Three Legal Channels Advocating for Rohingya Minority as a Victim of Genocide in Myanmar

What is it about?

The Rohingya Muslim minority in Myanmar has been subjected to discrimination and gross violations of human rights for many decades. The last two waves of military crackdowns took place in Rakhine state in Myanmar between October 2016 and January 2017 and between August and September 2017, during which Myanmar’s army committed atrocities against the Rohingya Muslim minority. In these operations, both the Tatmadaw army and Rakhine state civilians committed mass atrocities with the acquiescence of regional and local authorities. These atrocities amount to crimes against humanity and genocide. Encouraged by the investigations of the UN mechanisms, advocates for the Rohingya minority took actions to leverage the findings. They endeavored to achieve an international condemnation of both the state of Myanmar and specific individuals responsible for ordering and committing the atrocities in the form of the imposition of state responsibility and individual criminal responsibility for the crime of genocide. This article assesses the prospects of a triple strategy used by the advocates for the Rohingya minority: a lawsuit filed against Myanmar in the ICJ, the ICC proceedings in the Myanmar/Bangladesh case and a universal jurisdiction lawsuit filed against Myanmar's political and army leaders. It argues that the litigating the Rohingya case in three different fora assures that its three components back each other up, so that the flaws of one are compensated by the other. This increases the prospects for accountability for the crime of genocide. The three fora would interoperate to prove that the crime of genocide has taken place in Myanmar, to impose state responsibility, and to convict those responsible for commission of the crime.

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Photo by Tingey Injury Law Firm on Unsplash

Photo by Tingey Injury Law Firm on Unsplash

Why is it important?

The crime of genocide is can be attributed both to state and to individuals, each case bringing about different consequences and different considerations. It is also very difficult to prove this crime because it requires to prove a specific intent to destroy a group in whole or in part. Nevertheless, being the crime of crimes, it is significant to advocate for the victims of this crime and to bring about justice through advocating a case study of genocide by imposing both state responsibility and individual criminal responsibility. The Rohingya case study is an example of a case being pursued in all of the three possible trajectories and this article discusses the chances of winning the case in each of these trajectories.

Perspectives