Featured Image: Aung San Suu Kyi at the International Court of Justice, Shafiur Rahman
In January 2020, the International Court of Justice ruled to impose provisional measures on Burma for genocide and other atrocities committed against Rohingya Muslims in Arakan State. The Court’s provisional measures include four points, in which Burma is supposed to prevent all acts under the definition of genocide, deter its military from committing genocide against the Rohingya, preserve evidence of genocide, and report back to the ICJ on its compliance with these measures in four months and every six months after. As part of the Court’s orders, Burma delivered its first report to the ICJ on May 23, 2020, however, it is unclear if the Court will make the report public.
A foreign ministry official stated that the report is based on three directives as ordered by Burma’s President, Win Myint. According to information from the official, the president ordered the military and regional governments to preserve any evidence of genocide and to prevent further hate speech against the Rohingya. Although the Burmese government has yet to make any official announcements about the submission of the report, the World’s Court Information Department stated that “the Court still has the power to decide whether, in the present case, the Myanmar report should be made public.” The Burma Army added on to say that it has provided the government with all necessary information to complete the report.
Gambia’s attorney general, Abubacarr Marie Tambadou, stated that they are reviewing the report to determine if Burma has met the three main points of preventing genocide, avoiding genocide, and preserving evidence of genocide. Tambadou also spoke to Voice of America about potential issues that COVID-19 has caused in the case, stating that the pandemic has “impacted our ability to prepare fully for submission within the deadline given to us by the court,” and that Gambia’s legal team is “thinking about the potential devastating consequences it could have on the Rohingyas both in Myanmar and in the refugee camps in Bangladesh.”
Although the report has yet to be publicly released, the situation on the ground in Burma does not reflect the government’s reported efforts to prevent atrocities and killings. On May 14, two Rohingya children were killed and another was injured in a landmine blast. Additionally, in early March, a Rohingya in Arakan State was killed due to clashes perpetrated by the Burma Army. Based on these reports from the media and likely more abuses that were not documented, it is highly likely that the Burmese government is continuing to allow the Rohingya and the rest of the nation’s ethnic groups to suffer. Little has been done to control the Burma Army, the group instigating conflict that results in the death of civilians, but on May 13 a military spokesman announced that action will be taken against its own personnel after soldiers detained and beat five civilians. The submission of the report, as well as the alleged “action” being taken against the Burma Army, represents a show that the Burmese government is attempting to put on to distort the reality of the situation when complying with the ICJ and showcase to the rest of the international community they are, in fact, making it a priority to prevent further abuse.
The documents submitted to the ICJ have yet to be made public and therefore all analysis is from the perspective and observations of the US Campaign for Burma. However, to truly ensure that the Burmese government is held accountable for its actions, or lack thereof, the global community, human rights groups, and civil society organizations need to urge the International Court of Justice to make the recently submitted report available to the public.
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