{"id":254038,"date":"2019-11-11T09:32:25","date_gmt":"2019-11-11T08:32:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.npwj.org\/?p=254038"},"modified":"2024-01-23T09:38:46","modified_gmt":"2024-01-23T08:38:46","slug":"gambia-brings-genocide-case-against-myanmar-international-court-of-justice-to-address-atrocities-against-rohingya","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.npwj.org\/it\/press-release\/gambia-brings-genocide-case-against-myanmar-international-court-of-justice-to-address-atrocities-against-rohingya\/","title":{"rendered":"Gambia Brings Genocide Case Against Myanmar. International Court of Justice to Address Atrocities Against Rohingya"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Hague, November 11, 2019<\/span><\/h1>\n
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The\u00a0Gambia\u2019s<\/a>\u00a0case against\u00a0Myanmar<\/a>\u00a0at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for violating the Genocide Convention, filed on November 11, 2019, will bring the first judicial scrutiny of Myanmar\u2019s campaign of murder, rape, arson, and other atrocities against Rohingya Muslims, 10 nongovernmental organizations said today.<\/p>\n

States that are party to the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide agreed that genocide \u201cwhether committed in time of peace or in time of war, is a crime under international law which they undertake to prevent and to punish\u201d and, by extension, have an obligation not to commit it. The convention permits member states to bring a dispute before the ICJ alleging another state\u2019s breach of the convention, and states can seek provisional measures to stop continuing violations.Myanmar became a party<\/a>\u00a0to the Genocide Convention in 1956.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Gambia\u2019s legal action triggers a judicial process before the world\u2019s highest court that could determine that Myanmar\u2019s atrocities against the Rohingya violate the Genocide Convention,\u201d said\u00a0Param-Preet Singh<\/a>, associate international justice director at Human Rights Watch.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThe court\u2019s prompt adoption of provisional measures could help stop the worst ongoing abuses against the Rohingya in Myanmar.\u201d<\/p>\n

The nongovernmental organizations supporting the initiative are No Peace Without Justice, the Association pour la Lutte Contre l\u2019Impunit\u00e9 et pour la Justice Transitionnelle, the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, the Global Justice Center, Human Rights Watch, the International Bar Association Human Rights Institute, Parliamentarians for Global Action, and the Women\u2019s Initiatives for Gender Justice.<\/p>\n

In its first Genocide Convention case, the\u00a0ICJ imposed provisional measures against Serbia in 1993 and\u00a0eventually found that Serbia had violated its duty to prevent and punish genocide<\/a>\u00a0in Bosnia-Herzegovina.<\/p>\n

Canada<\/a>,\u00a0Bangladesh<\/a>,\u00a0Nigeria<\/a>,\u00a0Turkey<\/a>, and\u00a0France<\/a>\u00a0have asserted that Myanmar committed genocide against the Rohingya.\u00a0The\u00a0Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)<\/a>\u00a0has encouraged its 57 members to bring Myanmar before the court.\u00a0Malaysia\u2019s prime minister has also alleged that Myanmar committed genocide against the Rohingya\u00a0and called for efforts to bring Myanmar before the court.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a country recently emerging from decades of brutal dictatorship, The Gambia\u2019s leadership on the Rohingya genocide is especially striking and welcome,\u201d said Alison Smith, international justice director at No Peace Without Justice. \u201cOther members of the Genocide Convention should follow The Gambia\u2019s lead and lend their clear and unwavering support.\u201d<\/p>\n

