By Humayun Kabir Bhuiyan, Published at 07:41 pm March 3rd, 2019
Chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Fatou Bensouda is coming to Bangladesh soon to gather evidence for a trial over deportations of Rohingya people from Myanmar to Bangladesh as a possible crime against humanity.
The upcoming visit of Fatou Bensouda, who previousely served as trial attorney at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), appears to be a glimmer of hope for thousands of Rohingyas, persecuted and forced out from Myanmar, to get justice for the crimes committed against them,
“The prosecutor of the ICC will visit Bangladesh in the first half of this month to collect evidence to be used in the trial,” said a top government official having thorough knowledge about the issue.
“This is the most significant development so far when it comes to the justice for the Rohingyas,” he added.
Based in Dutch capital The Hague, ICC is an international tribunal with jurisdiction to prosecute individuals for the international crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and crimes of aggression.
On September 6, last year, the ICC, in response to a request from prosecutor Bensouda, ruled that the court had jurisdiction over alleged deportations of Rohingya people from Rakhine in Myanmar to Bangladesh as a possible crime against humanity.
The sources, however, would not disclose the exact dates of prosecutor Bensouda’s arrival and departure, saying that her complete itinerary has not yet been finalized.
“But, it is safe to say that she will arrive in first half of this month,” said one official.
Sources said that prosecutor Bensouda would work independently of the government with the assistance of the United Nations systems in Bangladesh. She will not use any logistics of the government to ensure the neutrality of the activities of the ICC, they said, adding that the government would only provide her the necessary security.
To a question, the sources said that for obvious reasons, her place of activities will confine to Cox’s Bazar, the place of Rohingya settlements.
Bensouda is expected to talk to the victims and visit some places as part of her effort to gather evidence, they said.
Asked about time frame of the beginning of the trial, the sources said it is very difficult to say, as the trial begins after crossing few stages.
And, they added that in order to have a trial the court would have to be satisfied with the investigations and evidence.
According to the ICC website, the procedures before final outcome are preliminary examinations, investigations and pre-trial stage, trial stage, appeals stage and enforcement of sentence.
Though time consuming, the process that has begun will benefit the Rohingyas in the long run, as it is their only hope as of now to get any justice, said the sources.
They also said that the ICC activities will help resolve the Rohingya crisis by attracting more attention from the international community.
It will also put Myanmar under more pressure, they added.
“Think about the implication if the trial court issues arrest warrants against couple of generals of Myanmar military,” said the top government official.
Although Myanmar is not a member of court, Bangladesh is, and the cross-border nature of deportation was sufficient for jurisdiction, it said it its ruling.
“The Court has jurisdiction over the crime against humanity of deportation allegedly committed against members of the Rohingya people,” a three-judge panel said in a written summary, adding, “The reason is that an element of this crime - the crossing of a border - took place on the territory of a State party (Bangladesh).”
On September 18, ICC prosecutor Bensouda issued a statement stating that a preliminary examination into the allegations of crimes committed by Myanmar by forcing deportation Rohingyas from Rakhine to Cox’s Bazar had begun.
“Since the end of 2017, my Office has received a number of communications and reports concerning crimes allegedly committed against the Rohingya population in Myanmar and their deportation to Bangladesh,” she said in the statement.
“The review of these communications, which constitutes the first phase of my Office's preliminary examination activities, shed light on a preliminary legal issue concerning the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court ("ICC" or "the Court"), which I deemed appropriate to bring to the attention of the Court's judges,” said the prosecutor.
“Having received confirmation from the Judges of Pre-Trial Chamber I that the Court may indeed exercise jurisdiction over the alleged deportation of the Rohingya people from Myanmar to Bangladesh, as well as potentially other crimes under article 7 of the Rome Statute, I have decided to proceed to the next phase of the preliminary examination process and to carry out a full-fledged preliminary examination of the situation at hand,” she said.
According to the sources, the ICC prosecutor’s office studied as to how to conduct an investigation into the forced deportations of hundreds of thousands of Rohingyas from Myanmar to Bangladesh as a possible crime against humanity.
The prosecutor and her colleagues gathered information from different sources including UN systems, various reports on Rohingya persecution and media while conducting the preliminary examinations, they said.
On behalf of the ICC prosecutor, there have been some visits to Cox’s Bazar in connection with the probe.
