The Washington Post
By Rebecca Tan
Updated July 22, 2022
The decision paves the way for hearings that will examine evidence of alleged atrocities
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Demonstrators outside The Hague on July 22 step on an image of Min Aung Hlaing, Myanmar's military ruler. (Peter Dejong/AP)
The United Nations’ top court ruled Friday that a case accusing Myanmar of committing genocide against Rohingya Muslims can proceed, paving the way for hearings that will examine the state’s culpability in violence that drove nearly 1 million Rohingya from their homes.
The case is only the third of its kind in U.N. history and marks the first international reckoning with Myanmar’s alleged atrocities, which include indiscriminate killings, torture and mass rape.
The International Court of Justice’s decision coincides with deepening instability in Myanmar, a country once heralded for its progress toward democracy. In February 2021, military leaders seized power, jailing members of the elected National League for Democracy and violently crushing resistance. In consolidating control, the military used many of the same strategies honed in its decades-long campaign against ethnic minorities such as the Rohingya.
United States declares Myanmar committed genocide against Rohingya
Joan E. Donoghue, the ICJ’s presiding judge, said the court rejected all four of Myanmar’s preliminary opposition motions. Among them was its claim that the court does not have jurisdiction because the case was brought by Gambia, a small African nation, on behalf of the Rohingya. Judge Xue Hanqin of China cast the only dissenting votes.
United States declares Myanmar committed genocide against Rohingya
Joan E. Donoghue, the ICJ’s presiding judge, said the court rejected all four of Myanmar’s preliminary opposition motions. Among them was its claim that the court does not have jurisdiction because the case was brought by Gambia, a small African nation, on behalf of the Rohingya. Judge Xue Hanqin of China cast the only dissenting votes.
The case will move on to assess the allegations of genocide, starting with written arguments from both parties and proceeding to oral arguments
“The court’s judgment was a complete victory,” Arsalan Suleman, one of the lawyers representing Gambia, said from The Hague. With support from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Gambia filed the case at the ICJ in 2019, arguing that Myanmar’s military leaders systematically conducted “clearance operations” against the Rohingya.
The ruling “shows that Myanmar cannot escape accountability for its crimes,” Suleman said. “It shows that under the genocide convention, states can hold other states to account for their violations.”
Representatives of Myanmar’s military, known as the Tatmadaw, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Myanmar sought to dismiss the ICJ case even before last year’s coup, when Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi defended the country at The Hague, eliciting condemnation from international human rights activists and former allies.
“The court’s judgment was a complete victory,” Arsalan Suleman, one of the lawyers representing Gambia, said from The Hague. With support from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Gambia filed the case at the ICJ in 2019, arguing that Myanmar’s military leaders systematically conducted “clearance operations” against the Rohingya.
The ruling “shows that Myanmar cannot escape accountability for its crimes,” Suleman said. “It shows that under the genocide convention, states can hold other states to account for their violations.”
Representatives of Myanmar’s military, known as the Tatmadaw, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Myanmar sought to dismiss the ICJ case even before last year’s coup, when Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi defended the country at The Hague, eliciting condemnation from international human rights activists and former allies.
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Myanmar's leader Aung San Suu Kyi addresses judges of the International Court of Justice as Gambia's Justice Minister Aboubacarr Tambadou, left, listens on the second day of three days of hearings at The Hague on Dec. 11, 2019. (Peter Dejong/AP)
Following the coup, military leaders have maintained that the case is illegitimate. But the opposition’s shadow administration, operating largely in exile, has withdrawn its opposition to the case and said it accepts the ICJ’s jurisdiction to hear arguments on whether the country violated terms of the 1948 Genocide Convention. It has also urged the United Nations not to recognize the junta’s representatives to the ICJ, arguing that doing so grants them legitimacy on the global stage.
