On the morning of December 8th, a public rally was held in support for State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s pending trip to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) where she will be representing Myanmar against allegations the country has violated provisions of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (“the Genocide Convention”).
State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, in her capacity as Foreign Affairs Minister, will lead Myanmar’s delegation to the ICJ to “defend the national interests of Myanmar.”
Mon State Chief Minister Dr. Aye Zan said, “ as the Foreign Minister of our country Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is going to the Hague and, we have organized this assembly where the public, different ethnic parties and organizations can show their support [for the State Counsellor].”
The public assembly was attended by 7000 thousand people from ten townships in Mon State. At the rally, people shouted, “May Daw Aung San Suu Kyi be healthy! May Daw Aung San Suu Kyi be successful!
Dr. Khin Soun, Vice-Chair of Mon State the National League for Democracy commented on the case, “That is not possible. We cannot say it yet until we go to Cox’s Bazar and study the situation there. We have not had a chance to go there yet, and we will hear more about this.”
He added that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s will represent the voice of the people to the international community.
Gambia – with the backing of the 57 members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation – has filed a case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) alleging that Myanmar’s actions regarding the Rohingya in Rakhine State violate various provisions of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (“the Genocide Convention”).
The case is not a criminal case against individual alleged perpetrators and it does not involve the International Criminal Court (ICC), which is a separate body . Rather, this is “state-to-state” litigation between UN member states governed by legal provisions in the UN Charter, the ICJ Statute, and the Genocide Convention.
Myanmar has been a party to the Genocide Convention since 1956.
While the case may take many years to reach a final ruling, Gambia has asked the court for an order for provisional measures “to protect the rights of the Rohingya group and those of The Gambia under the Genocide Convention, and to prevent the aggravation or extension of the dispute pending the final judgment of the Court.”
The hearing on the order for these provisional measures is taking place from December 10-12, 2019 in The Hague, Netherlands.
