UN court rejects Myanmar's claims, will hear Rohingya genocide case

New Delhi: The United Nations’ highest court on Friday dismissed preliminary objections by Myanmar to a case alleging the Southeast Asian nation is responsible for genocide against the Rohingya Muslims.

The move has now set the stage for court hearings airing the evidence of atrocities against the Rohingya that human rights groups and a UN probe say amount to breaches of the 1948 Genocide Convention. In March, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the violent repression of the Rohingya population in Myanmar amounts to genocide.

According to AP, the hearing at the International Court of Justice can take years.

Amid international outrage at the treatment of the Rohingya, Gambia filed the case with the world court alleging that Myanmar is breaching the genocide convention. The nation argued that both Gambia and Myanmar are parties to the convention and that all signatories have a duty to ensure it is enforced.

Myanmar’s military launched what it called a clearance campaign in the restive Rakhine state in 2017 following an attack by a Rohingya insurgent group. More than 700,000 Rohingya fled into neighbouring Bangladesh.

Myanmar security forces have been accused of mass rapes, killings, and arson of thousands of Rohingya homes.

With inputs from AP

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