Myanmar: Government must do far more to comply with International Court Justice’s order on protection of Rohingya population

May 22, 2020 | News

In order to comply substantially with the International Court of Justice’s provisional measures Order in the case of The Gambia v. Myanmar, Myanmar should carry out legal reforms and cooperate with international accountability processes, said the ICJ today.

The Gambia has accused Myanmar of violations of the 1948 Genocide Convention in respect of its treatment of Rohingya population, characterized by acts of widespread killing and displacement of the population.

The  call comes as Myanmar is scheduled to report on “all measures taken” to give effect to the provisional measures Order (Order) issued by the Court on 23 January 2020.

“Myanmar has not taken ‘all measures within its power’ to prevent acts of genocide until it implements comprehensive legal and constitutional reforms,” said Sam Zarifi, Secretary General of the International Commission of Jurists.  “Accountability lies at the heart of prevention, and so long as the Tatmadaw remains unaccountable to the civilian authorities the cycle of impunity for criminal atrocities within the country will continue.”

Since the Order, Myanmar has taken a limited number of steps linked to its compliance with the Order, including issuing three Presidential Directives encouraging anti-hate speech activities, and ordering compliance with the Genocide Convention and the preservation of evidence of human rights and related violations in Rakhine.

Myanmar has also asserted that the findings of the Government-commissioned Independent Commission of Inquiry (ICOE), which made selective admissions including that war crimes may have been committed during the 2017 “clearance operations” in Rakhine, have been transmitted to the Attorney General and the Commander-in-Chief of the Tatmadaw and that action would be taken “in conformity with military justice procedures if there is credible evidence of any commission of offence by members of the Tatmadaw.”

However, the Government has yet to amend or repeal key laws that facilitate discrimination against the Rohingya, including the 1982 Citizenship Law, 2015 Race and Religion Protection Laws and 2014 Myanmar National Human Rights Commission Law. On 6 May 2020, the International Commission of Jurists published a report on the killing of a journalist, Ko Par Gyi, in September 2014, which condemned the fundamentally flawed “military justice procedures” used to address allegations of serious human rights violations.  The report highlighted the many deficiencies in ensuring to accountability for serious human rights violations in Myanmar under its prevailing legal framework, including:

• that several provisions of national laws facilitate impunity for serious human rights violations by soldiers against civilians, shield security forces from public criminal prosecutions and deny victims and their families of the right to truth about violations;
• investigations into unlawful killings routinely lack the independence, impartiality and effectiveness necessary to establish the truth and to provide accountability and redress; and
• the rights of victims and their families are rarely respected, including the right to access information concerning the violations and accountability processes, and the right to remedies and reparations.

The UN Human Rights Council has established an Independent Investigative Mechanism to look at allegations of genocide, crimes against humanity and other atrocities in Myanmar, but the government has failed to extend its cooperation with the mechanism.

“Myanmar’s inability to prevent serious human rights violations under the existing legal framework underscores the need for it to cooperate with international justice processes, including the UN’s Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar – and for the UN Security Council to refer the situation to the International Criminal Court,” added Zarifi.

Download the statement with detailed background information here.

Contact

Sam Zarifi, Secretary General of the International Commission of Jurists, t: +41 79 726 4415; e: sam.zarifi(a)icj.org

Kingsley Abbott, Coordinator of the ICJ’s Global Accountability Initiative, t: +66 94 470 1345; e: kingsley.abbott(a)icj.org

Related work

Report: Remove barriers to justice for killing of journalist Ko Par Gyi

Statement: Why law reform is urgent and possible

Statement: Implement International Court of Justice provisional measures Order without delay

Briefing Paper: Four immediate reforms to strengthen the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission

Briefing Paper: Myanmar’s discriminatory citizenship laws can and must be reformed