emergency steps requested by the mainly Muslim African state of The Gambia under the 1948 Genocide Convention.

https://www.thedailystar.net/online/news/victory-humanity-foreign-minister-1858102

[Jack Ryan]

Major step towards holding Myanmar accountable: Gambia

The Gambia today said the verdict of the International Court of Justice is a major step towards holding Myanmar accountable for alleged acts of Genocide against Rohingya.

The African nation, which initiated the legal battle against Myanmar, came up with the instant reaction after the UN’s top court granted essential provisional measures against Myanmar.

“The ICJ unanimously grants essential Provisional Measures requested by the Gambia against Myanmar. Major step towards holding Myanmar accountable for alleged acts of Genocide against Rohingya,” the Gambia’s Ministry of Justice said in a tweet hailing the verdict.

Earlier, the ICJ told Myanmar to take urgent steps to prevent the alleged genocide of the minority Rohingya Muslims.

This is the first time that Myanmar has faced justice over the 2017 military crackdown against the Rohingyas that forced around 740,000 Rohingya to flee neighbouring Bangladesh.

The International Court of Justice in The Hague granted a series of emergency steps requested by the mainly Muslim African state of The Gambia under the 1948 Genocide Convention.

https://www.thedailystar.net/rohingya-crisis/news/major-step-towards-holding-myanmar-accountable-gambia-1858096

[Jack Ryan]

Protect Rohingyas from genocide
UN’s top court in historic ruling asks Myanmar to take right steps, rejects Suu Kyi’s arguments in genocide trial

In a landmark ruling, the top court of the United Nations has ordered Myanmar to prevent acts of genocide against the country’s persecuted Rohingya minority and to stop destroying evidence.

In a unanimously-ruled order issued by a panel of 17 judges, and read by presiding Judge Abdulaqawi Ahmed Yusuf, the court yesterday upheld the provisions of the 1948 Genocide Convention - saying Myanmar had “caused irreparable damage to the rights of the Rohingya”.

The Hague-based International Court of Justice rejected arguments made by Myanmar’s civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi in December and set out urgent steps for the majority Buddhist nation to end the violence.

In November, the Gambia filed a suit against Myanmar alleging it was committing “an ongoing genocide against its minority Muslim Rohingya population”. It also asked the court to impose emergency measures following a 2017 military crackdown by Myanmar that sent around 740,000 Rohingyas fleeing into neighbouring Bangladesh.

UN investigators last year branded the bloody expulsion a genocide, and called for the prosecution of top generals -- including the powerful army chief. They also accused one-time democracy icon Suu Kyi and her government of complicity in the atrocities.

According to the Statute of the ICJ, the court has the power to order provisional measures when “irreparable prejudice could be caused to rights which are the subject of judicial proceedings”. The court found that the condition of urgency had been met in this case.

Provisional measures are steps to take aimed at preventing further harm and comes as the first step in the legal case.

Judge Yusuf said that “the court was of the opinion that the Rohingya in Myanmar remain extremely vulnerable” and needed to be protected from further bloodshed.

Thousands are suspected to have been killed in the crackdown and refugees brought widespread reports of rape and arson by Myanmar’s military and local militias.

In its application to the court, the Gambia requested six provisional measures requiring Myanmar to act “with immediate effect” to prevent further genocide of the Rohingya group and to take steps not to destroy or render inaccessible any evidence already described in the application.

The Gambia also urged both sides not to take any action which might aggravate the dispute or render it more difficult to resolve, and to provide a report to the court on implementing such measures.

The Gambia later also requested Myanmar cooperate with United Nations bodies that seek to investigate the alleged acts.

Judge Yusuf said the court was not constrained to ordering the measures requested by the Gambia and that it had the power to order additional measures, reported Al Jazeera. Yusuf further said that, in ordering provisional measures in this case, it was not necessary to decide on the question of the presence of genocidal intent, as claimed by Myanmar.

