Dhaka shouldn’t press ICC over Rohingya issue now: Experts

International relation experts, diplomats said on Wednesday that Bangladesh government should not be a party to encourage the International Criminal Court (ICC) to exercise jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute the crime of deporting Rohingyas.
They said that Rohingya crisis is a huge one and critical, and Bangladesh government has taken up the right path in addressing the issue through taking multi-lateral approaches including dialogues, meetings in different regional and international forums: however, it should be continued to address the problem, there is no other option like encouragement of any party or institution to exercise its jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute the international crime of deportation of Rohingya, experts said.
Earlier, on Tuesday, the Chief Executive Officer of Fortify Rights Matthew Smith wrote to the Foreign Ministry that the government of Bangladesh should encourage the International Criminal Court (ICC) to exercise its jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute the international crime of deportation of Rohingya Muslims.
"We (Bangladesh) are in a stage to shoot the problem, he UNSC has taken up the issue, the EU, ASEAN, OIC and separately the USA and other countries has given their full support in this regard�.before taking a severe decision in this regard we need to understand the whole thing once again," former ambassador Muhammad Jamir told the Daily Observer on Wednesday.
He said the OIC has formed a 10-member committee to ensure accountability and justice for gross violations of international human rights and humanitarian laws and principles like Rohingya issue, however, it will also gather evidence for accountability purposes.
"When such a committee is working to collect information then we need to keep quiet for some times, as we need to know the situation," he added saying that the international community is with us to keep pressure on Myanmar.
Former Ambassador
Humayun Kabir said, "I am yet to see the paper, however, the ICC is the final stage to solve any problem, we are not at that stage to take such a decision right now," the former ambassador said.
It here be mentioned that Matthew Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Fortify Rights in his letter said, "We strongly support this and other proactive steps to hold the Myanmar military accountable for international crimes against Rohingya."
"The Bangladesh government should do everything in its power to cooperate and seek justice for the human rights violations against Rohingya," he said.
The deportation of Rohingya from Myanmar has particularly affected Bangladesh. Since October 2016, the Myanmar authorities forced more than 775,000 Rohingya into Bangladesh, causing a humanitarian crisis. Myanmar Army-led attacks on Rohingya civilians were in response to violent assaults on security forces by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army in October 2016 and again in August 2017.
In addition to the crime of deportation, Fortify Rights and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum published a report finding "mounting evidence" of the crime of genocide against Rohingya in Myanmar. The report was based on a yearlong investigation, including hundreds of interviews with Rohingya eyewitnesses and survivors of Myanmar Army-led massacres, mass gang-rapes, and arson attacks against Rohingyas.
From April 29 to May 1, a 15-member UN Security Council delegation visited Bangladesh and Myanmar to meet Rohingya survivors of human rights violations as well as senior diplomats and government officials.
"The Security Council shouldn't wait for a ruling to exercise their authority to refer the situation in Myanmar to the ICC," Matthew Smith said.  "A disturbing menu of crimes have been perpetrated against the Rohingya and require urgent attention.