File photo of International Criminal Court (ICC) Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda
Reuters
The sources, however, would not disclose the exact dates of prosecutor Bensouda’s arrival and departure, saying that her complete itinerary has not yet been finalized Chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Fatou Bensouda is coming to Bangladesh soon to gather evidence for a trial over deportations of Rohingya people from Myanmar to Bangladesh as a possible crime against humanity.
The upcoming visit of Fatou Bensouda, who previousely served as trial attorney at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), appears to be a glimmer of hope for thousands of Rohingyas, persecuted and forced out from Myanmar, to get justice for the crimes committed against them,
“The prosecutor of the ICC will visit Bangladesh in the first half of this month to collect evidence to be used in the trial,” said a top government official having thorough knowledge about the issue.
“This is the most significant development so far when it comes to the justice for the Rohingyas,” he added.
Based in Dutch capital The Hague, ICC is an international tribunal with jurisdiction to prosecute individuals for the international crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and crimes of aggression.
On September 6, last year, the ICC, in response to a request from prosecutor Bensouda, ruled that the court had jurisdiction over alleged deportations of Rohingya people from Rakhine in Myanmar to Bangladesh as a possible crime against humanity.
The sources, however, would not disclose the exact dates of prosecutor Bensouda’s arrival and departure, saying that her complete itinerary has not yet been finalized.
“But, it is safe to say that she will arrive in first half of this month,” said one official.
Sources said that prosecutor Bensouda would work independently of the government with the assistance of the United Nations systems in Bangladesh. She will not use any logistics of the government to ensure the neutrality of the activities of the ICC, they said, adding that the government would only provide her the necessary security.
To a question, the sources said that for obvious reasons, her place of activities will confine to Cox’s Bazar, the place of Rohingya settlements.
Bensouda is expected to talk to the victims and visit some places as part of her effort to gather evidence, they said.
Asked about time frame of the beginning of the trial, the sources said it is very difficult to say, as the trial begins after crossing few stages.
And, they added that in order to have a trial the court would have to be satisfied with the investigations and evidence.
According to the ICC website, the procedures before final outcome are preliminary examinations, investigations and pre-trial stage, trial stage, appeals stage and enforcement of sentence.
Though time consuming, the process that has begun will benefit the Rohingyas in the long run, as it is their only hope as of now to get any justice, said the sources.
They also said that the ICC activities will help resolve the Rohingya crisis by attracting more attention from the international community.
It will also put Myanmar under more pressure, they added.
“Think about the implication if the trial court issues arrest warrants against couple of generals of Myanmar military,” said the top government official.
Although Myanmar is not a member of court, Bangladesh is, and the cross-border nature of deportation was sufficient for jurisdiction, it said it its ruling.
“The Court has jurisdiction over the crime against humanity of deportation allegedly committed against members of the Rohingya people,” a three-judge panel said in a written summary, adding, “The reason is that an element of this crime - the crossing of a border - took place on the territory of a State party (Bangladesh).”
On September 18, ICC prosecutor Bensouda issued a statement stating that a preliminary examination into the allegations of crimes committed by Myanmar by forcing deportation Rohingyas from Rakhine to Cox’s Bazar had begun.
“Since the end of 2017, my Office has received a number of communications and reports concerning crimes allegedly committed against the Rohingya population in Myanmar and their deportation to Bangladesh,” she said in the statement.
“The review of these communications, which constitutes the first phase of my Office's preliminary examination activities, shed light on a preliminary legal issue concerning the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court ("ICC" or "the Court"), which I deemed appropriate to bring to the attention of the Court's judges,” said the prosecutor.
“Having received confirmation from the Judges of Pre-Trial Chamber I that the Court may indeed exercise jurisdiction over the alleged deportation of the Rohingya people from Myanmar to Bangladesh, as well as potentially other crimes under article 7 of the Rome Statute, I have decided to proceed to the next phase of the preliminary examination process and to carry out a full-fledged preliminary examination of the situation at hand,” she said.
According to the sources, the ICC prosecutor’s office studied as to how to conduct an investigation into the forced deportations of hundreds of thousands of Rohingyas from Myanmar to Bangladesh as a possible crime against humanity.
The prosecutor and her colleagues gathered information from different sources including UN systems, various reports on Rohingya persecution and media while conducting the preliminary examinations, they said.
On behalf of the ICC prosecutor, there have been some visits to Cox’s Bazar in connection with the probe.
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