In a momentous move towards long-awaited justice, survivors of the Myanmar military’s brutal crackdown on the Rohingya minority are hopeful that a genocide case opened at the UN’s top court, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), will bring them one step closer to accountability.
The case, filed by the Gambia, centres on military operations in 2016 and 2017 that forced more than 700,000 Rohingya to flee to neighbouring Bangladesh. Monaira*, a survivor who was forced to flee her home in Myanmar, recounts the horrors she witnessed, including her brother being shot dead and his home set on fire. “Children were thrown into the fire in front of my eyes,” she says, adding that she was also raped by military personnel.
The proceedings at the ICJ mark the first genocide case the court has heard at this level in more than a decade, and are likely to set a precedent for how future allegations are assessed, including South Africa’s case accusing Israel of genocide.
The Gambia’s justice minister, Dawda Jallow, told the court that the case is not about “esoteric issues of international law,” but rather “about real people, real stories and a real group of human beings – the Rohingya of Myanmar.” He accused the Myanmar military of subjecting the Rohingya to “the most horrific violence and destruction one could imagine,” including systematic clearance operations, mass murder, rape, and the torching of villages.
Myanmar has denied the allegations of genocide and will present its arguments in the coming weeks. Unusually for the court, survivors like Monaira will give evidence in the case, which is set to conclude on 29 January.
Tun Khin, the president of the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK, says the ICJ case marks “the first time the Burmese military are in court having to defend themselves,” calling it “a big step forward on the long road to justice and accountability.”
While a judgment could take six to 12 months, Antonia Mulvey, the founder of Legal Action Worldwide, emphasizes that the case will offer long-awaited recognition of the Rohingya’s suffering, even if the court’s orders are not immediately implemented in Myanmar. “Let us not forget that situations can change,” she says, “and overnight you can have a change of government, and the court order will remain.”
For survivors like Monaira, the prospect of justice is a glimmer of hope. “Finally, I feel like our voices are being heard, and like something is going to happen that is positive for the community,” she says.
*Name has been changed.