The court ordered Myanmar should take all measures within its power to prevent the commission of all acts within the scope of article two of the Genocide Convention. It particularly cited clause one - killing members of the group, clause two - causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group, clause three - deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its destruction in whole or in part, and clause four - imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group.

Myanmar must further ensure that its military does not commit genocide or attempts to commit genocide or conspires to commit genocide. Myanmar was also ordered to prevent the destruction of evidence and to ensure the preservation of evidence related to the alleged genocide.

Judge Yusuf also said the court was not satisfied with Myanmar’s own efforts “to facilitate the return of Rohingya refugees present in Bangladesh, to promote ethnic reconciliation, peace and stability in Rakhine State, and to make its military accountable for violations of international humanitarian and human rights law”.

The court ordered Myanmar to report back within four months, and then every six months after that, reported AFP.

Gambian justice minister Abubacarr Tambadou hailed the court’s decision to uphold his country’s case, which was supported by the 57-nation Organisation for Islamic Cooperation, Canada and the Netherlands.

“This is a historic day today, not just for international law, for the international community, but especially for the Rohingya,” he told reporters outside the court.

Nobel peace laureate Suu Kyi -- who was widely criticised for her defence of the same military that once locked her up for years -- said yesterday that some Rohingya refugees may have “exaggerated” the extent of the abuses.

“The international justice system may not yet be equipped to filter out misleading information before shadows of incrimination are cast over entire nations and governments,” she wrote in an opinion piece in the Financial Times published ahead of the ruling.

Suu Kyi also said Myanmar should have time to act on the results of an internal investigation by the country, which this week admitted war crimes may have been committed but ruled out genocide.

The military dodged questions in the capital Naypyidaw yesterday morning, with a spokesman telling reporters it would simply “follow the instructions of the government”.

Legal experts have applauded the court’s decision. Reed Brody, commissioner at the International Commission of Jurists, said to Al Jazeera:  “This is a great day for the hundreds of thousands of Rohingyas who have been displaced, killed and raped. The UN’s highest court has recognised their suffering.”

Brody added: “There is still a long way to go before this order becomes reality and we see actual improvements in the lives of the Rohingyas, but today this persecuted people will have a first taste of justice. This is further a stunning rebuke of Aung San Suu Kyi, especially after she went personally to The Hague to defend the actions of the Myanmar military. There will now be huge pressure on the government to comply with the court’s ruling.”

Brody says the fact that the decision was unanimous will give additional weight to the court’s measures.

According to Gleider Hernandez, professor at Catholic University of Leuven, the ICJ has made clear that it intends to supervise the implementation of the judgement. He said “Though not unprecedented, the regularity with which Myanmar had to submit reports is striking.”

Rights groups also hailed the ICJ ruling while calling on the international community to put pressure on Suu Kyi and Myanmar.

“Today’s decision sends a message to Myanmar’s senior officials: the world will not tolerate their atrocities,” Amnesty International’s Regional Director Nicholas Bequelin said.

Although ICJ rulings are final and binding, countries have occasionally flouted them, and the court has no formal mechanism to enforce them.

However the “significance... shouldn’t be written off,” said Cecily Rose, assistant professor in international law at Leiden University in the Netherlands.

“The court’s orders and judgments tend to carry relatively great authority or legitimacy. Even though the situation in Myanmar is highly political and fragile, international law still plays a role by informing decision-making among international actors,” she told AFP.

Param-Preet Singh, associate international justice director at Human Rights Watch, hailed the ruling as a landmark step.

“The ICJ order to Myanmar to take concrete steps to prevent the genocide of the Rohingya is a landmark step to stop further atrocities against one of the world’s most persecuted people,” he said.

“Concerned governments and UN bodies should now weigh in to ensure that the order is enforced as the genocide case moves forward.”

https://www.thedailystar.net/frontpage/news/protect-rohingyas-genocide-1858300

[Asaf Khandekar]

After ICJ ruling, Myanmar denies genocide against Rohingya

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/01/icj-ruling-myanmar-denies-genocide-rohingya-200123180205332.html

In a statement, government fails to use word 'Rohingya' and rejects accusations of genocide after case at top UN court.

