A Bangladesh delegation on Monday left for will monitor the hearings on Rohingya genocide case filed against Myanmar with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, said officials. For this purpose, a delegation left for The Hague in the Netherlands from Dhaka on Monday.
Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque is leading the 20-member delegation comprising of members from Prime Minister's Office, Foreign Ministry and representatives of Rohingya community and civil society. Prior to leaving Dhaka for The Hague, Foreign secretary M Shahidul Haque told the media, “The Bangladesh delegation is attending the hearing as a member of Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) and also as the host country of Rohingya refugees.”
Over assisting Gambia in the case, he said, “Bangladesh is already providing Gambia with various kinds of assistance to conduct the hearing.” “Bangladesh has been extensively in the loop of the ICJ process after Gambia lodged the case on behalf of the OIC,” he added. The delegation includes Masud Bin Momen, Asia and Pacific Affairs Secretary of Foreign Ministry and former Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the UN; former Bangladesh Ambassador to Myanmar and current Bangladeshi High Commissioner to Australia Sufiur Rahman; Bangladeshi High
Commissioner to Iran Gausul Azam Sarker; several top officials of Foreign Ministry; three representatives from Rohingya refugees and civil society members. One of the civil society members is an international relations analyst and the other a genocide expert. Meanwhile, three Rohingya women and men have also been included in the delegation as a representative of the over 1.1 million displaced Rohingyas. Gambia, a small West African country, accused Myanmar for Rohingya genocide with support from the Organization of Islamic Co-operation (OIC) on November 11.
Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi will stand on behalf of Myanmar at the court. She left Myanmar on Sunday to The Hague to take part in a three-day hearing set to begin today. According to information provided by ICJ's website, the court will begin hearing Gambia's statement at ICJ at Peace Palace in The Hague. Myanmar will place their statement on December 11, supporting their defence. On December 12, the plaintiff and the accused would pace their arguments before the court.
Gambia will argue first, and then Myanmar will have the opportunity to refute it. It is up to the courts to decide when the case filed against Myanmar by Gambia will end. Gambia, however, is seeking an interim order from the court instructing Myanmar to guarantee Rohingya people’s freedom of movement in Rakhine.
This includes instructing Myanmar to stop all forms of atrocities, including genocide on the Rohingyas and to stop the destruction of their homes and property, as well as to stop the threat to life and livelihood. In the case of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Yugoslavia was sued on March 20, 1993 for genocide. And the ICJ instructed Yugoslavia government on April 8, of the same year to take additional steps to protect Bosnia's Muslims.
Diplomatic sources say that the ICJ may instruct Myanmar to take steps to protect the Rohingya within months. And Myanmar has an obligation to comply with the court orders. Moreover, the UN Security Council can also take action against Myanmar if it does not abide by the court order, because Myanmar is a signatory of UN Genocide Convention 1956. Any country that signs the convention is obliged to follow the directions of ICJ.