57 OIC Countries filed a case against Myanmar on Rohingya Atrocities

News Desk

The Gambia, a small West African country filed the lawsuit on 12 November 2019 on behalf of the Organizations of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), a coalition of countries with significant Muslim populations that the government of Myanmar has conducted genocide against its Rohingya minority. These countries opine that there was a brutal atrocity on the Rohingya community in Myanmar. This action might have impact on Myanmar’s economic future. Gambia also requested that the International Court of Justice issue an urgent temporary injunction ordering Myanmar to halt all actions that could aggravate or expand the existing situation

This suit comes just weeks after the United Nations warned that the violent campaign against the Rohingya is continuing in Northwest Myanmar and its special envoy called for the UN Security Council to refer Myanmar’s senior officials to the International Criminal Court, a separate international body.  It asked the International Court of Justice to investigate whether Myanmar Government has violated the Geneva Convention, which prohibits genocide.

Republic of the Gambia is almost entirely surrounded by Senegal, its capital Banjul. In 2015, Gambia has brought a major change in their constitution. This country has become an Islamic Republic from a secular country. There are as many as 95% Muslims stay in Gambia.

Why the case has been filed in International Court of Justice (ICJ) instead of International Criminal Court. A different body, the International Criminal Court, was specifically created to prosecute genocide and other atrocities. But that court has no jurisdiction over cases in Myanmar because the country has not signed on to the court’s treaty, neither have the United States, China, India, Israel and several other countries. Both the organizations are located in Hague, Netherlands. International Criminal Justice is the primary judicial branch of United Nations and settles legal disputes and proves advisory opinions submitted to it by its member states. ICJ is a civil court. UNSC enforces its court’s rulings. If ICJ finds Myanmar government guilty of genocide then Myanmar will have to face heavy sanctions from UNSC. Here point to note that many countries have already imposed sanctions on Myanmar.

The working process of ICJ is such that they will investigate the claim of Gambia by utilizing their own tools whether there was genocide or not. In the process, if Myanmar denies their crime, it will not be acceptable. The court’s 15 judges rarely deal with genocide. Based in the stately Peace Palace in The Hague, the Court of Justice was set up by the United Nations to rule on disputes between nations. It acts more like a court of appeal, focusing on questions of international law, such as disputes over borders or disagreements over international conventions.

But that can also include disputes arising from the Convention for the Punishment and Prevention of Genocide, established in an earlier case when Bosnia sued Serbia for genocide. The convention covers “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such.’’ It is not clear how Myanmar, which has always denied accusations of ethnic cleansing and genocide and argues that it was defending itself against an insurgency, will respond to the case.

Genocide was first defined and criminalized in the 1948 Convention on the prevention and punishment of the Crime of Genocide. This convention has been ratified by maximum countries including Myanmar.

According to the convention, genocide is defined as the killing or harming of the members of a national, ethnic, religious or racial group with the intent to destroy the group in whole or in part. Harm might include mental harm, imposing difficult conditions on the group, preventing births or forcibly removing children to another group.

Question comes, whether OIC backed Gambia can proof that Myanmar has conducted the subject genocide intentionally. Reed Brody, commissioner of the ICJ said in the context of Myanmar,” Direct evidence of genocidal intent rarely exists but one can look at the derogatory official language towards the Rohingya for example. When it comes to the prosecution of genocide, the most difficult and crucial point is providing the accused party’s intent to destroy wholly or partially the targeted group.

Sanctions of Myanmar could impact India, China, Japan, Singapore and many other country’s defense and economic relation. Recently India has sold 02 submarines to Myanmar. However, China might save Myanmar through veto if ICJ rules against Myanmar and UNSC decide to impose sanctions.