Myanmar Submits Pilot Report On Rohingya Protection Measures To ICJ - Court

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 25th May, 2020) The International Court of Justice (ICJ) said on Monday that it had received the first UN-mandated report from Myanmar on measures it is taking to protect the Rohingya Muslim minority from genocide.

On January 23, the top UN court ruled that Myanmar must use all possible means to prevent acts that constituted genocide as per Article 2 of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, including murder, torture, inflicting negative conditions, forcibly limiting births and taking children from their parents committed with the purpose of destruction of religious, racial, ethnic and national groups. Myanmar was also ordered that evidence related to the genocide allegations be preserved and that the ICJ provides regular reports on its measures to protect the Rohingya population.

"NEWS: On 22 May 2020, Myanmar submitted the first report indicated in the #ICJ Order on provisional measures of 23 January 2020 in the case concerning Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (#TheGambia v.

#Myanmar)," the ICJ tweeted.

In 2018, the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar issued a report saying there were grounds to believe that the Myanmar leadership had committed genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. In November, the Republic of The Gambia initiated proceedings at the ICJ against Myanmar, accusing it of engaging in atrocities on a massive scale against the Rohingya Muslims.

The conflict in Myanmar's Rakhine state between the Rohingya and the Buddhist majority dates back to the previous century. Central authorities and the Buddhist population consider the Rohingya to be undocumented immigrants from Bangladesh.

Tensions escalated in 2017, when Myanmar's military launched a major offensive on Rohingya villages and outposts in the Rakhine state after unidentified Islamic extremists attacked police and security posts. According to the United Nations, about 745,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh since Myanmar's large-scale security forces campaign in 2017.