{"id":147966,"date":"2019-11-18T12:01:41","date_gmt":"2019-11-18T12:01:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=147966"},"modified":"2019-11-25T11:04:33","modified_gmt":"2019-11-25T11:04:33","slug":"muslim-nations-bring-genocide-suit-against-myanmar-over-2017-expulsion-of-rohingya","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2019\/11\/muslim-nations-bring-genocide-suit-against-myanmar-over-2017-expulsion-of-rohingya\/","title":{"rendered":"Muslim Nations Bring Genocide Suit against Myanmar over 2017 Expulsion of Rohingya"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Representatives from the Rohingya community and Gambia’s Justice Minister Aboubacarr Marie Tambadou (L) listen to testimony during a press conference in The Hague, the Netherlands, where the West African nation filed a case at the International Court of Justice accusing Myanmar of genocide against Rohingya Muslims, Nov. 11, 2019. Associated Press<\/p><\/div>\n

11 Nov 2019 – <\/em>Gambia today filed a lawsuit against Myanmar in the highest court of the United Nations, accusing the Southeast Asia nation of state-sponsored genocide for the brutal military-led crackdown against Rohingya Muslims in 2017 that left thousands dead and drove more than 740,000 across the border into Bangladesh.<\/p>\n

Myanmar has largely denied that its forces were responsible for widespread violence that included indiscriminate killings, mass rape, torture, and the burning of Rohingya villages in Rakhine state, saying its measures were a justified response to deadly attacks on police outposts by a militant Rohingya group.<\/p>\n

Gambia, a predominantly Muslim African country, filed the case with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, the Netherlands, on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), a group of 57 Muslim countries.<\/p>\n

The lawsuit alleges that Buddhist-majority Myanmar breached the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, adopted by the U.N. in 1948, with the military-led crackdown targeting the Rohingya minority.<\/p>\n

It also asks the ICJ to order Myanmar to cease and desist from all acts of genocide, to punish those responsible, including senior government officials and military officers, and to issue reparations to victims, according to a statement issued by Foley Hoag LLC, the international law firm assisting Gambia with the case.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Gambia is taking this action to seek justice and accountability for the genocide being committed by Myanmar against the Rohingya, and to uphold and strengthen the global norm against genocide that is binding upon all states,\u201d the West African nation\u2019s justice minister and attorney general, Aboubacarr Marie Tambadou, said in a statement, according to news agencies.<\/p>\n

Gambia has also called for urgent provisional measures \u201cto stop Myanmar\u2019s genocidal conduct immediately\u201d to prevent further harm to the Rohingya while the case is pending, Foley Hoag\u2019s statement said.<\/p>\n

The court is expected to hold oral hearings on the request in December, it said.<\/p>\n

Myanmar government officials have not yet issued a response, but Hau Do Suan, Myanmar\u2019s ambassador to the U.N., told RFA\u2019s Myanmar Service Monday that Myanmar and Bangladesh should resolve the issue themselves.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs far as we know, Gambia has been assigned to the task by the decision from the OIC ministerial meeting to prosecute Myanmar for the displaced Muslims,\u201d he said. \u201cIn my opinion, the issue we have here is between Myanmar and Bangladesh. It has nothing to do with the OIC or Gambia.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Bilateral Issue<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hau Do Suan said he did not have any other comments to make since lawsuit was just submitted today.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the point is the ICJ is meant to settle disputes between member countries for issues like border disputes or legal disputes,\u201d he said. \u201cAs far as I know, there has never been a single lawsuit on settling humanitarian issues. Now, since they have filed the lawsuit formally, we have to face the proceeding through legal means.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an issue to be resolved bilaterally between Myanmar and Bangladesh,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is obvious that they are trying to utilize international pressure instead of helping to resolve this humanitarian issue.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bangladesh\u2019s Foreign Minister A.K. Abdul Momen told the state-run news service BSS that officials welcomed the news.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is good news that OIC is taking some responsibility,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Shahriar Alam, a junior minister at Bangladesh\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service, in Dhaka that the lawsuit was filed after the OIC appointed lawyers and created a committee.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe committee discussed the issue and later, at a meeting of foreign ministers, a resolution was adopted to file a case,\u201d Alam said. \u201cIt took a few days for preparation and appointment of lawyers.\u201d<\/p>\n

In March, the OIC unanimously adopted a resolution to pursue legal recourse through the ICJ, which settles disputes between nations, to seek accountability and justice for human rights violations committed against the Rohingya in Myanmar.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Fatou Bensouda (L), top prosecutor at the International Criminal Court, sits in one of the body’s courtrooms at The Hague, the Netherlands, July 8, 2019. Credit: AFP<\/p><\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Rights Groups Welcome Move<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rights groups said they were pleased by the latest action to hold Myanmar accountable for violations against the Rohingya.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe Rohingya welcome Gambia\u2019s lawsuit against Myanmar,\u201d Tun Khin, president of the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK (BROUK), told RFA. \u201cI think this lawsuit will be very effective since Myanmar is one of the signatories of the Genocide Convention.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGovernment-to-government lawsuits are more likely to proceed because only that kind of action will save the Rohingya from genocide,\u201d he said. \u201cOtherwise, it will keep going on for many years to come. We don\u2019t know how long these atrocities will keep happening in the future since it is part of government policy.\u201d<\/p>\n

