Over the next three weeks, ICJ judges will hear oral arguments from both sides, examine witnesses and experts and consider whether Myanmar violated its obligations under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, to which the country is a party.
Opening the hearings, Judge Iwasawa Yuji, President of the Court, outlined a detailed schedule that includes two rounds of arguments from The Gambia and Myanmar, as well as closed sessions to hear testimony from witnesses called by the claimant State.
Speaking on behalf of The Gambia, Attorney General and Justice Minister Dawda Jallow told the court that her country brought the case “after reviewing credible reports of the most brutal and egregious violations imaginable” committed against the Rohingya, a Muslim minority in Myanmar’s Rakhine province.
“By all measures, this case is not about esoteric issues of international law,” Jallow said. “It’s about real people, real stories and a real group of human beings.”
An archive photograph of the International Court of Justice.
A case that has been brewing for years
The Gambia filed its request in November 2019, accusing Myanmar of violating the Genocide Convention through acts allegedly committed during so-called “clearance operations” carried out by the Myanmar military, or tatmadaw.
Those operations increased dramatically in 2017, leading more than 700,000 Rohingya to flee to neighboring Bangladesh amid widespread killings, sexual violence, burning of villages and other abuses. Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, the then United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, described the situation as a “textbook example of ethnic cleansing.”
A fact-finding mission mandated by the U.N. Human Rights Council said in 2018 that it had reasonable grounds to conclude that serious crimes under international law had been committed, including genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
Nearly a million Rohingya continue to live as refugees in camps in Bangladesh, while many others are displaced or trapped inside Myanmar in dire conditions.
Provisional measures
In January 2020, the Court unanimously ordered provisional measures, ordering Myanmar to take all measures within its power to prevent genocidal acts against the Rohingya, preserve evidence, and periodically report to the Court on compliance.
Myanmar questioned the Court’s jurisdiction, but in July 2022 the judges ruled that they were competent to hear the case.
Eleven States also submitted written submissions in support of The Gambia’s interpretation of the Genocide Convention.
A file photograph of an internally displaced persons camp in Rakhine State, Myanmar.
Responsibility and broader context
Addressing the judges, Jallow said Myanmar remained trapped in “a cycle of atrocities and impunity,” noting that no one had been held accountable for crimes against the Rohingya.
He also pointed to the February 2021 military coup, which overthrew the civilian government and plunged Myanmar into a new national conflict.
“Accountability is imperative,” he said, warning that impunity risks repeating heinous crimes.
Myanmar’s arguments
Myanmar is expected to begin making its case later this week. The Court’s final ruling, which could take months or longer after the hearings conclude, will be legally binding.
The International Court of Justice is the main judicial body of the United Nations. Resolves legal disputes between States and gives advisory opinions on issues of international law.
Unlike criminal courts, it does not judge individuals but rather determines the responsibility of the State.