ICC begins inquiry into atrocities

MYANMAR - The chief prosecutor of the international criminal court (ICC) has announced she is launching a preliminary investigation into the deportations of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar into Bangladesh.

Fatou Bensouda said in a written statement and video message on Tuesday that she had begun an inquiry formally known as a preliminary examination to establish whether there was enough evidence to merit a full investigation. Bensouda said she would look at reports of “a number of alleged coercive acts having resulted in the forced displacement of the Rohingya people, including deprivation of fundamental rights, killing, sexual violence, enforced disappearance, destruction and looting”. Myanmar’s military has been accused of widespread human rights violations, including rape, murder, torture and the burning of Rohingya villages leading about 700,000 Rohingya to flee to neighboring Bangladesh since August last year. Bensouda’s announcement came less than two weeks after ICC judges gave her authorisation to investigate the deportations despite Myanmar not being a member state of the court. The judges said in their landmark ruling that because part of the alleged crime of deportation happened on the territory of Bangladesh which is a member of the court Bensouda has jurisdiction. They urged her to conclude her preliminary examination “within a reasonable time”. The ICC is a court of last resort, which steps in only when national authorities are unable or unwilling to prosecute alleged crimes. Bensouda said prosecutors “will be engaging with the national authorities concerned with a view to discussing and assessing any relevant investigation and prosecution at the national level”. Bensouda’s announcement came on the same day UN-backed investigators presented a report that painted a grim picture of crimes against the Rohingya. Such reports will likely be closely studied in her investigation. It reiterated earlier findings that some senior Myanmar military leaders should be prosecuted for alleged war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide against the Rohingya during a deadly crackdown that erupted in August 2017 following militant attacks on security posts in Rakhine state. Myanmar’s new ambassador in Geneva lashed out at what he called a “onesided” report. In Washington, the US Department of State said it had “serious concerns” about the Myanmar judicial system’s ability to hold people accountable for abuses against the Rohingya, but would not be drawn on whether it supported an ICC investigation.

(The Guardian)