ICJ genocide case ‘flawed and unfounded’ –Myanmar gov’t
YANGON — An international court case against Myanmar for genocide against the mostly Muslim Rohingya minority is “flawed and unfounded”, Yangon’s foreign ministry said Wednesday.
In a statement published in a state newspaper it called on the International Court of Justice, which began hearings in The Hague on Monday, to “reach its judgement based on fact and settled law strictly within the framework of the Genocide Convention”.
ICJ judges are hearing three weeks of testimony as they weigh accusations by The Gambia that Myanmar committed genocide against the Rohingya in a 2017 crackdown.
READ: Myanmar faces Rohingya genocide case: What to know
Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims fled violence by the Myanmar army and Buddhist militias, escaping to neighboring Bangladesh and bringing harrowing accounts of mass rape, arson and murder.
On the first day of the hearings Gambia’s justice minister Dawda Jallow told the court the Rohingya “have been targeted for destruction”.
Lawyers for Myanmar will begin their court response on Friday.
The allegations made by The Gambia are flawed and unfounded in fact and law,” said the Yangon foreign ministry statement.
READ: UN court rejects Myanmar challenge to genocide case
“Biased reports, based on unreliable evidence, cannot make up for truth.”
The country — ruled by a military junta since a coup in 2021 — was co-operating with the ICJ “in good faith” in a sign of its respect for international law, it added.
The statement did not use the word Rohingya, referring instead to “persons from Rakhine state”.
Today, 1.17 million Rohingya live crammed into dilapidated camps spread over 8,000 acres in Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh.
Myanmar has always maintained the crackdown by its armed forces was justified to root out Rohingya insurgents after a series of attacks left a dozen security personnel dead.
A final decision could take months or even years, and while the ICJ has no means of enforcing its decisions, a ruling in favor of The Gambia would heap more political pressure on Myanmar. /dl
