State counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi asks court to dismiss genocide case against Myanmar

THE HAGUE, Dec 13, 2019, Myanmar Times. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has asked the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Thursday to drop the genocide case filed against Myanmar by the Gambia and sought the dismissal of the urgent plea for provisional measures intended to prevent more sufferings for people in northern Rakhine, Myanmar Times reported.

In Myanmar’s final submission at the conclusion of the three-day hearing in The Hague, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi warned that issuing provisional measures could “undermine the ongoing reconciliation” efforts in the strife torn area.

She asked the court to help Myanmar “create unity out of diversity” by dropping the case.

Myanmar’s de facto leader said that neutralising the current military justice system in the country and replacing it with an external justice system is like “surgically removing a functioning body part”.

Provisional measures might also hinder the repatriation process already in place, the principle of which is supported by the public, and the implication could be adverse as the situation on the ground remains “complex”, Chris Staker, lawyer for Myanmar, said.

The State Counsellor expressed confidence that Myanmar’s government-mandated Independent Commission of Inquiry will deliver justice once its final report is completed. She added the commission’s report would be submitted soon.

Earlier on Thursday, lawyers for the Gambia rebutted Myanmar’s argument against the genocide case filed at the ICJ and renewed its call for the court to issue “provisional measures” to prevent further abuses against Muslims in Rakhine State.

Paul Reichler, one of the lawyers acting for the Gambia, said Myanmar did not deny the UN Fact-Finding Mission’s conclusion of “inference of genocidal intent” by Myanmar against northern Rakhine Muslims.

“Nor has Myanmar denied that the Fact-Finding Mission reached this conclusion based on seven specific indicators [of genocide],” he told the court.

Another attorney for the Gambia, Philippe Sands, quoted one of Myanmar’s lawyers, William Schabas, who said, “We’re moving into a zone where the word [genocide] can be used in the case of the Rohingya,” in a television interview in 2013.

Other Gambia lawyers blasted Myanmar for making no mention of the “enormity” of alleged sexual violence against women and children, and mass rapes.

“Madam Agent, your silence said far more than your words,” Sands said, addressing Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

Unconvinced by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s statement that “appropriate action will also be taken against civilian offenders in line with due process”, Reichler said the country’s justice system cannot be trusted as it is under “military control”.

The lawyers acting for the Gambia also cited the sanctions imposed on Tuesday by the US Treasury Department against four top Myanmar military officials, including Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.

The four were among the 17 individuals from foreign countries that was sanctioned by the US during the celebrations of the International Human Rights Day.

The president of the ICJ said the court would reach its final decision on provisional measures “as soon as possible”.