The Rohingya's Quest for International Justice

THE WIRE
ANAYLIS

Saumya Uma
30/AUG/2021

This is the third in a series of articles on the International Criminal Court (ICC). The Rome Statute creating the ICC entered into force on July 1, 2002 and the court is now in its 20th year. To mark the occasion, The Wire is publishing a series of articles evaluating its performance over the past two decades. Read the first part here and the second part here.

The situation faced by the Rohingya is once again in the spotlight with the Bangladesh government reportedly commencing the COVID vaccination drive for Rohingya refugees on one hand and the Indian government terming them “a threat to national security” on the other. Last month, the Human Rights Watch minced no words in asking the Indian government to release the detained asylum seekers.

Rohingya to give first testimony in push for Myanmar army probe

THE STRAITS TIMES
17 August 2021

A photo from Sept 10, 2017, showing a Rohingya refugee pulling a child as they walk to the shore in Shah Porir Dwip, Bangladesh.PHOTO: REUTERS

YANGON (AFP) - Rohingya refugees expelled from Myanmar in a bloody crackdown are to testify in court for the first time on Tuesday (Aug 17) to urge a full judicial investigation into allegations of war crimes committed against them.

A military campaign in Myanmar in 2017 is believed to have killed thousands and forced some 750,000 members of the Muslim minority group to flee to refugee camps in Bangladesh, bringing accounts of rape, murder and arson.

The witnesses will testify remotely to a court in Argentina, which is considering invoking the principle of "universal jurisdiction" to bring a case against Myanmar's leaders for genocide and crimes against humanity. The legal premise holds that some acts - including war crimes and crimes against humanity - are so horrific they are not specific to one nation and can be tried anywhere.

China, Myanmar named in US genocide report

UCA News

UCA News reporter
Published: July 14, 2021

Report highlights China's treatment of Uyghurs and Myanmar military's ethnic cleansing and post-coup atrocities

Protesters gather outside the Belgian parliament in Brussels on July 8 as MPs vote on a resolution to recognize China's policies towards Uyghurs as genocide. (Photo: AFP)

China, which has been accused of ill treatment of its Uyghur minority, and its neighbor and ally Myanmar, which faces allegations of ethnic cleansing, have been named in a new US genocide report.

The State Department’s annual report to Congress on countries where there is risk of atrocities being committed named China and Myanmar along with Eritrea, Syria and South Sudan.

U.S. Repeats 'Genocide' Accusations Against China

Radio Free Europe
Radio Liberty
RFE/RL

July 12, 2021

Uyghurs and others pray in the Id Kah Mosque in Kashgar in western China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region during a government-organized trip for foreign journalists in April.

The United States has repeated genocide allegations against China over its treatment of Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and members of Xinjiang's other indigenous, mostly Muslim, ethnic groups.

The message came alongside additional sanctions warnings against Burma, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and South Sudan over ethnic cleansing in their respective conflicts.

All were contained in materials sent by the Biden administration as part of the State Department's annual report to Congress on the prevention of genocides and atrocities.

ERASING THE EELAM VICTORY Part 21 A

Lankaweb
KAMALIKA PIERIS
July 8th, 2021

The word genocide” was first coined by Polish lawyer Raphäel Lemkin in 1944 for the killing of Jews in World War II. Genocide was first recognized as a crime under international law in 1946 by the United Nations General Assembly (A/RES/96-I). It was codified as an independent crime in the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide 1948. Sri Lanka signed the Convention in 1950. .The International Criminal Court (est. 2002) which is specifically mandated to judge crimes of Genocide uses the definition given in the UN Convention.

The international legal definition of the crime of Genocide is found in Articles II and III of the 1948 Convention. There must be a proven intent on the part of perpetrators to physically destroy a national, ethnical, racial or religious group. Also action must be taken to carry out the intent. A crime must include elements, intent and action, to be called “genocide.” If the government is to be blamed, it must be a part of state policy.

Rohingya genocide case at ICJ: Myanmar military regime organises new legal team

The Daily Star

Digital Report
June 26, 2021

Armed police confront protesters on the streets of Naypyitaw, Myanmar’s capital, on Monday, February 8. Photo: AP

The Myanmar military regime has organised a new legal team led by its foreign minister, U Wunna Maung Lwin, to present the defense in the Rohingya genocide case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

The regime's order restructuring the committee, which was previously led by detained State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, was announced in a bulletin published by the Myanmar Gazette on Thursday.

Junta forms new legal team to face Rohingya genocide allegations at ICJ

Coconuts Yangon

Jun 25, 2021 

Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin at the UN Assembly’s 70th annual General Debate. Photo: UN News

Myanmar junta’s military council has set up a legal team to defend itself against allegations of genocide of Rohingya Muslims at the International Criminal Court (ICJ) on July 23.

Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin, appointed by the military council, chaired the meeting. Attorney General of the Union Daw Thida Oo has been appointed as the Vice-Chairperson.

