Rohingya genocide trial begins today, but Myanmar remains unmentioned
The case of alleged genocide by Myanmar’s military against the Rohingya in 2017 has opened at the International Court of Justice in The Hague. The case, initiated by Gambia, comes after years of international inertia, in a context currently marked by deep political and military upheavals in Myanmar. The 2021 coup, the ongoing civil war, and shifting alliances on the ground are making the trial increasingly disconnected from current reality.
The Hague (AsiaNews/Agencies) – The case involving the alleged genocide committed by the Myanmar military against the Rohingya, a predominantly Muslim ethnic group concentrated in Myanmar's western Rakhine state, opened today at the United Nations International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague.
According to Dawda Jallow, Gambian Justice Minister, who presented the case to the UN tribunal that deals with disputes between states, Myanmar’s armed forces (Tatmadaw) deliberately targeted the group in order to wipe it out.
"It is not about esoteric issues of international law. It is about real people, real stories and a real group of human beings. The Rohingya of Myanmar. They have been targeted for destruction," Jallow told the ICJ.
In 2017, the violence by the military, now engaged in a bloody civil war, sparked the exodus of some 750,000 Rohingya to neighbouring Bangladesh, while the military coup on 1 February 2021 and the ensuing conflict have since prevented the return of the displaced.
Among those who remained in Rakhine, many young people have been forced to join the army to fight the Arakan Army, one of the militias that make up the anti-junta resistance and which take several regions in the state. The court will not address this issue, which represents a reversal of the previous situation.
The trial is the first genocide case to be fully examined by the ICJ in over a decade, and the outcome is likely to have repercussions beyond Myanmar, including South Africa's petition against Israel over its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
A 2017 United Nations fact-finding mission concluded that Myanmar’s armed forces had carried out "acts of genocide”. At the time, the Myanmar government, led by democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi, rejected the report, saying that military action was part of a legitimate counterterrorism campaign in response to attacks by Rohingya armed groups.
The violence was, in fact, sparked by attacks by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) against Myanmar army bases. ARSA has continued to commit crimes and targeted killings, especially in Rohingya refugee camps in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh.
In 2021, for example, gunmen killed Mohib Ullah, a popular Muslim leader who had founded the Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Human Rights, an organisation that advocates for the rights of displaced people.
In recent years, Bangladeshi authorities have arrested several ARSA members, including the group's leader, Ataullah Abu Ammar Jununi.
In 2017, Aung San Suu Kyi, who was imprisoned by the military after the 2021 coup, was accused of supporting the army, thus bearing some responsibility for the Rohingya "genocide". In fact, her youngest son, Kim Aris, and several Myanmar observers have repeatedly stressed that the then state counsellor[*] was trying to avoid a direct clash with the generals.
It is no coincidence that in 2019 the Nobel Peace Prize winner defined the genocide accusations presented by Gambia as “incomplete and misleading”. Subsequent events once again confirmed this interpretation.
Since 2024, Myanmar’s military have recruited ARSA fighters to use against the Arakan Army, which in turn accuses the ARSA of forcibly recruiting young people and targeting civilians.
While the Myanmar junta continues to deny the genocide accusations, the National Unity Government (NUG), composed of exiled lawmakers from the last democratically elected parliament, said that it “accepted and welcomed" the UN tribunal's jurisdiction, adding that it had "withdrawn all preliminary objections” lodged in the case.
The NUG, in a reversal of its political stance, acknowledged its mistakes, which, it said, “enabled grave atrocities” against the Rohingya. In the statement released before the hearing, the lawmakers used this very word, which Aung San Suu Kyi herself had refused to use.
Usually, in Myanmar the Rohingya are referred to as “Bengalis”, claiming that they are migrants originally from Bangladesh and so not entitled to Myanmar citizenship.
For its part, after enduring persecution, the Rohingya hope the case will bring them justice.
“We want justice and peace,” said 37-year-old Janifa Begum, a mother of two, speaking to Al Jazeera. “Our women lost their dignity when the military junta launched the eviction. They burned villages, killed men, and women became victims of widespread violence.”
“We are hoping for a positive result that will tell the world that Myanmar committed genocide, and we are the victims of that and we deserve justice,” said Yousuf Ali speaking to Reuters. The 52-year-old Rohingya refugee says that Myanmar soldiers tortured him.
The hearings at the ICJ are expected to last three weeks, but the various sessions will be closed to the public and the media for reasons of confidentiality and privacy.
[*] De facto head of government.
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