Dated 28 January 2020

R4R News Press Release

We, at the Rohingya Human Rights Initiative, welcome the unprecedented and unanimous judgement by the principal organ of the United Nation (UN), the International Court of Justice (IC), ordering the Government of Myanmar to respect its obligations under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, in relation to the Rohingya minority group in Myanmar. Myanmar has been instructed by ICJ to take provisional measures to prevent, in particular:

  1. Killing members of the Rohingya group;
  2. Causing serious bodily or mental harm to the members of the Rohingya group;

(C) deliberately inflicting on the Rohingya group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; and

(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the Rohingya group.

In addition to the above, Myanmar has also been urged to take effective measures to prevent the destruction and ensure the preservation of evidence related to allegations of acts within the scope of Article II of the aforementioned Convention.

We thank the Gambian Government and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation for raising the issue of genocide of the Rohingya in Myanmar at the ICJ. At the same time, we express serious concern at the report of the Myanmar government-appointed panel, the Independent Commission of Enquiry, released recently, that states that the atrocities and crimes committed against the Rohingyas have not had any genocidal intent. This clearly contradicts the findings of the UN Fact Finding Mission on Myanmar in 2018 and 2019, and the ICJ ruling.

Following the order to protect Rohingya, the Myanmar government rejected the ruling. It further said that such condemnation has "hampered Myanmar's ability to lay the foundation for sustainable development in Rakhine"

Two days after the ICJ ruling, Myanmar army from Battalion 551 shelled Kin Taung village, a village in South-Eastern Buthidaung killing two women, one pregnant, and injuring seven others critically, on January 25, 2020 at around 2:00 am.

The deceased are identified as Nur Bahar, 18, daughter of Abdu Nabi and Umme Habi, 20, daughter of Malavi Hamid who was pregnant. The injured are Mohammad Amin, 23, husband of Umme Habi; Jamal Husain, 25, husband of Nur Bahar; Nur Mohammad, Asma, 3, daughter of Nur Mohammad; 30; Dildar Begum, 25; Rashida Begum, 18; and Abdul Alom, 40.

"I Sabber, on the behalf of the Rohingya Human Rights Initiative, am grateful to India and its people for providing us with a home for all these years. We earnestly hope that the Myanmar Government will respect the sanctity of international law and take the necessary steps to put an immediate end to violence against the Rohingya and destruction of evidence relating to allegations of violence against the community. Sustainable development can only take place when the rights of all people including the minorities are protected. Furthermore, we request the international community, including India to fulfil its responsibility in ensuring Myanmar adheres to the ICJ ruling through all means at their disposal," said Sabber, Founder, director  Rohingya Human Rights Initiative