Myanmar scrambles to defend itself over Rohingya ‘genocide’
MYANMAR is facing a barrage of legal challenges in an attempt to hold it accountable over the alleged genocide against its Rohingya Muslim population.
West African nation Gambia last month launched a case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the UN’s top court in The Hague, while rights groups have filed a separate lawsuit in Argentina.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) also approved an investigation into the 2017 military crackdown that forced some 740,000 Rohingya to flee into Bangladesh.
UN investigators last year branded the bloody expulsion a genocide, and called for the prosecution of top generals -- including the powerful army chief.
They also accused civilian leader and onetime democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi and her government of complicity in the atrocities.
Here are some of the routes down the difficult path to justice:
The Gambian gambit The UN’s top court, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), is based in The Hague and was set up after World War II to rule on disagreements between member states.
It normally deals with issues of international law such as border disputes, but can also rule on alleged breaches of UN conventions.
Gambia, a tiny, mainlyMuslim state, filed a complaint on behalf of the 57-nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) accusing Myanmar of breaching the 1948 UN Genocide Convention.
Leading the charge is Gambian justice minister Abubacarr Tambadou, a former genocide prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.
The first hearings will be on December 10-12, when the court is expected to order interim measures to prevent any further genocide or destruction of evidence.
In a shock move, Myanmar civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi announced she will personally travel to the court to lead the defense team.