Suu Kyi to defend genocide allegations at The Hague
ONCE feted by the West as a human rights heroine, Myanmar’s civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi will travel to The Hague this week to defend her regime over accusations of genocide against its Rohingya Muslim minority, in one of the most high-profile international legal cases in a generation.
Myanmar rejects the allegations, which stem from the military’s savage ethnic-cleansing campaign in Rakhine state in 2017, that forced 740,000 people to flee to neighbouring Bangladesh, where they now live in refugee camps.
Ms Suu Kyi, who will personally represent her fledgling democracy when the first hearings begin on Tuesday at the International Court of Justice in the Netherlands, has vowed to “defend the national interest”.
In doing so, she will be defending the military who once held her under house arrest to keep her out of power.
Her decision to brush aside concerns that backing the military’s brutality against the Rohingya will further tarnish her now sullied international reputation, has won her plaudits at home. Thousands rallied in support of her in the capital, Naypyidaw, yesterday. Myanmar tour companies have organised discount packages to supporters who wish to attend the hearings, with Myanmar citizens in the Netherlands offering accommodation.
Daw July, responsible for the visa service at one of the companies, said it was selling the tickets as cheaply as possible. “It is a way to show support for Mother Suu,” she told The Myanmar Times, using Ms Suu Kyi’s nickname.
The lawsuit charging genocide, including mass murder and rape, was lodged by Gambia, backed by the 57-nation Organisation for Islamic Cooperation. The case will be fought by a team led by Abubacarr Tambadou, the UK-educated justice minister, who spent more than a decade prosecuting cases from Rwanda’s 1994 genocide.
Mr Tambadou visited the camps in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar and listened to testimonies about rape, murder and children being burned alive.