Showing posts with label Rohingya. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rohingya. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 26, 2022

International Court Of Justice Says Genocide Case Against Myanmar May Move Ahead

 In The Gambia v. Myanmar, (Intl. Ct. Justice, July 22, 2022), the United Nations International court of Justice rejected various procedural defenses raised by Myanmar to the suit against it alleging genocide against the Rohingya. Among other things, it held that Gambia has standing to bring the lawsuit, saying in part:

112. It follows that any State party to the Genocide Convention may invoke the responsibility of another State party, including through the institution of proceedings before the Court, with a view to determining the alleged failure to comply with its obligations erga omnes partes under the Convention and to bringing that failure to an end.

113. The Court acknowledges that Bangladesh, which borders Myanmar, has faced a large influx of members of the Rohingya group who have fled Myanmar. However, this fact does not affect the right of all other Contracting Parties to assert the common interest in compliance with the obligations erga omnes partes under the Convention and therefore does not preclude The Gambia’s standing in the present case.

AP reports on the decision.

Tuesday, March 22, 2022

U.S. Labels Burmese Military's Treatment Of Rohingya As Genocide

In a speech (full text) yesterday at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced that the United States has concluded that Burma's actions against the Rohingya constitute genocide.  He said in part:

One of my responsibilities as Secretary is determining, on behalf of the United States, whether atrocities have been committed.  It’s an immense responsibility that I take very seriously, particularly given my family’s history.

Beyond the Holocaust, the United States has concluded that genocide was committed seven times.  Today marks the eighth, as I have determined that members of the Burmese military committed genocide and crimes against humanity against Rohingya.

Thursday, December 09, 2021

Product Liability/ Negligence Suit Against Facebook Seeks $150B On Behalf Of Rohingya Refugees

An unusual class action lawsuit was filed this week against Facebook in a California state trial court on behalf of all Rohingya refugees in the United States who left Myanmar on or after June 1, 2012. It asks for $150 billion in damages for knowingly fueling anti-Rohingya sentiment that enabled the military government of Burma (Myanmar) to engage in ethnic cleansing campaign against the Rohingya. The complaint (full text) in Jane Doe v. Meta Platforms, Inc., (CA Super. Ct., filed 12/6/2021), sets out product liability and negligence claims against Facebook, saying in part:

168. The design of Facebook’s algorithms and product resulted in the proliferation and intensification of hate speech, misinformation, and conspiracy theories attacking the Rohingya in Burma, radicalizing users, causing injury to Plaintiff and the Class, as described above. Accordingly, through the design of its algorithms and product, Facebook (1) contributed to the development and creation of such hate speech and misinformation and (2) radicalized users, causing them to tolerate, support, and even participate in the persecution of and ethnic violence against Plaintiff and the Class.

169. Because (1) the persecution of the Rohingya by the military government was widely known before Facebook launched its product in Burma and (2) Facebook was repeatedly warned after the launch that hate speech and misinformation on the system was likely to result in ethnic violence, Facebook knew and had reason to expect that the Myanmar military and non-Rohingya civilians would engage in violence and commit atrocities against Plaintiff and the Class.

According to the Rohingya Facebook Claim Website, lawyers plan to file a similar suit in the United Kingdom on behalf of Rohingya living elsewhere than the United States. A Letter of Notice has been sent to Facebook. CNN reports on the lawsuits.

Friday, September 04, 2020

Canada, Netherlands Will Assist In Case Against Myanmar For Genocide Against Rohingya

 In a Joint Statement (full text) issued on Wednesday, the Foreign Ministers of Canada and the Netherlands said that their governments plan to intervene in the genocide case that has been brought against Myanmar at the International Court of Justice. In the case, Gambia claims that Myanmar has taken and condoned actions against Rohingya Muslims that violate the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. In an initial decision, the International Court imposed provisional measures on Myanmar.  In their Joint Statement, Canada and the Netherlands said in part:

The Gambia took a laudable step towards ending impunity for those committing atrocities in Myanmar and upholding this pledge. Canada and the Netherlands consider it our obligation to support these efforts which are of concern to all of humanity. As part of this intervention, Canada and the Kingdom of the Netherlands will assist with the complex legal issues that are expected to arise and will pay special attention to crimes related to sexual and gender-based violence, including rape.

Al Jazeera reports on these developments.

