Elham Asaad Buaras
Myanmar has begun defending itself at the United Nations’ highest court against accusations that its military orchestrated a campaign of genocide against the Rohingya Muslim minority, allegations brought by The Gambia that centre on claims of state-directed violence, mass displacement and an attempt to erase an entire people from Myanmar.
The case, filed in 2019 by the West African nation, accuses Myanmar of breaching the 1948 UN Genocide Convention through its treatment of the Rohingya, particularly during a brutal military crackdown in 2017 that killed thousands and forced more than 700,000 people to flee to Bangladesh.
Oral hearings on the merits of the case opened at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague on January 12, marking the first full genocide case heard by the court in more than a decade. Judges heard detailed accusations from The Gambia during the first week, before Myanmar began its defence on January 16.
In its opening submissions, The Gambia accused Myanmar of pursuing a long-term policy aimed at destroying the Rohingya as a protected group under international law.
Addressing the court earlier this week, The Gambia’s Foreign Minister, Dawda Jallow, said Myanmar sought to eliminate the Rohingya through “genocidal policies”.
He told judges the Rohingya “had suffered decades of appalling persecution and years of dehumanising propaganda”, culminating in a military campaign and “continual genocidal policies meant to erase their existence in Myanmar”.
The Gambia said it brought the case out of a “sense of responsibility”, informed by its own experience of military rule, and argued that the scale and nature of the violence, including the killing of civilians, the burning of villages and the targeting of women, children and the elderly — could not plausibly be framed as counter-terrorism.
“When the court considers… all of the evidence taken together, the only reasonable conclusion to reach is that a genocidal intent permeated and informed Myanmar’s myriad of state-led actions against the Rohingya,” said Philippe Sands, representing The Gambia, which has the backing of the 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.
Judges heard evidence relating to the 2017 operations in Rakhine State, during which entire Rohingya communities were driven out amid reports of mass executions, sexual violence and systematic arson. More than one million Rohingya refugees now live in camps in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar region, among the largest and most densely populated refugee settlements in the world.
A UN fact-finding mission reported in 2018 that senior figures in Myanmar’s military should be investigated for genocide in Rakhine State and crimes against humanity elsewhere. Myanmar dismissed the findings and has repeatedly rejected allegations of genocidal intent.
Myanmar, which has been under military control since the overthrow of its civilian government in 2021, began responding to the allegations , denying that its actions amounted to genocide.
Ko Ko Hlaing, a representative of the military-backed government, told the ICJ that the accusation was “unsubstantiated”.
Myanmar has maintained that its 2017 campaign was a legitimate security operation, not an attack on civilians.
Hlaing told the court that “Myanmar was not obliged to remain idle and allow terrorists to have free reign of northern Rakhine states”, where the majority of Rohingya lived.
“These attacks were the reasons for the clearance operations, which is a military term referring to counterinsurgency or counter-terrorism operations,” Hlaing said.
He also told judges that Myanmar remained committed to “achieving the repatriation to Myanmar of persons from Rakhine State currently living in camps in Bangladesh”, while attributing delays to external factors such as Covid-19.
“Myanmar’s commitment and constant efforts since 2017 contradict Gambia’s narrative that Myanmar’s intention is to destroy or forcibly deport this population,” Hlaing said.
He warned that “a finding of genocide would place an indelible stain on my country and its people”, arguing that the case was of “fundamental importance for my country’s reputation and future”.
The ICJ has reserved three days during the hearing period to hear testimony from witnesses, including Rohingya survivors. These sessions will be held behind closed doors.
A final judgment is expected towards the end of 2026, according to Reuters. Legal observers say the ruling is likely to influence how the Genocide Convention is applied in future cases, including proceedings brought by South Africa against Israel over the war in Gaza.
The Genocide Convention, adopted in 1948 in the wake of the Holocaust, defines genocide as crimes committed “with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group”.
