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In My View

What will today’s ICJ verdict mean for Myanmar and Rohingya?

Published : Friday, 22 July, 2022 at 12:00 AM  Count : 1304
Syed Badiuzzaman
Today is the judgement day in The Hague. The International Court of Justice or ICJ will deliver a crucial verdict on the objections from the military council of Myanmar to the Gambia v. Myanmar case here. The representative of Myanmar's military has told the court that "ICJ has no right to hear the case." And today, the court will respond in a public setting to the claim of Myanmar's military council.

The principal judicial organ of the United Nations, the ICJ has made a special arrangement for a public sitting of the court at 3 p.m. Dutch time at the historic Peace Palace in The Hague during which Judge Joan E. Donoghue, the president of the International Court of Justice will read out the landmark verdict. The verdict will pretty much decide in which direction the Gambia v. Myanmar genocide case is going to go.

There are speculations in various circles around the world especially in Gambia, Bangladesh and the member countries of the Jeddah-based Organization of Islamic Cooperation or OIC that the International Court of Justice will throw out the objections of Myanmar's military council to the case as the legal experts do not see any merit in their objections. Many scholars believe that the ICJ is duly empowered by the United Nations to hear the Gambia v. Myanmar case in The Hague and there should not be any doubt about its authority to do so.

The scholars think that their opinion has solid basis. The International Court of Justice was established in 1945 under the UN charter as the principal judicial organ of the United Nations with broad powers to settle legal disputes, brought before it by states, in accordance with the international law. And there is a clear legal dispute between two states here. In 2019, Gambia filed a case before the ICJ alleging that Myanmar violated various provisions of the UN Genocide Convention with atrocities against the Rohingya in the Rakhine State.

I am not a legal scholar. I am a journalist and columnist and my analysis is very simple and straightforward. If the ICJ would deliver a verdict favoring the military of Myanmar, it would never hold a public sitting of the court for announcing such verdict. Therefore, Judge Joan Donoghue, the president of the International Court of Justice will most probably throw out the objections from the military council of Myanmar to the Gambia v. Myanmar Genocide case and publicly assert the authority of the ICJ under the UN charter to hear and also settle legal disputes between states in accordance with the international law.

Now what will such a verdict mean for Myanmar, the Rohingya and the rest of the world? It will mean a lot of things. Immediately it will deliver a huge blow to the Myanmar's military who have been accused of carrying out genocide, war crimes as well as other crimes against humanity by the United Nations, United States and the international human rights groups including the Amnesty International and the Human Rights Watch in Rakhine State. Secondly, the Gambia v. Myanmar case will continue to play out at the International Court of Justice in The Hague until a final verdict is reached. With today's verdict, the ICJ will also reassert its authority as the UN's principal judicial organ.

If Judge Joan Donoghue throws out the objections of Myanmar's military to Gambia's case against them in The Hague today, her verdict will also serve the Burmese junta a notice that even though they are not answerable to anybody for the Rohingya genocide and other war crimes against them in their home country, they must face justice for their atrocities at an international court. Such a verdict will also uphold the international law and order and issue a stern warning to the future perpetrators who will commit genocide or war crimes and crimes against humanity anywhere in the world.

However, even if the Gambia v. Myanmar case continues to play out at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, the Rohingya problem is not going to be solved anytime soon. But if Myanmar military's objections to the ongoing litigation against them at the ICJ are rejected, then that will give the Rohingya some hope that they are not entirely abandoned by the world. They will feel encouraged but will have to wait until the case ends up in The Hague holding the military leaders of Myanmar liable for genocide and other war crimes in Rakhine State.

Bangladesh will continue to host 1.1 million Rohingyas for an indefinite period of time. There was a slim chance for a negotiated settlement of the Rohingya problem between Bangladesh and Myanmar but the military coup in February last year destroyed even that chance. Human rights activists said that last year's coup in Myanmar had made the already bad situation for the Rohingya even worse. "The coup is obviously good for no one. The risk is heightened especially for the Rohingya. This is the military regime that was responsible for the atrocities against the Rohingya for many, many years," said Matthew Smith, co-founder of human rights group Fortify Rights.

As a matter of fact, we handled the Rohingya refugee crisis extremely poorly and without any planning right from the beginning. Government after government didn't take the issue seriously enough when the refugees from what was then Burma began to arrive in Bangladesh in the 1970s in their hundreds. Bangladesh didn't bother that much when they sporadically crossed over to Cox's Bazar even in their thousands in the 1980s and also in the 1990s.Bangladesh took the matter seriously only in the 2000s when the number of refugees significantly swelled and especially in 2017 when Myanmar military began their atrocities in Rakhine State setting off a massive influx of refugees into the country.

Even today Bangladesh doesn't have a coherent policy on the crisis. And that's why the refugee problem is barely in the international news nowadays. Isn't it Bangladesh government's job to keep the issue front and center constantly? Does the Foreign Ministry of Bangladesh have a "Rohingya Desk" with clearly spelt out responsibilities to look after the Rohingya issues and coordinate with various countries, international organizations and human rights groups almost on a daily basis until the crisis is over? The "Rohingya Desk" should specially coordinate with those countries, such as China and Russia which have considerable leverage over Myanmar and urge them to play an active role in the resolution of the crisis.

Bangladesh media previously reported that China which has close ties with Myanmar was trying to resolve the crisis through a three-way discussion with Myanmar and Bangladesh. But so far there hasn't been any progress of a tripartite arrangement either. Being a friendly country to both Bangladesh and Myanmar, China is perfectly positioned to broker an amicable settlement of the Rohingya crisis. Russia also has considerable influence over Myanmar and this country too can play a very important role in the resolution of the Rohingya refugee problem. And Bangladesh has good relations with both countries.

Dhaka has a lot on its plate. It needs to work simultaneously on many fronts on a daily basis to resolve the Rohingya crisis. The three-way discussions among Bangladesh, Myanmar and China would be a good start. Bangladesh needs to continuously work with all big powers including the US, Russia, China, Britain and France for a solution to the Rohingya problem. If the crisis continues, it may very well pose a serious threat to national, regional and even international security.
Writer is a Toronto-based journalist
who also writes for the Toronto
Sun as a guest columnist.







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