The United Nations’ top court has rejected Myanmar’s attempts to halt a case accusing it of genocide against the country’s Rohingya minority, paving the way for evidence of atrocities to be heard.
The international court of justice rejected all preliminary objections raised by Myanmar, which is now ruled by a military junta, at a hearing on Friday.
The case, which was brought by Gambia, centers on brutal military crackdowns in 2016 and 2017 that forced more than 700,000 Rohingya to flee across the border into neighboring Bangladesh.
It accuses the Myanmar military of carrying out widespread and systematic “cleansing operations” against the Rohingya, committing mass killings, rapes and burning villages, with the “intent to destroy the Rohingya as a group in whole or in part”.
Myanmar had argued that the court lacked jurisdiction, arguing that Gambia could not bring the case because it was not directly affected by the events and because there was no legal dispute between the two countries before the case was filed. He also claimed that Gambia was acting as a “proxy” for the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and had no standing because the ICJ only rules on disputes between states.
These arguments were rejected by the court. Reading the decision, the president of the court, US judge Joan E Donoghue, said: “The court notes that The Gambia commenced the present proceedings in its own name as a state party to the statute of the court and the Convention of Genocide”.
Akila Radhakrishnan, president of the Center for Global Justice, said Friday’s decision was “a huge step forward for justice.”
“It sends a signal to Myanmar’s military that they cannot commit atrocities with impunity. Proceedings in the case are even more important in light of the February 2021 coup, which was enabled and emboldened by the military’s impunity ‘They have conceded for too long,’ he said.
The military seized power in a coup last year and has unleashed a relentless campaign of violence to crush dissent. The UN rights office warned in March that the junta was carrying out widespread and systematic abuses against civilians that may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Tun Khin, president of the Burmese Rohingya Organization of the United Kingdom, said that the objections presented by Myanmar were an attempt to slow down the proceedings and that the oppression of the Rohingya continues. “For a year and a half the case has been delayed and the genocide continues every day. Laws and policies designed to make life unbearable and drive the Rohingya out of Myanmar are part of the genocide and continue despite interim measures ordered by the court,” he said, referring to an earlier court order ordering Myanmar to do all the possible to protect the Rohingya from genocide as the case progresses, which will take years.
Tun Khin called on the UK to join Gambia and support the case. “The UK claims international leadership in Myanmar, but it is The Gambia, not the UK, that has been the leader,” he said. The Netherlands and Canada are supporting The Gambia.
After last year’s coup, the junta now represents Myanmar at the ICJ. The national unity government, made up of elected lawmakers, representatives of ethnic minorities and activists, had argued that it should represent Myanmar in court and would withdraw preliminary objections.