Will Facebook Finally Choose to Protect Rohingya Muslims From Further Genocide?

BYLINE TIMES
CJ Werleman
16 June 2020

 Rohingya refugees make the journey across the Naf river from Myanmar to Bangladesh in 2017


CJ Werleman reports on a case being brought against the social media giant by The Gambia to uncover who was involved in Myanmar’s mass murder of its Muslim minority.

There are so many legitimate reasons to hate Facebook. It not only encourages polarisation and radicalisation, the company has also engineered the platform to “exploit the human brain’s attraction to divisiveness”, which helps rake in billions of dollars in profit from nefarious political entrepreneurs, grifters and manipulators who peddle hate and sow division.

U.S. court asked to force Facebook to release Myanmar officials' data for genocide case

REUTERS
June 10, 2020

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Lawyers bringing a case before the World Court accusing Myanmar of genocide against its Rohingya Muslim minority have asked a U.S. district court to order Facebook to release posts and communications of the country’s military and police. 

FILE PHOTO: Myanmar's leader Aung San Suu Kyi attends a hearing in a case filed by Gambia against Myanmar alleging genocide against the minority Muslim Rohingya population, at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, Netherlands December 10, 2019. REUTERS/Yves Herman

The International Court of Justice based in the Hague has agreed to hear a case accusing Myanmar of genocide against the Rohingya in violation of a 1948 convention.

The U.N. court, commonly known as the World Court, accepts cases between states, and the case against Myanmar was brought by The Gambia with the backing of a group of Muslim countries.

Is the ICJ ruling on Myanmar a new route to accountability?

EAST ASIA FORUM
Authors: Champa Patel and Ruma Mandal, Chatham House
17 March 2020

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling on the genocide case against Myanmar in January is refocusing attention on the desperate situation facing the Rohingya. It is also raising questions about whether the ICJ might be an effective route for pursuing accountability, given that the case was brought by a state not directly affected by the alleged violations of international law. 

The Gambia — with the backing of the Organisation of Islamic States — instituted the litigation as a party to the Genocide Convention that Myanmar also belongs to. It did so based on Article IX of the Convention that allows disputes over its ‘interpretation, application or fulfilment’ to be referred to the ICJ.

The Gambia Charges Genocide at the World Court: Pursuing and Achieving Justice for the Rohingya

Middle East Institute
February 18, 2020

Djaouida Siaci 

This essay is part of a series that explores the human costs and policy challenges associated with forced displacement crises in the Middle East and Asia. The essays explore the myths or misconceptions that have pervaded discussions about these crises, as well as the constraints or capacity deficiencies that have hampered the responses to them. See more ...

 

Int’l community’s stronger role sought for Rohingya repatriation

UNB 

February 18, 2020

UNB News
Dhaka

Speakers the panel discussion titled ‘Rohingya: The Need for Justice and Rights in Rakhine 2020’ at the Brac Centre Inn on Tuesday, Feb 18. 2020. Photo: UNB

Speakers at a programme here on Thursday urged the global community to play a stronger role for the sustainable repatriation of Rohingyas to their place of origin in Rakhine state of Myanmar.

While addressing the panel discussion titled ‘Rohingya: The Need for Justice and Rights in Rakhine 2020’ at the Brac Centre Inn, they also called for imposing strict economic sanctions on Myanmar and putting pressure on its military to resolve the Rohingya crisis.

Bangladesh should file intervention under Article 62 of ICJ Statute

dailyobserver
Iffat Sariya Rahman
Saturday, 15 February, 2020

Bangladesh should file intervention under Article 62 of ICJ Statute

The meeting on 4 February 2020 at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) was interesting for the people who are following what is happening with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) regarding the Rohingya. 

OPINION – A hard look into the genesis of Myanmar’s genocide

Brinkwire
February 14, 2020
LONDON

 

The writer is a Burmese coordinator of the Free Rohingya Coalition and a fellow of the Genocide Documentation Center in Cambodia.

