Asia Times | Myanmar’s judicial defense of the indefensible | Article
▻https://www.asiatimes.com/2019/11/opinion/myanmars-judicial-defense-of-the-indefensible
Between December 10 and 12, Myanmar’s de facto civilian leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, will lead this first phase of her government’s defense at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague against The Gambia’s official complaint against Myanmar for violations of the United Nations’ 1948 Genocide Convention. That complaint hinges on abuses inflicted by Myanmar security forces against the Rohingya in northern Rakhine state in 2017.
Suu Kyi will not face Myanmar’s accusers alone. Myanmar has already warned that it will deploy unidentified “prominent international lawyers” to challenge The Gambia’s complaint. Myanmar has not shared what its legal strategy at The Hague will entail beyond “defending the national interest.” What’s certain is that Suu Kyi and Myanmar’s lawyers face an uphill battle in challenging the extensively documented campaign of mass murder, gang rape, and mutilation targeted at Rohingya civilians.
That evidence includes a 444-page report issued in September 2018 by the United Nations Fact-Finding Mission that concluded that there was evidence of atrocities by Myanmar security forces against the Rohingya warranting criminal prosecution for crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide. The report named top military officials as targets for investigation and prosecution as well as civilian authorities who “have spread false narratives, denied the wrongdoing of the [security forces], blocked independent investigations … and overseen the destruction of evidence.”