UNITED NATIONS, January 15 (IPS) – On January 12, the Worldwide Courtroom of Justice (ICJ), opened landmark hearings in a case introduced by the Republic of The Gambia, alleging that Myanmar’s navy dedicated acts of brutal genocide towards the Rohingya minority throughout its 2017 crackdown. Described by the United Nations (UN) as a case “years within the making,” the ICJ will spend the subsequent three weeks reviewing proof and testimony from either side to find out whether or not the Myanmar navy violated the Genocide Conference.
This case marks the primary genocide case totally undertaken by the ICJ in over a decade, filed by The Gambia in 2019, two years after the Myanmar navy’s 2017 crackdown —which resulted in 1000’s of deaths and mass displacement. UN consultants observe that the result of this case may have implications far past Myanmar, doubtlessly shaping different worldwide authorized proceedings equivalent to South Africa’s petition accusing Israel of genocide within the Gaza Strip, and serving to to outline requirements of proof for genocide in contexts like Darfur in Sudan and Tigray in Ethiopia.
“The case is more likely to set essential precedents for the way genocide is outlined and the way it may be confirmed, and the way violations could be remedied,” Nicholas Koumjian, head of the UN’s Impartial Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar, advised reporters.
Since 2017, Rohingya survivors have described the brutality of the Myanmar navy’s assaults and their enduring impacts, recounting widespread situations of rape, arson, and mass killings. The violence displaced greater than 750,000 folks to neighboring Bangladesh, the place sources are scarce and refugees proceed to face discrimination and long-term psychological trauma.
Shortly after the 2017 crackdown, Zeid Ra’advert al-Hussein, the then UN Excessive Commissioner for Human Rights, described the Myanmar navy’s operations as a “textbook instance of ethnic cleaning”. A 2018 UN fact-finding mission concluded that the navy’s operations included “genocidal acts”. Myanmar authorities rejected these characterizations, claiming the crackdown was a response to Rohingya armed teams.
On January 12, The Gambia’s Justice Minister Dawda Jallow advised the ICJ that after reviewing “credible stories of essentially the most brutal and harsh violations imaginably inflicted upon a susceptible group”, Gambia officers concluded that the Myanmar navy intentionally focused the Rohingya minority in an try to “destroy the group”.
“It isn’t about esoteric problems with worldwide regulation. It’s about actual folks, actual tales, and an actual group of human beings—the Rohingya of Myanmar,” Jallow advised ICJ judges. He added that the Rohingya have endured a long time of “appalling persecution and years of dehumanizing propaganda,” aimed toward successfully erasing their existence in Myanmar.
On January 14, Myanmar’s Overseas Ministry issued an announcement rejecting The Gambia’s allegations of genocide as “flawed and unfounded in reality and regulation,” claiming they depend on biased stories and “unreliable proof.” The assertion notably prevented the time period Rohingya, referring as a substitute to the group as “individuals from Rakhine State.” It additionally asserted that Myanmar is cooperating with the ICJ proceedings in “good religion”, framing this as an illustration of its respect for worldwide regulation.
Attorneys for Myanmar are anticipated to start presenting their arguments to the ICJ on January 16. UN officers observe that after three weeks of testimony, a closing ICJ ruling may take months and even years, and could be legally binding. If Myanmar had been to be discovered responsible of genocide, such a ruling would place state accountability on Myanmar, designating it as a “pariah state” and severely damaging its worldwide standing.
Such a ruling may compel the UN Safety Council to take extra forceful peacekeeping measures and will set off obligations below the Genocide Conference (of which Myanmar is a state occasion), to forestall additional atrocities, punish perpetrators, and supply reparations to victims, which can embrace enabling circumstances for a protected, dignified, and voluntary return. Even because the case proceeds, the ICJ’s current provisional measures already require Myanmar to guard the Rohingya group and protect proof, although enforcement is dependent upon Myanmar’s compliance.
“Seeing Gambia’s landmark case towards Myanmar lastly enter the deserves section delivers renewed hope to Rohingya that our decades-long struggling could lastly finish,” mentioned Wai Wai Nu, founder and govt director of the Ladies’s Peace Community, a human rights group advocating for marginalized communities in Myanmar. “Amid ongoing violations towards the Rohingya, the world should stand agency within the pursuit of justice and a path towards ending impunity in Myanmar and restoring our rights.”
As authorized proceedings proceed, Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh and displaced communities in Myanmar’s Rakhine State are confronting an escalating humanitarian disaster in 2026, marked by extreme shortages of important companies and heightened safety dangers. In keeping with figures from the United Nations Excessive Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), over a million Rohingya refugees who fled violence in Myanmar are actually dwelling in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar settlement, one of many largest refugee camps on the earth.
Latest humanitarian updates from UNHCR present that Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh proceed to stay in severely overcrowded shelters with restricted entry to meals, healthcare, schooling, clear water, and sanitation. Livelihood alternatives stay sharply restricted, as Rohingya refugees are thought of stateless. Shelter for newly arrived refugees is more and more scarce and circumstances proceed to deteriorate as funding cuts hinder UNHCR’s means to adequately help affected communities.
In the meantime, Rohingya civilians who stay in Myanmar’s Rakhine State proceed to endure entrenched discrimination, extreme motion restrictions, persistent insecurity, and shrinking humanitarian entry as clashes between armed teams and the navy intensify. Humanitarian consultants and civil society leaders underscored the importance of the ICJ case, noting {that a} ruling in favor of The Gambia may mark a essential step towards justice and long-term restoration for the Rohingya group.
“I hope the ICJ will convey some solace to the deep wounds we’re nonetheless carrying,” mentioned Mohammad Sayed Ullah, a member of the United Council of Rohingya (UCR), a civil society group fashioned in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, that advocates for the rights of Rohingya refugees. “The perpetrators have to be held accountable and punished. The earlier and fairer the trial is, the higher the result might be. Solely then can the repatriation course of really start.”
IPS UN Bureau Report
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