Myanmar Ethnic Rohingya Human Rights Organization in Malaysia (MERHROM) would like to welcome the public hearing held by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), The Hague Netherlands.On 12 December 2024, Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (The Gambia v. Myanmar. We welcome the oral argument by Mr. Dawda Jallow, Lawyer for Gambia, The argument by Mr. Dawda Jallow who is also Gambia’s Attorney General and Justice Minister brings new hope for justice and accountability not only for the Rohingya but the people of Myanmar and the global citizens. We strongly oppose the preliminary objections by the Myanmar military that Gambia has no rights to take Myanmar to ICJ due to the fact that Gambia is not affected by the state. The truth is that the whole world was affected by the Rohingya Genocide as we put various efforts and countless resources to stop the Rohingya Genocide and support the survivors of genocide, until we are able to stop the genocide. Gambia has the right to bring the case to ICJ as Gambia is a state party to the Genocide Convention. This is strongly stated by Mr. Dawda Jallow in his oral argument. The Rohingya who is the most persecuted ethnic in the world has suffered long decades of Genocide in the hands of the military, therefore this hearing is extremely crucial in the process of seeking justice and accountability. What Myanmar military is doing to the Rohingya is obviously a Genocide. Various parties around the world have documented comprehensively the cases of Rohingya Genocide Survivors over decades. It is obviously a serious crime and gross human rights violations. The Myanmar military cannot justify their genocide attack on Rohingya for any reason because Genocide is Genocide. Therefore, it is not only the responsibility of the Gambia as a state party to the Genocide Convention but it is the responsibility of all countries to stop the Rohingya Genocide as most countries are the members states to the United Nations where they have to respect and uphold the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and other international laws and conventions. Obviously, Myanmar who ratified the Genocide Convention since 1956 has breach the 1948 UN Genocide Convention. The Gambia who became a state party to the Genocide Convention much more later in 1978 is doing their best to stop the Rohingya Genocide. We must never forget the Rwandan Genocide in 1994, where 1 million innocent civilians killed. If 1 million innocents civilians died during 100 days of Rwanda Genocide, can you imagine how many millions Rohingya have died as a result of long decades of genocidal attacks from the Myanmar military? Can you imagine how many millions Rohingya have died as consequences of genocide? Can you imagine how many Rohingya have died due to dire conditions in refugee camps? Can you imagine how many Rohingya have died in the ocean and in the jungle in their journey seeking refuge? Please open your eyes and your heart. Please stand with us to stop the Rohingya Genocide. Everyone, every state, every sector must play our roles to make this happen. This will be in our history. Though the Gambia brought the case to ICJ following a brutal 2017 genocidal attack on the Rohingya that forced more than 700,000 Rohingya fled to Bangladesh, the fact is that Rohingya was facing slow burning Genocide over decades. The various occasions of Rohingya mass exodus for many decades are the proof. Justice must prevail for the Rohingya in Myanmar (including in IDP Camps) as well as millions of the Rohingya that are stranded indefinitely in Coxes’ Bazar, Bashan Char, and in transit countries that are still seeking for a durable solution. Obviously until now the Myanmar military failed to comply with the previous court order to prevent genocidal acts. Until now the Rohingya continued to be victims of Genocide even after Gambia brought the case to ICJ in 2019. We deeply hope that the seeking justice efforts for the Rohingya Genocide Survivors by various stakeholders and supported by many countries around the world will go smoothly without further delay as the situation in Myanmar worsening. We are all aware of the mass exodus of Rohingya in 1978 (44 years ago) where more than 200,000 Rohingya fled to Bangladesh. In 1991 the world witnessed another mass exodus of Rohingya where 250,000 Rohingya fled to Bangladesh. Then, we were awakened by the mass exodus of Rohingya in 2012, 2016 and 2017 to Bangladesh following a genocidal attack on Rohingya by the Myanmar military. This will be repeated again and again unless we can stop the Rohingya Genocide and hold the perpetrators to accountable. Sine May 2024, the genocidal attack against the Rohingya were launched by the Burmese military and the Arakan Army (AA) resulting in mass killing of Rohingya especially in Buthidaung and Maungdaw Township. This time no Rohingya could escape the Arakan State as they were under the control of the Arakan Army (AA). The wounded Rohingya were left to die without treatment as no medical assistance was provided. Until now none of the humanitarian agencies could enter Rakhine State to provide humanitarian aid. As a consequence, more Rohingya died due to no food, water, treatment and shelter. Rohingya were targeted by the Arakan Army (AA) by drone bombs and fired artillery. Thousands of Rohingya civilians including children, women, and the elderly were brutally killed while many others were injured during and after the genocidal attacks. Obviously, this is a Rohingya Genocide, not an ethnic cleasing, massacre, sectarian violence or conflict. We urge everyone including the members of the media to use the correct terminology when describing the Rohingya situation for the Rohingya to seek justice and protection we urgently need. Rohingya were killed both in small scale to large scale of genocidal attacks. The ultimate target is to eliminate the Rohingya in Arakan State @ Rakhine State. The name of Arakan State was changed to Rakhine State as one of the strategies to eliminate the existence of Arakan State and the Rohingya. We call upon all World Leaders, United Nations, ASEAN, OIC, NGOs and the international community to play your part to continue to voice out our suffering and continue to advocate and intervene to stop the Rohingya Genocide so that we can return to our homeland safely with dignity where our rights are guaranteed. We call upon every party to support Gambia in this extremely significant process. We thank the Government of Gambia to take a lead in this historical court process to stop long decades of Rohingya Genocide. The Myanmar military and Arakan Army (AA) must be made accountable for the Rohingya Genocide without further delay. The ICJ process must be sped up in whatever situation in order to deliver justice to the Rohingyas. If we cannot stop the Rohingya genocide today, We thank all of you who supported the struggle of the Myanmar people for Justice, Peace and Freedom. Thank you, “JUSTICE DELAYED IS JUSTICE DENIED”. “GENOCIDE IS GENOCIDE”..
Yours sincerely,
Zafar Ahmad Abdul Ghani President Myanmar Ethnic Rohingya Human Rights Organization in Malaysia (MERHROM) @ A Human Rights Defender