Thursday, January 23, 2020

World Court Orders Myanmar To Prevent Further Genocide of Rohingya

The United Nations International Court of Justice has handed down an opinion and order imposing provisional measures on Myanmar to protect the Rohingya in Myanmar's Rakhine state from continuing acts of genocide. The court's opinion in The Gambia v. Myanmar, (ICJ, Jan. 23, 2020), deals at length with jurisdictional issues, standing and the availability of provisional relief pending a final decision in the case. Finding that a plausible claim has been stated and that there is a real and imminent risk of irreparable prejudice if interim relief is not granted, the Court ordered:
The Republic of the Union of Myanmar shall, in accordance with its obligations under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, in relation to the members of the Rohingya group in its territory, take all measures within its power to prevent the commission of all acts within the scope of Article II of this Convention, in particular:
(a) killing members of the group;
(b) causing serious bodily or mental harm to the members of the group;
(c) deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; and
(d) imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
...The Republic of the Union of Myanmar shall, in relation to the members of the Rohingya group in its territory, ensure that its military, as well as any irregular armed units which may be directed or supported by it and any organizations and persons which may be subject to its control, direction or influence, do not commit any acts described in point (1) above, or of conspiracy to commit genocide, of direct and public incitement to commit genocide, of attempt to commit genocide, or of complicity in genocide....
The Republic of the Union of Myanmar shall take effective measures to prevent the destruction and ensure the preservation of evidence related to allegations of acts within the scope of Article II of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide....
The Court also issued a press release summarizing the decision. CNN has extensive background on the case.

Friday, November 15, 2019

International Criminal Court Authorizes Investigation Into Persecution of Rohingya By Myanmar

Yesterday, in a 58-page decision (full text), a 3-judge Pre-Trial Chamber of the International Criminal Court sitting at The Hague authorized an investigation into alleged crimes against humanity committed against the Rohingya Muslims by Myanmar. The Court's press release summarizes the decision:
The Chamber concluded that the Court may exercise jurisdiction over crimes when part of the criminal conduct takes place on the territory of a State Party. While Myanmar is not a State Party, Bangladesh ratified the ICC Rome statute in 2010. Upon review of the available information, the Chamber accepted that there exists a reasonable basis to believe widespread and/or systematic acts of violence may have been committed that could qualify as the crimes against humanity of deportation across the Myanmar-Bangladesh border and persecution on grounds of ethnicity and/or religion against the Rohingya population..... 
Noting the scale of the alleged crimes and the number of victims allegedly involved, the Chamber considered that the situation clearly reaches the gravity threshold. According to the supporting material, an estimated 600,000 to one million Rohingya were forcibly displaced from Myanmar to neighbouring Bangladesh as a result of the alleged coercive acts. Noting the victims' views, the Chamber agreed with the Prosecutor that there are no substantial reasons to believe that an investigation into the situation would not be in the interests of justice.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Gambia Sues Myanmar In International Court of Justice Over Rohingya Genocide

The International Court of Justice announced this week that the Republic of Gambia has instituted proceedings against Myanmar alleging actions taken and condoned against Rohingya Muslims violated the Genocide Convention. The full text of Gambia's Nov. 11 Application Instituting Proceedings is available from the ICJ's website. Myanmar Times reports on the filing of the case.

Wednesday, July 17, 2019

U.S. Sanctions Top Burmese Military Leaders For Ethnic Cleansing of Rohingya

Yesterday U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that four top Burmese military leaders and their immediate families will be barred from entry into the United States "for gross human rights violations, including in extrajudicial killings in northern Rakhine State, Burma, during the ethnic cleansing of Rohingya." This made the United States the first government to publicly take action against the most senior leadership of the Burmese (Myanmar) military. The announcement was followed by an official briefing on the action by State Department officials. AlJazeera reports on the State Department's action.

Wednesday, December 05, 2018

Studies Conclude Atrocities Against Rohingya Constitute Genocide

On Monday, the Public International Law and Policy Group, a global pro bono law firm, issued a 105-page report (full text) titled Documenting Atrocity Crimes Committed Against the Rohingya In Myanmar's Rakhine State. Here is an exceprt:
In March and April 2018, the Public International Law & Policy Group (PILPG), undertook an as yet unprecedented large-scale and comprehensive human rights documentation investigation mission in the refugee camps and settlement areas in Eastern Bangladesh. The purpose of this investigation mission was to provide an accurate accounting of the patterns of abuse and atrocity crimes perpetrated against the Rohingya in Myanmar’s Rakhine State and to help inform the policy decisions related to accountability in Myanmar....
Following its investigation mission, and with substantial support from an array of international attorneys and international criminal law experts, PILPG conducted a comprehensive legal analysis of the investigation’s factual findings....
The investigation mission documented a range of crimes amounting to crimes against humanity, including the particularly prevalent crimes of extermination, murder, rape and other forms of sexual violence, enslavement, forcible transfer, and persecution.... 
With regard to the crime of genocide, this Report concludes that there are reasonable grounds to believe that genocide was committed against the Rohingya in Myanmar’s northern Rakhine State....
Finally, this Report concludes that there are reasonable grounds to believe that war crimes were committed in relation to abuses and violence committed against the Rohingya in northern Rakhine State.....
The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, citing other studies, also issued a statement (full text) reaching a similar conclusion. Politico reports that the U.S. House of Representatives is expected to pass H. Res. 1091 expressing the sense of the House that genocide and crimes against humanity have been committed.