On the Rohingya genocide

THE NATON
Shakoh Zulqurnain
September 09, 2020

The persecution of Rohingyas in Myanmar is an issue which has attracted little attention at the international level. The low visibility of this issue reveals not only the double standards of the international community, but also brings into question the effectiveness of human rights laws. More than a million Rohingya refugees commemorated the third anniversary of the genocide on August 25 in crowded camps in Bangladesh. Rohingya Muslims are one of the most persecuted communities in the world and have been observing this day as the ‘Rohingya Genocide Remembrance Day’ since it was the same day in 2017 that the Myanmar army began a vicious crackdown on Rohingya civilians—forcing thousands to seek refuge in neighbouring countries. However, the story of the Rohingyas’ persecution dates back to many decades.

Why the US Should Recognize the Rohingya Genocide The Biden administration has a chance to reasse

THE I DIPLOMAT
Michael P. Scharf, Paul R. Williams, and Milena Sterio
June 01, 2021

The Biden administration has a chance to reassert the United States’ moral authority on human rights.

Justice delayed is justice denied. As lawyers who have advised nearly every international criminal and hybrid tribunal, as well as over two dozen peace negotiations around the world, we have seen firsthand the consequences of ignoring atrocities in the name of preserving peace or alliances.

 

Minara Begum, 22, in her shelter at Balukhali

refugee camp near Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, March 5, 2018.

Credit: UN Women/Allison Joyce

The Biden administration is faced with an historic opportunity. By labeling the atrocities committed against the Rohingya in Myanmar’s Rakhine State as genocide, the Biden administration has a chance to reassert the United States’ moral authority on human rights and to lead the international community on issues of justice and accountability. The Biden administration should speak out firmly and clearly in favor of holding Myanmar and the individual perpetrators accountable for “the crime of all crimes.”

Genocide of Rohingya shows no sign of abating: Report

THE NATION
Anadolu

May 29, 2021

A UK-based Rohingya rights defender, the Burmese Rohingya Organization UK (BROUK), in a new report claimed “the genocide against Rohingya shows no sign of abating in Myanmar” despite the order of the UN's highest court to the Myanmar authorities for protecting the minority community.

“Since the start of 2021, at least 15 Rohingya -- including nine infants and young children -- have died as a direct result of onerous and illegal travel restrictions preventing access to medical care,” the report released on Monday said.

The release has also coincided with Myanmar’s duty to report to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), on how it is preventing genocidal acts against the minority Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine State.

Genocide against Rohingyas not abating

The Daily Star

Diplomatic Correspondent
May 25, 2021

Says BROUK; junta leader cast doubt on return of refugees

The genocide against the Rohingyas shows no sign of abating in Myanmar, the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK (BROUK) said in a new briefing yesterday.

It said the Myanmar military continues to subject the Rohingyas to a vicious pattern of abuse and extortion in the Rakhine State, where Rohingyas are kept in what amounts to an open-air prison, creating intolerable living conditions.

Since the start of this year, at least 15 Rohingya, including nine infants and young children, have died as a direct result of onerous and illegal travel restrictions preventing access to medical care, said BROUK President Tun Khin in a statement.

Global Islamophobia: China, India, and Beyond

INTERNATIONAL POLICY DIGEST
Mohamed Elshekh
MAY 10, 202

State-sponsored persecution and unlawful vigilantism characterize the sociopolitical conditions of many Muslim minority communities. The French Senate’s latest proposal to ban the hijab in public settings and the ongoing exodus of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar spotlight only a few manifestations of Islamophobia in countries across the globe. The laws and rhetoric against Islam and Muslims have led to violent killings, mass migration, and even genocide. These are not merely isolated case studies of Islamophobia but global trends that need to be challenged. Governments have mobilized targeted efforts against the beliefs and practices of Muslims, effectively rejecting international standards which safeguard religious pluralism and the freedom to worship.

OPINION - Purge genocide culprits from democratic leadership: Myanmar

AA

Maung Zarni

08.05.2021

Hesitating to take stand against Rohingya genocide is costing $1B to National Unity Government and blocks its global recognition

File Photo

The author is coordinator of the UK-based Free Rohingya Coalition, general secretary of Forces of Renewal Southeast Asia, and a fellow of the Genocide Documentation Center in Cambodia

LONDON

It was excruciatingly painful for me to watch the four-minute question and answer between US Congressman Brad Sherman and Kyaw Moe Tun, Myanmar’s pro-democracy permanent representative to the UN during the virtual hearing, entitled the Unfolding Crisis in Burma hosted by US House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs on May 4.

Myanmar’s genocidal military is still a friend to Israel

+972 MAGAZINE

By Eitay Mack 

April 23, 2021

Public pressure has forced Israel to halt arms sales to the brutal military junta, but the state’s political support remains strong.