The International Court of Justice’s Jan. 23 interim order in a case filed by Gambia against Myanmar is designed to protect the Rohingya and preserve the crime sites. It has brought a sense of vindication to several million Rohingya victims – in the diaspora, inside Myanmar, and in refugee camps in Bangladesh.

What Does the ICJ Initial Ruling In point of fact Imply for the Rohingya? – The Diplomat

Daily Research Plot

February 8, 2020

Mike Butcher 

On January 23, the World Courtroom of Justice (ICJ) primarily based in The Hague ordered Myanmar to take rapid measures to stop the genocide of the stateless Rohingya Muslim minority, primarily based in northern Rakhine state. The court docket indicated 4 explicit “provisional measures” on this regard, as asked by means of The Gambia in its November 11, 2019, utility to the ICJ in quest of complaints in opposition to Myanmar for violating the 1961 Genocide Conference.

The Gambia, a small West African nation, has accused Myanmar of wearing out genocidal violence in opposition to the Rohingya based on two separate waves of assaults by means of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Military (ARSA) on border outposts in northern Rakhine state in October 2016 and August 2017. As an immediate results of the violent army “clearance operations” that adopted the second one assault, with reference to 800,000 Rohingya fled to neighboring Bangladesh, the place they have got been lodged in huge refugee camps since then.

Why the ICJ order is not enough to solve the crisis and what we can do about it

The Daily Star

Brian Gorlick

February 04, 2020 

Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh waiting to receive aid. FILE PHOTO: REUTERS/MOHAMMAD PONIR HOSSAIN

 

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) order on provisional measures issued unanimously by a full bench of seventeen Judges on January 23, 2020 in the matter of The Gambia v Myanmar is historically significant and an important development of international law. It recognises and highlights the need for protective measures for the Rohingya residing in Myanmar, and by extension those several hundred thousand Rohingya refugees seeking asylum in Bangladesh. While this preliminary ICJ decision has been applauded by several governments and countless jurists and activists and of course the Rohingya community, it will not solve the Rohingya refugee crisis.

What Does the ICJ Preliminary Ruling Really Mean for the Rohingya?

THE I DIPLOMAT
Angshuman Choudhury
February 04, 2020

The ICJ verdict is an important first step toward ensuring that the Rohingya victims get some tangible justice.

On January 23, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) based in The Hague ordered Myanmar to take immediate measures to prevent the genocide of the stateless Rohingya Muslim minority, based in northern Rakhine state. The court indicated four specific “provisional measures” in this regard, as requested by The Gambia in its November 11, 2019, application to the ICJ seeking proceedings against Myanmar for violating the 1961 Genocide Convention.

To keep the Rohingya alive

NEWAGE 

Feb 01,2020
JB Gerald

Rohingyas from Myanmar make their way through the rice field after crossing the border in Palang Khali in Bangladesh in October 2017. — Reuters

The Contracting Parties confirm that genocide, whether committed in time of peace or in time of war, is a crime under international law which they undertake to prevent and to punish.

— Article 1. The Genocide Convention

ON NOVEMBER 11, 2019, The Gambia filed at the International Court of Justice an application of proceedings against Myanmar, which alleged violations of the Genocide Convention committed by Myanmar against the Rohingya people. January 23, 2020, the International Court of Justice in a unanimous ruling rejected Myanmar’s attempts to dismiss the case and granted The Gambia’s request for provisional measures to protect the Rohingya people, demanding the government of Myanmar cease its acts of atrocity against the Rohingya.

ICJ Orders Preliminary Relief in Myanmar Genocide Case

JUST SECURITY

by Andrew Boyle
January 28, 2020

For the first time, a court has ordered Myanmar to take actions to protect the Rohingya. Last Thursday, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the United Nation’s highest court, issued an order in a case brought against Myanmar by Gambia claiming violations of the Genocide Convention. For more on Gambia’s filing in this case, as well as other efforts to bring accountability for the crimes against the Rohingya, see my previous post for Just Security here.