But a statement released by Myanmar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was "important for Myanmar that Court [ICJ] reaches a factually correct decision on the merits of the case", and condemned human rights organisations that it accused of presenting a "distorted picture" of the situation in Rakhine.

Those groups, the statement said, had "affected Myanmmar bilateral relations with several countries" and hampered efforts for "sustainable development" in the northwest province.

While acknowledging "war crimes had occurred", the statement said "there has been no genocide in Rakhine."

While defending her country at the ICJ in December, Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi, in a 30-minute speech, failed to use the word "Rohingya" once. 

Critics said her refusal to use the word was part of Myanmar's attempt to strip the minority of their identity and rights.

Again on Thursday, the word "Rohingya" was absent from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' statement.

'A great day for hundreds of thousands of Rohingyas'

The ICJ case was filed by Muslim-majority The Gambia, which had asked the court to impose emergency measures following the Myanmar army's violent 2017 crackdown that forced around 740,000 Rohingya to flee to neighbouring Bangladesh.

The Hague-based court, which is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, ordered Myanmar to take urgent and "provisional measures" to protect its Rohingya population from genocide.

Provisional measures are steps aimed at preventing further harm, and come as the first step in the legal case.

Legal experts have applauded the court's decision.

Reed Brody, a commissioner at the International Commission of Jurists who was instrumental in the prosecution of the former Chadian dictator Hissene Habre, told Al Jazeera: "This is a great day for the hundreds of thousands of Rohingyas who have been displaced, killed and raped. The UN's highest court has recognised their suffering." 

The ICJ's orders are legally binding.

Brody said the fact that the decision was unanimous would add weight to the court's measures.

[Jack Ryan]

Pressure mounts on Myanmar
UN chief to notify UNSC about ICJ genocide ruling

Myanmar and its ally China will face mounting pressure after the World Court asked Naypyidaw to stop genocidal acts in Rakhine State, analysts said.

The ruling is a slap on Myanmar and its allies, Prof Imtiaz Ahmed, director of the Centre for Genocide Studies at Dhaka University, told The Daily Star yesterday.

The most important aspect of the ruling is that Myanmar has to submit a report to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) within four months on the measures taken to prevent the genocidal acts. Similar reports will have to be submitted every six months, he said.

The Gambia has to approve of the reports that will be submitted by Myanmar, he added.

The ICJ on Thursday ordered Myanmar not to destroy the evidence of crimes committed against the ethnic minority in Rakhine State.

“A big victory in the ruling is that the ICJ has recognised the ethnic community as Rohingya. So, Myanmar cannot deny this identity and say they are illegal migrants from Bangladesh,” said Imtiaz.

The 17 judges, including the ones from Myanmar, China and Gambia, unanimously took the decision, which is quite rare, the professor of international relations said.

The provisional measures ordered by the court, are legally-binding. In accordance with the Statute of the Court, the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will promptly transmit the notice of the provisional measures to the UN Security Council, according to a statement issued yesterday by a spokesperson of Guterres.

Guterres strongly supported the use of peaceful means to settle international disputes, it said.

He further recalls that, pursuant to the Charter and to the Statute of the Court, decisions of the court are binding and believes that Myanmar will duly comply with the order from the court, it added.

Asked what role China and Russia can play when the orders are sent to the UN Security Council as these veto powers earlier opposed any concrete actions against Myanmar for the atrocities, Imtiaz said, “Even if the Security Council doesn’t work, Myanmar is legally-bound to implement the orders.”

He reckons that China and Russia will not oppose the ICJ orders because they will be then globally described as complicit in genocide.

There were questions as to whether Dhaka was able to truly internationalise the Rohingya crisis, but with the ICJ ruling, it has been ensured that a global body, of which Myanmar is a member, will watch Myanmar’s actions, he said.

If China, Japan and India don’t work effectively to help Myanmar enforce the ICJ orders, Bangladesh will now tell them that they will be complicit in genocidal acts, he added.

