Objections dismissed one by one.

A procedure against Burma, accused by The Gambia of genocide against the Muslim minority of the Rohingyas, will be able to continue its course before the highest judicial body of the United Nations, which declared itself competent in the case, Friday, July 22

The International Court of Justice (ICJ), whose headquarters is in The Hague, rejected the demands of the Burmese government which called into question the admissibility of the legal action, brought in 2019 by the West African country.

The Gambia accuses in this Court the Burmese power of violations of the United Nations Convention on Genocide of 1948 during events in 2017.

The verdict could take a few years

That year, hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims fled a bloody crackdown by the army and Buddhist militias.

Testimonies have reported murders, rapes and arson.

The ICJ having declared itself competent in the case, based on several legal arguments, it can now continue its course on the merits.

It could take several years, however, before the Court delivers its verdict.

Around 850,000 members of the Muslim minority now live in makeshift camps in Bangladesh, after fleeing a bloody military crackdown in their Buddhist-majority country in 2017.

Another 600,000 are in Rakhine State, Burma.

"A great moment for justice" 

“We are happy that the court has delivered justice,” said Dawda Jallow, Attorney General and Minister of Justice of The Gambia, after the hearing.

Several dozen Rohingya activists demonstrated outside the Court during the hearing.

"This decision is a great moment for justice, for the Rohingya and for all Burmese," said Tun Khin, president of the British Organization of Burmese Rohingya (Brouk).

"We are happy that this historic genocide trial can finally begin in earnest," he continued in a statement sent to AFP.

Burma's representative, Attorney General Thida Oo, said her country was now "looking forward to finding the best way to protect our people and our country".

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi herself presented Burma's case before the ICJ in late 2019 when the case was first heard.

She has since been ousted as head of the Burmese government by the February 1, 2021 military coup, and is currently in detention.

Burmese objections

The Burmese delegation believed that The Gambia's procedure was inadmissible for several reasons.

Firstly because it is supported by Gambia on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

The ICJ was created in 1946 to settle disputes between individual states.

Then because, according to Burma, Gambia is not directly concerned by the presumed genocide.

In addition, the Asian country has withdrawn from part of the international convention applicable in this case.

Finally, Burma maintained that there was no explicit dispute between it and Gambia at the time this request was filed, which is one of the rules of the Court.

"Brutality and Cruelty" 

Like the previous ones, this argument was rejected by the magistrates, according to whom there was indeed a dispute between the two countries as evidenced by statements made in 2018 and 2019 to the UN.

Furthermore, "The Gambia has handed over the proceedings as a state party to the Court and to the convention", added Judge Donoghue.

"The Court finds that The Gambia has standing as a State party to the Genocide Convention to invoke Burma's responsibility," she continued.

"Action will be taken against the military, their brutality and cruelty. And that gives us hope for our suffering," a Rohingya man living in northern Israel told AFP on condition of anonymity. Rakhine State in Burma.

 "It's not only good for us (Rohingya) but also for the rest of the Burmese people who are suffering at the hands of the Burmese army," said a Rohingya woman living in a camp for displaced people near Sittwe, the capital. from Rakhine State, also preferring to remain anonymous.

The judgments of the ICJ are binding and cannot be appealed, but the Court has no way of enforcing them.

With AFP

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