THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Lawyers for Gambia on Wednesday urged the United Nations’ top court to throw out Myanmar’s legal bid to end a case accusing the Southeast Asian nation of genocide against the country’s Rohingya minority.
“This court must reject Myanmar’s meritless preliminary objections and proceed to adjudicate the merits of this dispute,” Gambia’s Attorney General and Justice Minister Dawda Jallow told judges at the International Court of Justice.
Lawyer Paul S. Reichler said the military takeover of power in Myanmar last year made the case all the more important as the country’s new rulers are alleged to be behind the atrocities committed against the Rohingya.
“If they can escape the court’s jurisdiction, they will be accountable to no one and there will be no constraints on their persecution and ultimate destruction of the Rohingya,” he warned, adding that “the Rohingya remain at grave risk of mass atrocity crimes.”
The case stems from what the Myanmar military called a clearance campaign it launched in Rakhine state in 2017 after an attack by a Rohingya insurgent group. Security forces were accused of mass rapes, killings and torching thousands of homes as more than 700,000 Rohingya fled into neighboring Bangladesh.
