UN court rejects Myanmar's efforts to obstruct Genocide case over Rohingya atrocities

World 10:16 26.07.2022
The international court of justice has rejected Myanmar’s attempts to obstruct a case raised by Gambia, alleging the country of “[...] mass murder, rape, and destruction of  communities in Rakhine state.” 
 
At a hearing on Friday, the United Nations’ highest court rejected all preliminary objections brought forward by Myanmar, a country currently ruled by a military junta. 
 
The case references the military assaults that occured in 2016 and 2017. It was during this time period that state-sanctioned violence and persecution prompted over 700,000 Rohingya muslims to seek refuge in the neighboring Bangladesh. Gambia alleges that since October 2016, the Myanmar military oversaw  “clearance operations” against the Rohingya. 
 
“The genocidal acts committed during these operations were intended to destroy the Rohingya as a group … by the use of mass murder, rape and other forms of sexual violence, as well as the systematic destruction by fire of their villages, often with inhabitants locked inside burning houses,” the submission stated. 
 
The submission asserted that the assaults followed a pervasive campaign of dehumanization and cited demands levied by the local Rakhine Nationalities Development party urging for a “final solution.”
 
Myanmar sought dismissal of the case on the basis that the court lacked jurisdiction, seeing as to how Gambia had not been directly affected by the events and there were no prior legal disputes between the two countries. Myanmar further argued that “Gambia was acting as a “proxy” for the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, and lacked standing because the ICJ only rules on disputes between states.” 
 
Since the violent military coup in February 2021, Myanmar has been represented by the junta at the International Court of Justice. Elected lawmakers, ethnic minority representatives and activists, who comprise the national unity government, have sought to instead represent Myanmar in court and stated willingness to withdraw preliminary objections.
 
President of the Global Justice Centre, Akila Radhakrishnan, lauded Friday’s decision as “an enormous step forward for justice.” 
 
“It sends a signal to Myanmar’s military that they cannot commit atrocities with impunity. The case proceeding is all the more important in light of the February 2021 coup, which was enabled and emboldened by the impunity the military has been afforded for far too long,” she said.
 
The President of the Burmese Rohingya Organization UK, Tun Khin, claims that Myanmar is attempting to prolong proceedings and meanwhile, the Rohingya continue to endure oppression and genocidal measures at the hands of the state. “Laws and policies designed to make life unbearable and drive Rohingya out of Myanmar are part of the genocide and continue,” he said. 
 
Tun Khin urges the UK to join the likes of Netherlands and Canada in supporting Gambia as the case moves forward.
 
Countries such as India, Saudi Arabia, and Sri Lanka have continued to strengthen diplomatic ties with Myanmar, even as countries around the world condemn the regime for its human rights abuses. 
 

 

IEPF issued a statement regarding Azerbaijani children at the UN Human Rights Council

News line

Drone attack in Russia's Udmurtia leaves three dead, dozens injured
20:15 01.07.2025
Billionaire Musk vows to launch new political party if controversial Trump bill passes Congress
20:00 01.07.2025
Broken Friendship: Azerbaijan–Russia Relations INTERVIEW
19:40 01.07.2025
Baku to host D-8 Youth Forum in July
19:30 01.07.2025
Speaker: Armenia should seriously begin discussing issue of stopping broadcasting Russian TV channels
19:20 01.07.2025
Russian Foreign Ministry: Azerbaijani envoy handed verbal note
19:15 01.07.2025
Azerbaijan signs $173.5M loan agreement with WB for renewable energy project
19:00 01.07.2025
Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan ink several documents to diversify economic partnership
18:45 01.07.2025
Another group of Ukrainian children arrive in Azerbaijan for rehabilitation
18:15 01.07.2025
IEPF Launches a Series of Trainings for NGOs
18:14 01.07.2025
Sahil Babayev: Azerbaijan aims to become green energy exporter
18:00 01.07.2025
Azerbaijani minister: Youth action plan to be drafted at international event in Aghdam
17:45 01.07.2025
Azerbaijan launches criminal case into killing of Azerbaijani brothers in Russia
17:30 01.07.2025
European diplomats visit West Bank town after deadly attack by Israeli settlers
17:15 01.07.2025
Poland’s president calls on gov’t to stop entry of migrants from Germany
17:00 01.07.2025
Artists, writers urge UK government not to ban pro-Palestine group
16:45 01.07.2025
China's Communist Party tops 100 million members in ‘significant milestone’
16:30 01.07.2025
China says ‘complicated’ boundary dispute with India will take time to resolve
16:15 01.07.2025
Severe weather batters Italy, leaving two dead and multiple regions on alert
16:00 01.07.2025
Azerbaijan detains Russian citizens in Baku suspected of drug trafficking, online fraud
15:50 01.07.2025
China sanctions former Philippines senator over 'egregious conduct' on Beijing-related issues
15:30 01.07.2025
Meta fined over $512,000 by Taiwan for lack of transparency over advertisers
15:15 01.07.2025
Trump says Musk would ‘head back to South Africa’ without US subsidies for EVs
15:00 01.07.2025
Azerbaijani brothers murdered in Russia hit with blunt instrument, examinations reveal
14:45 01.07.2025
Kazakhstan commends top-tier organization of ECO Youth Forum in Azerbaijan's Aghdam
14:30 01.07.2025
U.S. Charge d'Affaires hails Azerbaijan’s support in ensuring safe evacuation country's citizens from Iran
14:15 01.07.2025
Slovakia appoints Azerbaijani native as ambassador to Baku
14:00 01.07.2025
Fitch reveals forecast for Azerbaijan's state budget deficit in 2025
13:45 01.07.2025
WSJ: Amazon is on the cusp of using more robots than Humans in its warehouses
13:30 01.07.2025
Politico: EC ready to allow countries to restrict access to social networks by age
13:15 01.07.2025
Azerbaijani brothers murdered in Russia hit with blunt instrument, examinations reveal
13:00 01.07.2025
Azerbaijani official elected vice-president of international conference
12:45 01.07.2025
US approves $510M sale of munitions guidance kits to Israel
12:30 01.07.2025
Death toll in India factory blast rises to 34
12:25 01.07.2025
Azerbaijani ambassador leaves Russian Foreign Ministry building
12:15 01.07.2025
Iranian president to attend ECO summit in Azerbaijan's Khankandi
12:10 01.07.2025
Russia summons Azerbaijani ambassador
12:00 01.07.2025
Iran-linked hackers threaten to release Trump aides' emails
11:45 01.07.2025
Israeli strikes on Gaza Strip leave 95 Palestinians killed
11:30 01.07.2025
Israel shoots down over 1,000 Iranian drones — permanent representative to UN
11:15 01.07.2025
Hamısı