ICJ set to resume Myanmar Rohingya genocide case

Gulf Today Report

Myanmar's junta is set to replace Aung San Suu Kyi at the UN’s top court on Monday as it seeks to dismiss a case over the alleged genocide of Rohingya Muslims.

An international case accusing Myanmar of genocide against the Rohingya ethnic minority returns to the United Nations' highest court amid questions over whether the country's military rulers should even be allowed to represent the Southeast Asian nation.

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Four days of public hearings at the International Court of Justice start into Myanmar's preliminary objections to the case that was brought by Gambia, an African nation acting on behalf of an organization of Muslim nations that accuses Myanmar of genocide in its crackdown on the Rohingya.

More than 700,000 Rohingya flee to neighbouring Bangladesh.

In August 2017, Myanmar’s military launched what it called a clearance campaign in Rakhine state in the country's west in response to an attack by a Rohingya insurgent group. The campaign forced more than 700,000 Rohingya to flee to neighbouring Bangladesh and led to accusations that security forces committed mass rapes and killings and burned thousands of homes.

Gambia argues that the campaign amounted to a breach of the genocide convention and wants the court to hold the country responsible.

The ICJ was set up after World War II to rule on disputes between UN member states. Its judgments are binding but it has no real means to enforce them.

Aung San Suu Kyi gestures during an event. File photo

The Rohingya case at the ICJ has been complicated by the coup that ousted Suu Kyi and her civilian government, and triggered mass protests and a bloody military crackdown. More than 1,500 civilians have been killed, according to a local monitoring group.

The figurehead who led Myanmar's legal team in court last time there were public hearings in the case — the nation's ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi — is in prison after being convicted on what supporters call trumped up charges.