This is an opportunity for Bangladesh to strongly negotiate with Myanmar and its allies and put pressure on the country to find a sustainable solution to the Rohingya crisis which originated in the 1970s.

Some 750,000 Rohingyas fled brutal military campaign and took shelter in Bangladesh, joining some 300,000 others who had fled earlier waves of violence in Rakhine.

They have been denied citizenship, basic rights like education and health, and freedom of movement.

Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Masud bin Momen said the challenge for Bangladesh was to use the global pressure created on Myanmar and its allies.

“The World Court will take five to six years to complete the trial. Meanwhile, we will continue to engage bilaterally with Myanmar,” he said at an event in the capital Thursday night.

Masud said the ICJ ruling will create confidence among the Rohingyas for returning to their homeland in Rakhine.

Japan, China and India are with Bangladesh, he said, adding, “They have geo-strategic interests in the region… We have economic and strategic partnership with them and will nurture that and try to solve the problem.”

COMPLY WITH ICJ ORDERS

The UK has encouraged Myanmar to comply with the legally-binding provisional measures.

“The Court was clear that Myanmar must do more to protect the Rohingya,” said Heather Wheeler, UK minister for Asia and the Pacific, in a statement.

Malaysia said the ICJ order is a step in the right direction to address the situation.

“The decision [of ICJ] reflects the serious concern of the international community on the need to address effectively the plight of the Rohingya and establish accountability and justice in respect of alleged serious human rights violations against the Rohingya,” said a Malaysian foreign ministry statement.

“As a fellow state party to the 1948 Genocide Convention, Malaysia calls on Myanmar to fulfil its obligations… to ensure that the crisis is not prolonged.”

Amnesty International said the ICJ decision sends a message to Myanmar’s senior officials that the world will not tolerate their atrocities, and will not blindly accept their empty rhetoric on the reality in Rakhine State today.

An estimated 600,000 Rohingya people who remain there are routinely and systematically denied their most basic rights, it said.

“Myanmar must comply with the ICJ’s ruling and take immediate action to cease ongoing violations against the community and to prevent the destruction of evidence,” said its Regional Director Nicholas Bequelin.

In a statement, 103 civil society bodies of Myanmar said political and military policies have always been imposed with violent force and intimidation upon the people of Myanmar on the basis of their political and religious beliefs and ethnic identities.

“Lessons from history have shown that aforementioned acts of violence and intimidation were committed with impunity, using mechanisms of political power and military might. The inability and incapability of Myanmar’s internal justice mechanism enable perpetrators to continue to carry out violent acts with impunity,” it said. 

https://www.thedailystar.net/frontpage/news/pressure-mounts-myanmar-1858648

[AntiDalal]

If the perpetrators of this genocide; Myanmar, get to walk away scratch free it will indeed be a gross miscarriage of justice and only embolden the regime in Myanmar and other like them around the World. 

One must wonder had the rohingya been Christian or white Europeans the situation would have been very different.

[Legionair]

On 1/25/2020 at 1:59 PM, AntiDalal said:

If the perpetrators of this genocide; Myanmar, get to walk away scratch free it will indeed be a gross miscarriage of justice and only embolden the regime in Myanmar and other like them around the World. 

One must wonder had the rohingya been Christian or white Europeans the situation would have been very different.

Couldn’t agree more but the mindset of dealing the brutal regime and expectations of foreign intervention always high. Why not we deal them directly and demonstrate the leadership ? Why Gambia was the one who took this to ICJ ? Simply Lacks of courage ! 

[Xuhayr]

6 hours ago, Legionair said:

Couldn’t agree more but the mindset of dealing the brutal regime and expectations of foreign intervention always high. Why not we deal them directly and demonstrate the leadership ? Why Gambia was the one who took this to ICJ ? Simply Lacks of courage ! 

