A ‘historic moment’ for Rohingya genocide survivors at ICJ

For the very first time, Rohingya genocide survivors testified at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) hearings into Gambia v. Myanmar, also known as the Rohingya genocide case, which concluded on Jan. 29. The U.N. Special Rapporteur on human rights Tom Andrews said this showed courage in the face of the most horrific crimes committed by the military in its 2016-17 “security clearance operations” in northern Arakan State.

This drove over 740,00 Rohingya into neighbouring Bangladesh, where now 1.2 million live in refugee camps. “It is a very historic moment for the Rohingya community because we are facing decades of persecution, which is intentionally destroying our community [by] genocide,” said Tun Khin, the president of Burmese Rohingya Organization UK (BROUK) and chairperson of the Arakan Rohingya National Council (ARNC).

A Rohingya, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told Reuters outside of the ICJ that genocide survivors came to seek justice and witness this historic moment. Another Rohingya survivor said she came with the intent of representing the Rohingya community, as well as LGBTQ who also faced the genocide and are victims of rape like herself. Gambia accuses Burma of violating the U.N. Genocide Convention.