[ISU ROHINGNYA] Rohingya Genocide Remembrance Day | August 25

[cek mek molek]

#NSTleader Friday's decision is a warning by the international community to the #Myanmar military that the time for punishment is near.

NST Leader: ICJ's ruling on Myanmar​

July 24, 2022 @ 12:00am

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that a case brought by the Gambia accusing Myanmar of genocide against the country’s Rohingya ethnic minority can go ahead, meaning it can now get to hear evidence of the gravest atrocities committed during the military crackdowns in 2016 and 2017. - AFP File pic

THE Rohingya rarely get to hear good news. But on Friday, they did hear one.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that a case brought by the Gambia accusing Myanmar of genocide against the country's Rohingya ethnic minority can go ahead, meaning it can now get to hear evidence of the gravest atrocities committed during the military crackdowns in 2016 and 2017.

Media reports state 700,000 Rohingya are said to have escaped to Bangladesh and elsewhere, but those who couldn't were raped, maimed or burned alive. It wasn't easy for the Rohingya to get to this stage.

The Gambia must be applauded for taking up the case. The African country wasn't even sure if the ICJ would hear the case. The Guardian, which follows ICJ trials closely, wrote on Nov 11, 2019, that if the court takes up the case, it will be the first time it is investigating a genocide without the assistance of international criminal tribunals.



The Gambia's 46-page application is a study on how to mould a legal precedent. The ICJ hears disputes between states, but there wasn't one between Myanmar and the Gambia when the claim was filed by the latter.

But the rules of the ICJ allow a member state to bring action against another member state if the former alleges the latter of breaching international law. The 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide is one such international law.

Friday's decision is a warning by the international community to the Myanmar military that the time for punishment is near. The Genocide Convention's aim is to prevent international crimes and punish culprits. But the law can't do it alone. It needs the help of politics.

The political solution is to treat the Rohingya as citizens of Myanmar as they rightfully are. They have been in Rakhine State from time immemorial. And the National Unity Government (NUG), Myanmar's shadow government in exile, has already issued a policy position saying it would restore citizenship rights to the Rohingya and replace laws put in place by the military.

But the international community has been slow to recognise the NUG. Even Asean, the Southeast Asian bloc, seems to be torn between NUG and the military-run State Administration Council (SAC).

SAC is bad for the Rohingya and other ethnic minorities in Myanmar. Since Feb 1 last year, the SAC is proving to be bad for the Bamar, too.
According to a BBC report on April 27, 1,503 people have been killed since the coup, but Acied, a United States-based organisation, which compiles figures from news reports and other publications, said the number may be as high as 12,000.

Is the UN waiting for 800,000 people to be killed like what happened in Rwanda before it acts? Addressing the UN Human Rights Council when the Myanmar coup was days old, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said coups have no place in the modern world. Perhaps he forgets that "talk" and "walk" aren't the same thing.

Genocides in Myanmar won't end so long as the military headed by Min Aung Hlaing is in power. The law can and must put him and the soldiers who killed the tens of thousands of people behind bars in the Hague. Politics, with the help of the UN, will take care of the rest.

 

[cek mek molek]

Junta Myanmar kecewa mahkamah tertinggi tolak bantahan kes genosid​

Julai 24, 2022 @ 9:10am

Mahkamah Keadilan Antarabangsa (ICJ) di The Hague Jumaat lalu menolak semua bantahan Myanmar terhadap kes yang difailkan oleh negara Afrika Barat, Gambia pada 2019. - Foto REUTERS

YANGON: Junta tentera Myanmar semalam menzahirkan kekecewaan susulan keputusan mahkamah tertinggi Pertubuhan Bangsa-Bangsa Bersatu (PBB) untuk meneruskan kes tuduhan pembunuhan beramai-ramai (genosid) terhadap minoriti Muslim Rohingya.

Mahkamah Keadilan Antarabangsa (ICJ) di The Hague Jumaat lalu menolak semua bantahan Myanmar terhadap kes yang difailkan oleh negara Afrika Barat, Gambia pada 2019.

Keputusan itu membuka jalan kepada perbicaraan penuh di mahkamah berhubung dakwaan tindakan keganasan berdarah ke atas Rohingya pada 2017 oleh majoriti penganut Buddha Myanmar.

"Myanmar kecewa kerana bantahan awalnya ditolak," kata Kementerian Luar Negeri dalam satu kenyataan menerusi Facebook rasminya.



Kenyataan itu turut berkata, menurut Junta, bantahannya adalah konkrit dari segi undang-undang dan menyatakan bahawa seorang hakim itu mempunyai pendapat berbeza.


Myanmar telah membuat bantahan atas beberapa alasan bahawa mahkamah tidak mempunyai bidang kuasa dalam perkara itu dan harus menolak kes berkenaan ketika ia masih di peringkat awal.

Untuk rekod, Gambia memfailkan kes pada November 2019, mendakwa Myanmar melanggar Konvensyen Pembunuhan Beramai-Ramai PBB 1948 dalam layanannya terhadap Rohingya.

Ratusan ribu warga Rohingya melarikan diri dari negara Asia Tenggara itu lima tahun lalu, di tengah-tengah laporan mengerikan mengenai pembunuhan, kes rogol dan tindakan membakar kediaman mereka.

Kira-kira 850,000 warga Rohingya masih terkandas di kem pelarian di Bangladesh. Ia mungkin mengambil masa bertahun-tahun untuk perbicaraan penuh dan penghakiman muktamad dilakukan. - AFP