BANJUL, The Gambia, Nov 12 (NNN-ANN) – On behalf of OIC, the Gambia files the case with International Court of Justice, seeking orders to stop atrocities on Rohingyas, immediately.
The Gambia filed a case with the top court, accusing Myanmar of committing genocide against its Rohingya Muslim minority, more than two years, after some 750,000 Rohingyas fled a military crackdown in the Rakhine State.
“We have just submitted our application to the ICJ under the Genocide Convention,” Gambian Justice Minister, Abubacarr Tambadou said, at a news conference in The Hague, where the court is based.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ), also known as the World Court, is the UN’s top legal institution that rules on disputes between countries.
The West African nation, which is predominantly Muslim, filed the case on behalf of the Organisation for Islamic Cooperation (OIC), which had held a series of meetings, to encourage its 57 members to support the case.
“The aim is to get Myanmar to account for its actions against its own people, the Rohingya. It is a shame for our generation that we do nothing while genocide is unfolding right under our own eyes,” he said.
Both the Gambia and Myanmar are signatories to the 1948 Genocide Convention, which not only prohibits states from committing genocide but also compels all signatory states to prevent and punish the crime.
Tambadou, who worked for more than a decade as a lawyer at the UN tribunal, that dealt with the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, assumed a position of leadership in the lawsuit because of his special expertise.
In a telephone interview, Tambadou told the New York times that, he had been moved by his visit to the Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh.
“The world failed Rwanda when the international community did not prevent the genocide while it was unfolding,’’ he said.
“The treatment of the Rohingya is illustrative of the international community’s failure to prevent genocide in Myanmar. I thought this was not right. The world cannot stand by and do nothing.’’
Regional rights body, Fortify Rights, said in Oct, 2016 and Aug and Sept, 2017, the Myanmar military deployed more than 11,000 soldiers who, along with police and civilian perpetrators, systematically massacred and raped Rohingya men, women and children, and razed several hundred villages in all three townships of northern Rakhine.
In Aug and Sept 2017 alone, some 750,000 Rohingyas fled to Bangladesh and joined some 300,000 others who fled waves of violence since the 1980’s in Rakhine, where they are denied citizenship and other rights.
UN investigators have said, the crackdown against the Rohingyas was executed with “genocidal intent.”
The UN Independent Fact-Finding Mission reported in Sept this year that, it has a confidential list of more than 100 names, including Myanmar officials, suspected of being involved in genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes, in addition to six generals it named publicly, a year ago.
The civilian and military government routinely deny any wrongdoings by state security forces in the Rakhine State and reject evidence of mass atrocities on the Rohingyas. It says, the crackdown targeted militantseparatists in Rakhine.
In its filing, the Gambia asked the court to grant so-called provisional measures to make sure Myanmar immediately “stops atrocities and genocide against its own Rohingya people.”
The law firm helping the Gambia, Foley Hoag, said it expected the first hearings on the provisional measures to take place next month.
Dr Imtiaz Ahmed, professor of International Relations & Director of Centre for Genocide Studies at Dhaka University, said the Gambia has demonstrated its moral height when the international community has failed to take any concrete action against Myanmar.
“Myanmar will face additional pressure now. Its allies will also now come forward to help address the crisis,” he said.
The International Criminal Court (ICC), which also initiated an investigation into Myanmar’s crimes against Rohingyas, can hold only individuals accountable. The ICJ, however, can hold Myanmar, as a state, responsible. So, Myanmar cannot avoid replying to the ICJ, Imtiaz said.
