World court orders Myanmar to stop Rohingya genocide

The International Court of Justice has unanimously ordered Myanmar to "take all measures within its power" to prevent all acts of genocide against the Rohingya Muslim ethnic minority group.

The decision in the Hague on Thursday morning (local time) also required Myanmar to stop its military from committing or inciting genocide, and to preserve evidence of potential crimes against humanity.

Presiding Judge Yusuf Abdulqawi said that in the court's opinion, the Rohingya "remain extremely vulnerable" in Myanmar and they faced "real and imminent risk".

"Genocide is denial of right of existence of whole human group," he said.

"It shocks the conscience of mankind … and is contrary to moral law and the spirit and aims of the United Nations."

He added that the court was not at this stage required to make an assessment as to whether genocide had occurred, but did have jurisdiction to put in emergency measures.

The court rejected Myanmar's request to throw the case out, and also said Myanmar must deliver a report within four months about the steps

According to the UN, a Myanmar army crackdown in 2017 led to mass killings and rapes of Rohingya people, a Muslim minority in Rakhine state.

That led to a mass exodus, with 730,000 people fleeing to Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh.

Agencies

 

Dhaka/Nasim