Myanmar genocide case can proceed, top UN court rules as it throws out all junta’s objections
- Court dismissed Myanmar’s objections to a case filed by the west African nation of Gambia in 2019 – but it could take years for a final judgment
- Hundreds of thousands of minority Rohingya fled the country five years ago, after being subjected to murder, rape and arson
The United Nation’s highest court ruled on Friday that a landmark case accusing military-ruled Myanmar of genocide against minority Rohingya Muslims can go ahead.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague threw out all of Myanmar’s objections to a case filed by the west African nation of Gambia in 2019.
The decision paves the way for full hearings at the court on allegations over majority-Buddhist Myanmar’s bloody 2017 crackdown on the Rohingya.
ICJ president Joan Donoghue said the tribunal “finds that it has jurisdiction … to entertain the application filed by the republic of the Gambia, and that the said application is admissible”.
Hundreds of thousands of minority Rohingya fled the southeast Asian country during the operation five years ago, bringing with them harrowing reports of murder, rape and arson.
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Myanmar junta has reportedly torched 100 villages since last year’s coup
Around 850,000 Rohingya are languishing in camps in neighbouring Bangladesh while another 600,000 Rohingya remain in Myanmar’s southwestern Rakhine state.