THE HAGUE, Netherlands: Was the Rohingya Muslim minority in Myanmar subjected to genocide? Judges at the International Court of Justice will consider that during hearings that begin on Monday and go for three weeks. During a crackdown in 2017, The Gambia filed a lawsuit alleging that Myanmar had violated the 1948 Genocide Convention. Legal experts are keeping a careful eye on it because it may provide hints about how the court would address similar charges against Israel during its military assault in Gaza, a matter that South Africa brought before the ICJ. Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims escaped to neighboring Bangladesh after being subjected to brutality by the Myanmar government and Buddhist militias. They brought with them horrific stories of mass rape, burning, and murder.
In Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar, 1.17 million Rohingya are currently crowded into run-down camps that span 8,000 acres. Janifa Begum, a mother of two, then said to AFP, “I want to see whether the suffering we endured is reflected during the hearing.” The 37-year-old declared, “We want justice and peace.”
“Senseless murders”
The Gambia, a West African nation with a majority of Muslims, filed the complaint with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 2019. Any nation that feels another is violating the Genocide Convention may bring a lawsuit before the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The African nation’s attorneys revealed evidence of “senseless killings… acts of barbarity that continue to shock our collective conscience” in December 2019.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi made a historic appearance to defend her nation at the Peace Palace tribunal in The Hague. Banjul’s reasoning was rejected by her as a “misleading and incomplete factual picture” of what she described as a “internal armed conflict.” In reaction to attacks by Rohingya militants, the former democracy icon said that the genocide case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) would rekindle the conflict. After a string of attacks claimed the lives of twelve security personnel, Myanmar has consistently maintained that the Tatmadaw’s crackdown was warranted in order to eradicate Rohingya rebels.
“Physical devastation”
The Gambia had sought courts for “provisional measures” to stop the violence while the matter was being heard, and the ICJ first sided with them. In 2020, the court mandated that Myanmar take “all measures within its power” to stop any actions that are forbidden by the UN Genocide Convention of 1948. “Killing members of the group” and “deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part” were examples of these acts. Three years after a UN mission claimed Myanmar had “genocidal intent” against the Rohingya, the United States formally proclaimed in 2022 that the atrocities constituted to genocide. The core of the case is represented by the hearings, which conclude on January 30.
Judges feel they have the authority to decide on the genocide allegation because the court dismissed a 2022 Myanmar appeal to its jurisdiction. perhaps while the ICJ cannot enforce its rulings, a decision in favor of The Gambia would put additional political pressure on Myanmar. A final decision might take months or perhaps years. Suu Kyi will not be going back to the Peace Palace. Since a coup in 2021, she has been imprisoned on allegations that rights organizations claim were politically motivated. There are several courts investigating potential genocide against the Rohingya outside the ICJ.
Military chief Min Aung Hlaing is being investigated for possible crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court, which is also headquartered in The Hague. Under the theory of universal jurisdiction, which holds that certain crimes are so horrible that they can be heard in any court, another case is being heard in Argentina.
