ICJ Opens Hearings in Genocide Case Over Myanmar’s Treatment of Rohingya

By Staff, Agencies

The International Court of Justice [ICJ] is set to begin hearings in a landmark case accusing Myanmar of committing genocide against its Muslim Rohingya population.

Proceedings at the UN’s highest court are scheduled to start at 0900 GMT on Monday and will continue for three weeks.

The case marks the first time in more than a decade that the ICJ has fully taken up a genocide trial, with potential implications extending beyond Myanmar, including for South Africa’s case against the “Israeli” entity’s over the war on Gaza, which has martyred more than 71,000 Palestinians and injured over 172,000.

Myanmar’s military launched a brutal campaign against the Rohingya in 2017 under the government of then-leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who enjoyed Western backing at the time. The offensive forced more than 750,000 Rohingya to flee their homes and seek refuge in neighboring Bangladesh.

The case was filed in 2019 by Gambia, a predominantly Muslim West African country, following widespread reports from refugees of mass killings, sexual violence, and arson attacks. A UN fact-finding mission later concluded that the military campaign included “genocidal acts.”

Nicholas Koumjian, head of the UN’s Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar, said the case is expected to establish crucial precedents on how genocide is defined, proven, and remedied under international law.

The ICJ hearings will also mark the first time Rohingya victims are heard before an international court. However, the sessions will be closed to the public and media due to privacy and sensitivity concerns.

Legal Action Worldwide [LAW], an organization advocating for Rohingya rights, said that a ruling holding Myanmar responsible under the Genocide Convention would represent a historic moment in establishing legal accountability for genocide.

The case is being pursued under the 1948 Genocide Convention, which defines genocide as acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group.