Egypt’s Al-Azhar hails Gambia on its stance over Rohingya Muslims

 MIDDLE EAST MONITOR
January 30, 2020

The Grand Imam of Egypt’s Al-Azhar, Sheikh Ahmad Al-Tayeb on 4 February 2019 [VINCENZO PINTO/AFP/Getty Images]

Egypt’s highest Islamic authority Al-Azhar thanked the Gambian government on Tuesday for filing a criminal case to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) Court condemning “the killings, abuse, genocide and displacement against the Rohingya Muslims.”

ICJ Indicates Provisional Measures in The Gambia v. Myanmar Case

American Society of International Law
By: Justine N. Stefanelli
January 27, 2020

On January 23, 2020, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) indicated provisional measures in the case of The Gambia v. Myanmar. According to a press release issued by the Court, The Gambia requested a series of five provisional measures "to preserve . . . the rights of the Rohingya group in Myanmar, of its members and of The Gambia under the Genocide Convention." To indicate provisional measures, several conditions must be fulfilled. First, the Court must have prima facie jurisdiction over the case. On this point, the Court determined that it had jurisdiction over the case based on a finding that there exists a dispute between the Parties under Article IX of the Genocide Convention and that some of the acts of wrongdoing alleged by The Gambia may fall within the provisions of the Convention (paras. 34-35).

Myanmar Is on Trial for Its Rohingya Campaign. Here’s Why

The Washington Post

By Philip J. Heijmans | Bloomberg 

Jan. 25, 2020 

Analysis

Since 2017, some 740,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled Myanmar for neighboring Bangladesh. The mass exodus was provoked, in the words of United Nations investigators, by security forces practicing “ethnic cleansing” and “crimes against humanity” with “genocidal intent.” Now two international tribunals are investigating Myanmar for atrocities committed against the Rohingya, who have lived uneasily among Myanmar’s Buddhist majority since the country’s independence from British rule seven decades ago.

Myanmar Rohingya: World court orders prevention of genocide

B B C

23 January 2020

More than half a million Muslims are still believed to live in Myanmar's Rakhine state 

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has ordered measures to prevent the genocide of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar (formerly Burma).

The decision comes despite de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi defending her country against the accusations in person last month.

Thousands of Rohingya died and more than 700,000 fled to Bangladesh during an army crackdown in 2017.

Press Statement on the decision by the ICJ on ‘provisional measures’ in the case brought by The Gambia against Myanmar.

Why the Gambia’s plea for the Rohingya matters for international justice

Mail&Guardian
Line Engbo Gissel Kerstin Carlson
16 Jan 2020

Myanmar's leaders, including Nobel laureate and de facto head of state Aung San Suu Kyi, have repeatedly defended the military crackdown. (AFP)

In early December, the International Court of Justice heard arguments filed by the Gambia against Myanmar for violations of the Genocide Convention. This included a request for “provisional measures”, asking that the UN court immediately order Myanmar to cease genocidal activities and to report to it within four months.

ICJ to rule on emergency measures in Myanmar genocide case

Aljazeera
2020.01.15

Thousands of Rohingya have fled into neighbouring Bangladesh to escape violence and persecution [File: Bernat Armangue/The Associated Press]

The International Court of Justice, the United Nations' highest court, will issue a decision on a request for emergency measures in a genocide case against Myanmar on January 23, the Gambian Ministry of Justice said on Twitter on Monday.

The mainly Muslim West African country filed the suit in November, alleging Myanmar was committing "an ongoing genocide" against its minority Muslim Rohingya population. 

Rohingya genocide case against Myanmar: West's failure to support the Gambia surprising, if not shocking

Dhaka Tribune
Humayun Kabir Bhuiyan
December 29th, 2019

File photo: A house is seen on fire in Gawduthar village, Maungdaw township, in the north of Rakhine state, Myanmar September 7, 2017Reuters

So far, only Canada and the Netherlands have openly supported the African Nation

On November 11, the Gambia, the tiniest nation in Africa with a Muslim majority, filed a case with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against Myanmar, alleging violations of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in connection with the Rohingyas.