Dan Sullivan, deputy director at Refugees International, said Friday’s ruling sends a signal to the Myanmar military that the international community is paying attention to what it did — and continues to do — in the country. “You can draw a straight line of what happened to the Rohingya to the military coup,” Sullivan said. “The history of impunity … is now being challenged.”
The court’s decisions brought relief to many Rohingya, who fled Myanmar for neighboring countries during a drastic rise in violence five years ago. It should also, however, serve as a “slap in the face” to powerful governments, including the United States, that did not act earlier to prevent or redress the suffering of this community, said Wai Wai Nu, a pro-democracy activist and founder of the Women’s Peace Network in Myanmar. Persecution of the Rohingya has been widely documented, including in a U.N. probe, she noted.
“This case should bring shame to powerful countries. It should show the international community how it failed — how it continues to fail — the Rohingya,” Wai Wai Nu said from Washington. Several of her family members are among the 900,000 Rohingya who have been living in squalid refugee camps in Bangladesh, where food insecurity and crime reportedly have surged since the start of the pandemic.
Myanmar’s rebellion, divided, outgunned and outnumbered, fights on
In March, the Biden administration said it considered the Myanmar military’s actions toward the Rohingya as genocide. The long-delayed move was welcomed by Rohingya activists who hope to see similar action from other countries, including the United Kingdom and members of the European Union.
Nay San Lwin, a Rohingya activist and writer, said the ICJ case is seen as “crucial” among the Rohingya, but not necessarily enough to secure what they want in the near future, which is repatriations to Myanmar. Hundreds of thousands of them, including children, have lived in refugee camps for years; some have been exiled for decades.
“It’s already been too long,” he said.
Following the coup, military leaders have maintained that the case is illegitimate. But the opposition’s shadow administration, operating largely in exile, has withdrawn its opposition to the case and said it accepts the ICJ’s jurisdiction to hear arguments on whether the country violated terms of the 1948 Genocide Convention. It has also urged the United Nations not to recognize the junta’s representatives to the ICJ, arguing that doing so grants them legitimacy on the global stage.
Dan Sullivan, deputy director at Refugees International, said Friday’s ruling sends a signal to the Myanmar military that the international community is paying attention to what it did — and continues to do — in the country. “You can draw a straight line of what happened to the Rohingya to the military coup,” Sullivan said. “The history of impunity … is now being challenged.”
The court’s decisions brought relief to many Rohingya, who fled Myanmar for neighboring countries during a drastic rise in violence five years ago. It should also, however, serve as a “slap in the face” to powerful governments, including the United States, that did not act earlier to prevent or redress the suffering of this community, said Wai Wai Nu, a pro-democracy activist and founder of the Women’s Peace Network in Myanmar. Persecution of the Rohingya has been widely documented, including in a U.N. probe, she noted.
“This case should bring shame to powerful countries. It should show the international community how it failed — how it continues to fail — the Rohingya,” Wai Wai Nu said from Washington. Several of her family members are among the 900,000 Rohingya who have been living in squalid refugee camps in Bangladesh, where food insecurity and crime reportedly have surged since the start of the pandemic.
Myanmar’s rebellion, divided, outgunned and outnumbered, fights on
In March, the Biden administration said it considered the Myanmar military’s actions toward the Rohingya as genocide. The long-delayed move was welcomed by Rohingya activists who hope to see similar action from other countries, including the United Kingdom and members of the European Union.
Nay San Lwin, a Rohingya activist and writer, said the ICJ case is seen as “crucial” among the Rohingya, but not necessarily enough to secure what they want in the near future, which is repatriations to Myanmar. Hundreds of thousands of them, including children, have lived in refugee camps for years; some have been exiled for decades.
“It’s already been too long,” he said.
Cape Diamond in Yangon, Myanmar, contributed to this report.
By Rebecca TanRebecca Tan is the incoming Southeast Asia Bureau Chief for the Washington Post. She was previously a reporter on the Local desk, covering government in D.C. and Maryland. She was part of the team that won the 2022 Pulitzer Prize in public service for coverage of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Twitter
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