New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) also welcomed the move, saying it could help stop further abuses against the Rohingya.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Gambia\u2019s legal action triggers a judicial process before the world\u2019s highest court that could determine that Myanmar\u2019s atrocities against the Rohingya violate the Genocide Convention,\u201d said Param-Preet Singh, HRW\u2019s associate international justice director. \u201cThe court\u2019s prompt adoption of provisional measures could help stop the worst ongoing abuses against the Rohingya in Myanmar.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other NGOs supporting the initiative include No Peace Without Justice, the Association pour la Lutte Contre l\u2019Impunit\u00e9 et pour la Justice Transitionnelle, the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, the Global Justice Center, the International Bar Association Human Rights Institute, Parliamentarians for Global Action, and the Women\u2019s Initiatives for Gender Justice, HRW said.<\/p>\n

Southeast Asia-based Fortify Rights called on U.N. member states to support Gambia\u2019s case against Myanmar for failing to prevent or punish genocide against the Rohingya.<\/p>\n

\u201cGovernments have condemned atrocities against Rohingya in Myanmar, but now it\u2019s time to act,\u201d said Matthew Smith, the group\u2019s chief executive officer, in a printed statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Gambia\u2019s leadership on this issue is monumental, and its government shouldn\u2019t have to do it alone,\u201d he said. \u201cStates can start by providing financial, diplomatic, and substantive support through public statements and submissions to the court on interpretations of the genocide convention.\u201d<\/p>\n

Signs of Genocidal Intent<\/strong><\/p>\n

An Independent International Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) appointed by the U.N. Human Rights Council in its final report issued in mid-September found signs of genocidal intent in the 2017 military campaign and warned that the roughly 600,000 Rohingya currently living in Myanmar face a \u201cserious risk of genocide.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hau Do Suan derided the FFM\u2019s findings in October, saying they were based on \u201cone-sided views, unsubstantiated allegations, misleading information based on secondary sources, and narratives.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that Myanmar takes the issue of accountability seriously and has repeatedly stated that the perpetrators of human right violations \u201ccausing the large outflow <\/em>of displaced persons to Bangladesh must be held accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n

The move by Gambia follows a notice filed in June by Fatou Bensouda, chief prosecutor of The Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC), which tries individuals accused of committing crimes against humanity, about her intention to seek authorization to open a formal investigation into alleged crimes against humanity committed against Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar.<\/p>\n

Bensouda said she wanted to investigate crimes of deportation, inhumane acts, and persecution allegedly committed as Rohingya were driven from Myanmar, which is not a member of the ICC, into Bangladesh, which is a member.<\/p>\n

A month after Bensouda filed the notice, ICC prosecutor James Stewart and a court delegation conducted a six-day trip to southeast Bangladesh and the Rohingya refugee camps as part of preparations for the potential investigation.<\/p>\n

____________________________________________________<\/p>\n

Reported by Khin Maung Nyane and Soe San Aung for RFA\u2019s Myanmar Service, and by BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service. <\/em><\/p>\n

Translated by Khin Maung Nyane and Ye Kaung Myint Maung. <\/em><\/p>\n

Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.<\/em><\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 rfa.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

11 Nov 2019 – Gambia today filed a lawsuit against Myanmar in the highest court of the United Nations, accusing the Southeast Asia nation of state-sponsored genocide for the brutal military-led crackdown against Rohingya Muslims in 2017 that left thousands dead and drove more than 740,000 across the border into Bangladesh.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":147967,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[224,127,677,66,82],"tags":[229,240,1149,1198,526,120,1199,865,267,260,487,926,866,651,1417,291,287,103,107,870,527,985,380,124,126,92,118],"class_list":["post-147966","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-human-rights","category-africa","category-asia-updates-on-myanmar-rohingya-genocide","category-middle-east-north-africa","category-united-nations","tag-activism","tag-asia","tag-asia-and-the-pacific","tag-buddhism","tag-burma-myanmar","tag-conflict","tag-ethnic-cleansing","tag-genocide","tag-geopolitics","tag-history","tag-human-rights","tag-humanitarianism","tag-indigenous-rights","tag-justice","tag-maung-zarni","tag-military","tag-power","tag-racism","tag-religion","tag-reviews","tag-rohingya","tag-social-justice","tag-solutions","tag-united-nations","tag-violence","tag-violent-conflict","tag-war"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147966","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=147966"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147966\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/147967"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=147966"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=147966"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=147966"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}