Tuesday, October 16, 2018

Myanmar Military Incited Rohingya Genocide Through Fake Facebook Accounts

In an article posted yesterday, the New York Times reports that the genocide and ethnic cleansing directed at Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar was incited online by Myanmar military personnel:
Members of the Myanmar military were the prime operatives behind a systematic campaign on Facebook that stretched back half a decade and that targeted the country’s mostly Muslim Rohingya minority group..... The military exploited Facebook’s wide reach in Myanmar, where it is so broadly used that many of the country’s 18 million internet users confuse the Silicon Valley social media platform with the internet. Human rights groups blame the anti-Rohingya propaganda for inciting murders, rapes and the largest forced human migration in recent history.
While Facebook took down the official accounts of senior Myanmar military leaders in August, the breadth and details of the propaganda campaign — which was hidden behind fake names and sham accounts — went undetected. The campaign ... included hundreds of military personnel who created troll accounts and news and celebrity pages on Facebook and then flooded them with incendiary comments and posts timed for peak viewership.

Wednesday, August 29, 2018

UN Report Says Investigate Myanmar Generals for Genocide

On Monday, the United Nations Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar released a Report (full text) recommending that Myanmar’s top military generals must be investigated for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes directed at the minority Rohingya people.  CNN has more on the report.

Monday, April 16, 2018

USCIRF Issues New Report On Religious Freedom Challenges In Burma

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has recently issued an update on religious freedom challenges in Burma. (Full text of report).  The report, which particularly focuses on the conditions faced by Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine State, also more broadly summarizes the situation in the country:
Successive governments in Burma have failed to ensure that all religious communities are able to practice their faith freely, openly, and without fear, and in some cases have directly perpetrated, tolerated, or ignored religious- and ethnic-based discrimination and abuses. Religious and ethnic minorities are disadvantaged by:
  • Institutionalized discrimination;
  • Increasing anti-Muslim sentiment and the related rise of Buddhist nationalism, which has affected all religious minorities;
  • A culture of impunity and lack of accountability for human rights abuses and crimes committed by military and nonstate actors; and
  • Decades of ethnic armed conflicts and internal displacement.
The deprivation of Rohingya Muslims’ rights became even more acute following 2012 communal violence in Rakhine State...

Thursday, January 04, 2018

USCIRF Praises US Sanctions Against Burmese General

In a Dec. 21 press release, the U.S. Treasury Department announced the first sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act.  this week, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom issued a press release focusing particularly on sanctions imposed on a Burmese army general for his abuses directed at Rohingya Muslims. USCIRF said in part:
USCIRF has long called for targeted sanctions against violators of religious freedom....  Tools that could be used include the Global Magnitsky Act, the Treasury Department’s “specially designated nationals” (SDN) list, and other provisions under the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA).
Specific to Burma, USCIRF praises the inclusion of General Maung Maung Soe in the list of sanctioned individuals.  As the former head of the Burmese Army’s Western Command, he oversaw military operations in Rakhine State and myriad human rights abuses that resulted in more than 700,000 Rohingya Muslims fleeing the country since 2016.

Friday, November 07, 2014

NYT Surveys Increasing Persecution of Rohingya By Myanmar

The New York Times in a lengthy article posted yesterday surveys the increasing persecution of the Rohingya Muslims by the government of Myanmar. Here is an excerpt:
The Myanmar government has given the estimated one million Rohingya people in this coastal region of the country a dispiriting choice: Prove your family has lived here for more than 60 years and qualify for second-class citizenship, or be placed in camps and face deportation.
The policy, accompanied by a wave of decrees and legislation, has made life for the Rohingya, a long-persecuted Muslim minority, ever more desperate, spurring the biggest flow of Rohingya refugees since a major exodus two years ago.