In September 2019, the\u00a0United Nations-backed\u00a0Independent International Fact-Finding Mission<\/a>\u00a0on Myanmar\u00a0concluded that \u201cMyanmar is failing in its obligation to prevent genocide, to investigate genocide and to enact effective legislation criminalizing and punishing genocide.\u201d The fact-finding mission highlighted\u00a0\u201cthe enormity and nature of the sexual violence perpetrated against women and girls\u201d during Myanmar\u2019s\u00a0military campaign\u00a0as one of seven indicators of the state\u2019s\u00a0intent to destroy the Rohingya people.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Gambia\u2019s proceedings before the ICJ offer countless survivors of sexual violence and other victims some hope that Myanmar could legally be held to account for its ruthless campaign against the Rohingya,\u201d said Melinda Reed, executive director at Women\u2019s Initiatives for Gender Justice.<\/p>\n

Legal actions addressing individual criminal responsibility are also underway at the international level. The fact-finding mission has called for the investigation and prosecution of Myanmar\u2019s military leaders for\u00a0genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes in Rakhine State<\/a>\u00a0in Myanmar, the state where most Rohingya lived.<\/p>\n

The UN Human Rights Council has established an\u00a0Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar<\/a>, which is\u00a0mandated to collect evidence of the most serious international crimes and prepare files for criminal prosecution.\u00a0The International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, has\u00a0sought to open an investigation<\/a>\u00a0for the crime against humanity of deportation and possibly other offenses, but a broader investigation would need a referral by\u00a0the UN Security Council.<\/p>\n

The Myanmar government has failed to prosecute or punish perpetrators of human rights abuses. The current\u00a0domestic commission of enquiry established by the government follows eight failed commissions and lacks credibility, and its chair has stated that\u00a0it will not hold those responsible for abuses to account<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Gambia\u2019s case before the ICJ could pressure Myanmar to reverse its course of violence and live up to its obligation under the Genocide Convention to punish those responsible,\u201d said\u00a0Andrea Giorgetta, Asia director at the International Federation for Human Rights.<\/p>\n

On November 11, the 10 organizations convened a meeting in The Hague with Abubacarr Tambadou, The Gambia\u2019s attorney general and justice minister, and members of his legal team; several representatives of the Rohingya community; and others who have supported this initiative. The meeting provided an update on the initiative, addressed the implications of state responsibility under the Genocide Convention for deterring further crimes and providing redress the victims, and discussed the role that civil society groups and other stakeholders could play in such an inter-state dispute.<\/p>\n

For more information<\/strong>, please contact:
\nIn Brussels, for No Peace Without Justice, Alison Smith (English, French, Italian): +32-486-986-235; or\u00a0asmith@npwj.org<\/a>
\nIn The Hague, for\u00a0Human Rights Watch,\u00a0Param-Preet Singh (English): +1-917-586-1140; or\u00a0singhp@hrw.org<\/a>
\nIn The Hague, for\u00a0International Federation for Human Rights, Amal Nassar (Arabic, English): +31-650-411-865; or anassar@fidh.org<\/a>
\nIn The Hague, for Global Justice Center,\u00a0Akila Radhakrishnan\u00a0(English): +1-408-582-4704; or aradhakrishnan@globaljusticecenter.net<\/a>
\nIn The Hague, for Parliamentarians for Global Action, Frederika Schweighoferova (Czech, English, French, Slovak, Spanish): +31-616-047-032; or\u00a0schweighoferova@pgaction.org<\/a>
\nIn The Hague, for Women\u2019s Initiatives for Gender Justice, Melinda Reed (Dutch, English, French): +31-623-943-855; or melinda.reed@4genderjustice.org<\/a>
\nIn Berlin, for European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights, Alexandra Lily Kather\u00a0(English, German):\u00a0+49-30-29680589; or\u00a0kather@ecchr.eu<\/a>
\nIn London, for\u00a0International Bar Association Human Rights Institute, Daniel Romana St. Matthew (English):\u00a0+44-(0)7940-731-915 (English); or\u00a0romana.daniel@int-bar.org<\/a>
\nIn New York, for Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, Nadira Khudayberdieva (English, Russian): +1-646-318-5470; or nkhudayberdieva@globalr2p.org<\/a><\/p>\n

See statements from individual co-signatories here<\/strong>:<\/p>\n