The International Court of Justice in The Hague on Friday rejects Myanmar’s objections to prosecution for genocide turned down. This paves the way for a full hearing of the case that The Gambia brought in 2019 over the brutal crackdown by the Myanmar army against the Muslim minority Rohingya. The Court of Appeal will now schedule substantive hearings.
According to Myanmar, The Gambia did not have the authority to bring this case, but the 15 judges of the highest judicial body of the UN ruled Friday. According to the International Court of Justice, all members of the 1948 Genocide Convention, including the Gambia, can act against genocide.
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The Gambia accuses Myanmar of genocide against the Muslim minority Rohingya and is supported in this by, among others, the Netherlands and Canada. Myanmar’s military brutally attacked the Rohingya Muslim minority in 2017. Villages were set on fire, civilians were executed and women and girls were raped. It is estimated that some 7,000 Rohingya died and more than 700,000 others were displaced from their land.
Although decisions of the International Court of Justice are binding and are almost always followed, the Court has no means to force countries to comply with rulings. The substantive handling of the genocide case against Myanmar could take years.