Myanmar's military marches in a parade in the city of Naypyidaw, Myanmar, March 27, 2021. (Mil.ru/CC BY 4.0)

The message that the world was silent during the extermination of Jews during the Holocaust is routinely cited by the State of Israel and its Holocaust museum, Yad Vashem. And yet, Israel itself is complicit in silence surrounding a present-day atrocity: the crimes committed by the Myanmar military junta, which Israel is supporting with weapons, training, and political backing. Although legal, media, and public pressure has forced some change in Israel’s defense export policy to Myanmar, political support for the junta has remained strong.

US Senators introduce bill to probe whether Myanmar attacks on Rohingya constituted genocide

JURIST

Valeria Negron | U. Pittsburgh School of Law, US
APRIL 17, 2021 

A group of 10 US senators led by Ed Markey (D-MA) introduced legislation Wednesday that would require Secretary of State Antony Blinken to investigate Myanmar’s military attacks on the Rohingya minority and decide whether they constitute genocide.

Since 2017, more than 750,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh hoping to escape the military’s systemic killing of their people, says the legislation. The bill points to the documented history of the attacks, which have been investigated by the UN, the Department of State and the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar (IIFFMM). In 2018, the IIFFMM stated that they “ha[d] reasonable grounds to conclude 5 that the evidence that infers genocidal intent on the part of the State, identified in its last report, has strengthened that there is a serious risk that genocidal actions may occur or recur.”

SENATOR MARKEY AND COLLEAGUES REINTRODUCE LEGISLATION DIRECTING THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE TO ISSUE A ROHINGYA GENOCIDE DETERMINATION

PRESS RELEASE

APRIL 14, 2021

Washington (April 14, 2020) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Chairman of the East Asia Subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, along with Senators Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), and Bob Casey (D-Pa.) today introduced legislation requiring the Secretary of State to determine whether attacks by Burmese military and security forces against the Rohingya minority constitute genocide. Since August 25, 2017, around 740,000 Rohingya have fled Burma (also known as Myanmar) to neighboring Bangladesh to escape a brutal campaign of atrocities by Burma’s military and security forces, including systematic murder and sexual and gender-based violence. On February 1, 2021 the Burmese military carried out a coup against the democratically elected, civilian-led government and has since killed more than 700 civilians during widespread peaceful protests and strikes in opposition to the coup.

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and other State Department officials have committed to Senator Markey that there will be an interagency process to determine whether the atrocities committed against the Rohingya in Burma constitute genocide, but have not indicated a timeline for that decision to be announced.

Burmese opposition figure Dr Sasa: 'The world has to stop another genocide'

FRANCH 24   

Marc Perelman
08/04/2021

THE INTERVIEW © FRANCE 24

Exiled Burmese opposition figure Dr Sasa is the UN envoy for Myanmar's CRPH, a committee representing the parliament that was elected in November but which has not been able to take office because of the military coup. Dr Sasa called on the international community – Russia and China included – to stop the junta's military crackdown on Myanmar's people. He called on world leaders to act now to prevent the civil unrest from turning into a "genocide" that might soon send refugees into neighbouring countries.

Link : Here

UN rights chief, genocide aide warn Myanmar on killings

AA

Peter Kenny

GENEVA 
28.03.2021

Top UN officials call killing of 141 by military in bloodiest day of Myanmar anti-coup protests 'shameful, cowardly, brutal'

The UN human rights chief and the UN special adviser on the prevention of genocide on Sunday issued a clear warning of a heightened risk of atrocity crimes in Myanmar, following another day of widespread bloodshed by the Myanmar military.

Michelle Bachelet, the high commissioner for human rights, and Alice Wairimu Nderitu, the UN special adviser on the prevention of genocide, issued a joint statement as the death toll in Myanmar's bloodiest day on Saturday rose to 141, including at least seven children.

"The shameful, cowardly, brutal actions of the military and police – who have been filmed shooting at protesters as they flee, and who have not even spared young children – must be halted immediately," said Bachelet and Nderitu.

Special Report: Pompeo rejected U.S. effort to declare 'genocide' in Myanmar on eve of coup, officials say

REUTERS

By Simon Lewis, Humeyra Pamuk

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In the last days of the Trump administration, some U.S. officials urged outgoing Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to formally declare that the Myanmar military’s campaign against the Rohingya minority was a genocide.

An exhausted Rohingya refugee woman touches the shore after crossing the Bangladesh-Myanmar border by boat through the Bay of Bengal in Shah Porir Dwip, Bangladesh, September 11, 2017. Picture taken September 11, 2017. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui/File Photo SEARCH "POY DECADE" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "REUTERS POY" FOR ALL BEST OF 2019 PACKAGES. TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY.

Such a determination, a culmination of years of State Department investigation and legal analysis, would send a signal that the generals would not enjoy impunity for their persecution of the Muslim group since 2017, the officials hoped.

Pompeo never made that call. Less than two weeks after he left office on Jan. 20, Myanmar’s generals seized power in a coup.

Dictionary of Genocide

Dictionary of Genocide by albi.