১৯৪৮ সালের গণহত্যা কনভেনশনের ৯ অনুচ্ছেদে রয়েছে এই কনভেনশনের কোনো রকম লঙ্ঘন হলে অভিযুক্ত রাষ্ট্রের বিরুদ্ধে অন্য যেকোনো রাষ্ট্র আইসিজেতে মামলা করতে পারবে। ১৯৪৯ সালে কনভেনশনটির পক্ষরাষ্ট্র হওয়ার সময় মিয়ানমার (তৎকালীন বার্মা) অন্য দুটি অনুচ্ছেদের বিষয়ে তার আপত্তি (রিজার্ভেশন) জানালেও ৯ অনুচ্ছেদে কোনো আপত্তি জানায়নি।

৯ অনুচ্ছেদে আপত্তি বা নিজস্ব ব্যাখ্যা প্রদান করেছিল ১৬টি রাষ্ট্র, যার মধ্যে ১১টিই পরে তা প্রত্যাহার করে নেয়। আশ্চর্য মনে হলেও সত্যি এই অবশিষ্ট ৫টি দেশের মধ্যে একটি হচ্ছে বাংলাদেশ। ১৯৯৮ সালে পক্ষ হওয়ার সময় বাংলাদেশ ঘোষণা দেয় যেকোনো বিরোধ আন্তর্জাতিক আদালতে নিয়ে যাওয়ার জন্য প্রতিটি ক্ষেত্রে বিরোধের সব পক্ষের সম্মতি প্রয়োজন হবে। গাম্বিয়া ১৯৭৮ সালে কনভেনশনটির পক্ষ হয় বিনা আপত্তি বা ঘোষণায়। ফলে মিয়ানমারের বিরুদ্ধে মামলাটি করতে কোনো সমস্যা হয়নি তার।

অর্থাৎ কোন দেশে গণহত্যা সংঘটিত হলে যে কোন দেশ ঐ দেশের বিরুদ্ধে মামলা করতে পারবে এবং আদালতে নিতে পারবে - এই মত গাম্বিয়া ও মায়ানমার সমর্থন করলেও বাংলাদেশ সমর্থন করেনি৷ তাই বাংলাদেশের এই মামলা করার নৈতিক এখতিয়ার ছিল না বা মামলা করলেও সেটা দুর্বল হত। তাই ও আই সি কে দিয়ে গাম্বিয়ার মাধ্যমে এ কাজ করানো হয়েছে। মামলা লড়ছে গাম্বিয়া, অর্থ দিচ্ছে ওআইসি, প্রমাণ তথ্য উপাত্ত দিচ্ছে বাংলাদেশ।

 

 

===

 

Myanmar accepted the 1948 Mass Killing 9th article that states that any OIC country can file a case against them if the article is violated. Among 11 countries, Bangladesh one of the 5 declared in 1998 that all oppositions will have to agree before taking it it to ICJ. In short, filing Mass Killing violation case to ICJ is agreed by both Gambia and Myanmar, but not Bangladesh, reasons unknown. Following that, we don't have the authority or power to file the case, it would just seem hypocritical. That's why the case is filed and run by Gambia, evidence brought by Bangladesh.

 

 

So saying "Simply lack of courage" is not that simple.

[Legionair]

The shameless lady hitler Suchi is disgustingly anti Muslim , liar and supporting whole heartedly the barbaric act of genocide committed by the regime against her own Muslim Rohingyas. Some says during her student life she was ditched by her then Pakistani Muslim boy friend !! Since then she is suffering islamophobia. What a b***h , alas on my child hood she was an inspiration of democracy but turnout to be a monster ! So far no action by the UN

[Salted Cola]

5 hours ago, Legionair said:

The shameless lady hitler Suchi is disgustingly anti Muslim , liar and supporting whole heartedly the barbaric act of genocide committed by the regime against her own Muslim Rohingyas. Some says during her student life she was ditched by her then Pakistani Muslim boy friend !! Since then she is suffering islamophobia. What a b***h , alas on my child hood she was an inspiration of democracy but turnout to be a monster ! So far no action by the UN

When it isn't white Christians dying the UN and the world is slow to take action. 

