World Court says it has jurisdiction, Myanmar genocide case to proceed

• The World Court rejects Myanmar’s objections to a genocide case.
• The case involves its treatment of the Muslim Rohingya minority. Gambia joined the 57-nation Organization for Islamic Cooperation suit in 2019. Case will now proceed to hear the case on its merits, which will take years.
• A United Nations mission concluded that Myanmar’s military campaign drove 730,000 Rohingya into neighbouring Bangladesh.

THE HAGUE, 22 JULY – The World Court rejected Myanmar’s objections to a genocide case involving its treatment of the Muslim Rohingya minority on Friday, clearing the way for the case to be heard in its entirety.

Myanmar, which is now ruled by a military junta that took power in 2021, argued that Gambia, which brought the suit, lacked standing to do so at the top United Nations court, formally known as the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

However, presiding Judge Joan Donoghue stated that all states that signed the 1948 Genocide Convention could and should act to prevent genocide, and that the court had jurisdiction in the case.

“Gambia has standing as a state party to the genocide convention,” she said, reading a summary of the 13-judge panel’s decision.

The court will now proceed to hear the case on its merits, which will take years.

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In 2019, Gambia joined the 57-nation Organization for Islamic Cooperation in a suit aimed at holding Myanmar accountable and preventing further bloodshed.

Outside the courtroom, Gambia Justice Minister Dawda Jallow said he was “very happy” with the decision and was confident the suit would succeed.

Gambia got involved after his predecessor, Abubacarr Tambadou, a former prosecutor at the United Nations Rwanda tribunal, visited a refugee camp in Bangladesh and said the stories he heard reminded him of the Rwanda genocide.

Myanmar’s representative stated that the government would do its “utmost” to protect the country’s “national interest” in future proceedings.

Outside the court’s gates, protesters waved a red banner with the words “Free Burma” and yelled at cars carrying junta representatives leaving the building after the decision.

A United Nations fact-finding mission concluded that Myanmar’s 2017 military campaign that drove 730,000 Rohingya into neighbouring Bangladesh included “genocidal acts.”

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Myanmar has denied genocide, calling the UN report “biassed and flawed.” It claims that its crackdown was directed at Rohingya insurgents who had carried out attacks.

While the Hague court’s decisions are legally binding and are generally followed by countries, there is no way to enforce them.

In a provisional decision issued in 2020, it ordered Myanmar to protect the Rohingya from harm, establishing their legal right as a protected minority under international law.

However, Rohingya groups and rights activists claim that no meaningful efforts have been made to end their systematic persecution.

Myanmar continues to deny Rohingya citizenship and freedom of movement. For the past decade, tens of thousands have been confined in squalid displacement camps.

Bangladesh’s foreign ministry issued a statement in response to the ruling.

“For the victims living in camps in both Bangladesh and Myanmar, they see hope that justice will be served and perpetrators in the Myanmar military will be held accountable,” said Ambia Parveen of the European Rohingya Council outside the court.

The junta has imprisoned democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who personally defended Myanmar in The Hague hearings in 2019.