World Court to open jurisdiction hearings in Myanmar genocide case

THE HAGUE: The World Court is to hear arguments on Monday in a case brought against Myanmar demanding that the country halt alleged acts of genocide against its Rohingya Muslim minority.

The jurisdictional hearing by the U.N. court carries additional significance because of concerns over who the Southeast Asian country has sent to represent it.

The ruling junta, which took power in February 2021 and has not been recognised by the U.N. General Assembly, has appointed an eight-member team that includes Attorney General Thida Oo.

Rights groups and overseas representatives of Myanmar's parallel civilian National Unity Government (NUG) fear that the hearing, which will deal with events that took place before the coup, could give the junta some diplomatic legitimacy.

But the court, formally known as the International Court of Justice (ICJ), determined the hearing could proceed as planned.

Monday's hearing concerns whether the court actually has jurisdiction over the case, a decision that could take months to reach.

The case was brought in 2019 by Gambia, a predominantly Muslim African country, backed by the 57-nation Organisation for Islamic Cooperation.

Gambia sued Myanmar for alleged violation of the Genocide Convention, citing events in 2017 when more than 730,000 Rohingya Muslims fled Myanmar into neighbouring Bangladesh after a military-led crackdown. A U.N. fact-finding mission concluded that the military campaign had included "genocidal acts."

Myanmar's then leader Aung San Suu Kyi attended preliminary hearings in the case in 2019 the Hague, denying genocide had taken place and arguing the court did not have jurisdiction. She has been in detention in Myanmar since the coup.

In a 2020 decision, the court ordered Myanmar to take measures to protect the Rohingya from harm, given the urgency of the matter.

Should the court rule that it has jurisdiction to hear the case, a decision on the merits of Gambia's allegation could take years more to reach.