[Legionair]

On 2/13/2020 at 3:26 AM, Salted Cola said:

When it isn't white Christians dying the UN and the world is slow to take action. 

A very unfortunate reality, the constant failure of leadership and the betrayal is the root cause. Even a stronger economic stability and strong defense capabilities can ensure at least this wont happen in our border. In this current reality, it is obvious a nation cannot rely on others to resolve matters. We cannot expect UN or India or China to resolve matter for our interest. We have to deal with this with our own capacity. We failed to get enough attention from the world media but later overall world media attention gave a positive reputation for us while a disaster for the Myanmar. It has given the opportunity to explore other areas and gave enough momentum that our top brass decided to shift their doctrine which is reflecting from many of our procurement program.

[Maisson]

Myanmar to court-martial more troops over Rohingya crackdown, army says

Published: 21 Feb 2020 08:40 PM BdST Updated: 21 Feb 2020 10:37 PM BdST

Myanmar's army said in a statement on Friday it would hold more court-martials over alleged abuses against Rohingya Muslims, after a government-appointed commission said soldiers committed war crimes against the minority.

The panel concluded, in a report published in January, that members of the security forces, among "multiple actors", were responsible for war crimes and serious human rights violations during a military-led crackdown against the group in 2017.

The army said in a post on its website on Friday it had studied the panel's report in great detail and was reviewing allegations.

Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fled to neighbouring Bangladesh to escape an army offensive launched in August 2017 that UN investigators described as having been executed with genocidal intent.

The country is facing genocide charges at the International Court of Justice in the Hague, after Gambia, a mainly Muslim West African state, lodged a lawsuit last year.

Myanmar says the army was fighting a legitimate counter-insurgency campaign against militants who attacked security posts.

The government-appointed panel blamed Rohingya militants for attacking 30 police posts and "provoking" the crackdown, which it said did not amount to genocide.

The army said it was investigating alleged abuses in two villages: Maung Nu, where residents told the panel as many as 200 Muslims were killed after taking shelter in a single house, and Chut Pyin, where dozens more are alleged to have died.

"The Court of Inquiry will investigate such incidents and the trial of Court-Martial will be followed in accordance with the law and in line with the processes of Military Justice," the army statement said.

Two military spokesmen rejected several phone calls from Reuters on Friday seeking further comment.

'BODIES PULLED APART'

Residents of Maung Nu told government-appointed investigators that soldiers besieged the village after militants attacked a nearby security post and stormed a house where many villagers were sheltering, killing as many as 200.

In Chut Pyin, residents said soldiers surrounded the village, used rocket launchers to set fire to houses and shot indiscriminately, killing scores, according to the January report.

Troops told locals, who allegedly participated in the destruction, to "systematically destroy the bodies" afterwards, one Buddhist resident told the government-backed panel.

"There were so many corpses in Chut Pyin village that when they were burnt, not all could be burnt down to ashes; some were buried, and some dead bodies were pulled apart by wild animals," the resident was quoted as saying.

The army said in its statement it was still reviewing other incidents mentioned in the report by the government-appointed panel, which include an alleged massacre of Hindus by Rohingya militants calling themselves the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, which the group denies.

Myanmar has vowed to carry out its own investigations, saying international justice mechanisms violate its sovereignty.

The army began a trial in November of soldiers and officers from a regiment deployed to Gu Dar Pyin village, the site of another alleged massacre.

A statement on that trial will be released "in the near future", the military said on Friday.

Seven soldiers jailed for 10 years for killing 10 Rohingya men and boys in the village of Inn Din were granted early release last November, after serving less than a year in prison.

[Salted Cola]

1 hour ago, Syed Amar Khan said:

Myanmar to court-martial more troops over Rohingya crackdown, army says

Published: 21 Feb 2020 08:40 PM BdST Updated: 21 Feb 2020 10:37 PM BdST

Myanmar's army said in a statement on Friday it would hold more court-martials over alleged abuses against Rohingya Muslims, after a government-appointed commission said soldiers committed war crimes against the minority.

