Irrawaddy/AFP-Jan 12
Myanmar’s military deliberately targeted the Rohingya minority in a bid to destroy the community, Gambia’s Justice Minister Dawda Jallow told the International Court of Justice Monday at the start of a genocide hearing. “It is not about esoteric issues of international law. It is about real people, real stories and a real group of human beings: the Rohingya of Myanmar. They have been targeted for destruction,” Jallow told ICJ judges. The Gambia brought the case accusing Myanmar of breaching the 1948 Genocide Convention during a crackdown in 2017. Legal experts are watching closely as it could give clues for how the court will handle similar accusations against Israel over its military campaign in Gaza, a case brought to the ICJ by South Africa. Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims fled violence by the Myanmar army and local militias, escaping to neighboring Bangladesh and bringing harrowing accounts of mass rape, arson and murder. Today, 1.17 million Rohingya live crammed into dilapidated camps spread over 32 square kilometers in Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh. A final decision could take months or even years, and while the ICJ has no means of enforcing its decisions, a ruling in favor of the Gambia would heap more political pressure on Myanmar. Outside the court, Tun Khin, president of the Burmese Rohingya Organization UK, told AFP: “What’s happening to the Rohingya is genocide, intentionally destroying our community. And we want to get justice. And when justice is done, we want to go back to our homeland with all our rights. Read more at: https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/rohingya-targeted-for-destruction-by-myanmar-icj-hears.html