The panel concluded, in a report published in January, that members of the security forces, among "multiple actors", were responsible for war crimes and serious human rights violations during a military-led crackdown against the group in 2017.

The army said in a post on its website on Friday it had studied the panel's report in great detail and was reviewing allegations.

Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fled to neighbouring Bangladesh to escape an army offensive launched in August 2017 that UN investigators described as having been executed with genocidal intent.

The country is facing genocide charges at the International Court of Justice in the Hague, after Gambia, a mainly Muslim West African state, lodged a lawsuit last year.

Myanmar says the army was fighting a legitimate counter-insurgency campaign against militants who attacked security posts.

The government-appointed panel blamed Rohingya militants for attacking 30 police posts and "provoking" the crackdown, which it said did not amount to genocide.

The army said it was investigating alleged abuses in two villages: Maung Nu, where residents told the panel as many as 200 Muslims were killed after taking shelter in a single house, and Chut Pyin, where dozens more are alleged to have died.

"The Court of Inquiry will investigate such incidents and the trial of Court-Martial will be followed in accordance with the law and in line with the processes of Military Justice," the army statement said.

Two military spokesmen rejected several phone calls from Reuters on Friday seeking further comment.

'BODIES PULLED APART'

Residents of Maung Nu told government-appointed investigators that soldiers besieged the village after militants attacked a nearby security post and stormed a house where many villagers were sheltering, killing as many as 200.

In Chut Pyin, residents said soldiers surrounded the village, used rocket launchers to set fire to houses and shot indiscriminately, killing scores, according to the January report.

Troops told locals, who allegedly participated in the destruction, to "systematically destroy the bodies" afterwards, one Buddhist resident told the government-backed panel.

"There were so many corpses in Chut Pyin village that when they were burnt, not all could be burnt down to ashes; some were buried, and some dead bodies were pulled apart by wild animals," the resident was quoted as saying.

The army said in its statement it was still reviewing other incidents mentioned in the report by the government-appointed panel, which include an alleged massacre of Hindus by Rohingya militants calling themselves the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, which the group denies.

Myanmar has vowed to carry out its own investigations, saying international justice mechanisms violate its sovereignty.

The army began a trial in November of soldiers and officers from a regiment deployed to Gu Dar Pyin village, the site of another alleged massacre.

A statement on that trial will be released "in the near future", the military said on Friday.

Seven soldiers jailed for 10 years for killing 10 Rohingya men and boys in the village of Inn Din were granted early release last November, after serving less than a year in prison.

Oh another dog and pony show

 

[Maisson]

Maldives appoints Amal Clooney to seek justice for Rohingyas

Second nation after Gambia to take up the refugees’ cause

The Maldivian government yesterday said it will formally join The Gambia in challenging Myanmar's 2017 military crackdown that sent around 740,000 Rohingyas fleeing into Bangladesh.

Maldives has hired prominent human rights lawyer Amal Clooney to represent it at the UN's highest court in seeking justice for the persecuted Rohingyas.

In a unanimous ruling last month, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Buddhist-majority Myanmar to implement emergency measures to prevent the genocide of Rohingyas -- pending a full case that could take years.

Clooney successfully represented former Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed and secured a UN decision that his 2015 jailing for 13 years was illegal.

With the fall of strongman president Abdulla Yameen in 2018, Nasheed as well as several other dissidents in the Sunni Muslim nation have been cleared of any wrongdoing.

Nasheed is currently the atoll nation's speaker in the national legislature.

The government said it welcomed the ICJ's decision to order provisional measures to secure the rights of victims in Myanmar and prevent the destruction of evidence in the ongoing case.

"Accountability for genocide in Myanmar is long overdue and I look forward to working on this important effort to seek judicial remedies for Rohingya survivors," Clooney was quoted as saying by the Maldivian government.

Thousands are suspected to have been killed in the Rohingya crackdown and refugees brought widespread reports of rape and arson by Myanmar's military and local Buddhist militias.