By Makutu Manneh
The Government of the Gambia has filed a case against Myanmar for genocide against the Rohingya Muslim minority of that country.
According to a press statement from the Justice Ministry, the Gambia has filed before the International Court in The Hague, a Lawsuit alleging that the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, violated its obligations on all Counts in its brutal treatment of the Rohingya by subjecting them to excessive acts of violence and malicious degradation determined to destroy them as a group.
“Genocide is a crime under international Law, and all States have an obligation to prevent, punish and to not commit genocide,” the release indicated.
The release further states that the Gambia has asked the ICJ to impose provisional measures as a matter of extreme urgency, to protect the Rohingya.
The Ministry of Justice in the Press Release state that the Gambia joined the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to hold the Myanmar Government accountable for the genocidal crimes committed against Rohingya people.
The Gambia Government calls on the international community to support its legal efforts to redouble all diplomatic and political efforts to cause Myanmar to stop and never repeat its genocide against the Rohingya and ‘‘to assist in efforts to ensure justice and accountability for the crimes committed,’’ the release pointed out.
According to the Release from the Justice Ministry, Myanmar has violated its obligation under the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes of Genocide, for its genocidal actions against the Rohingya people who are a Muslim minority living in Myanmar.
The release indicates that the Agent for The Gambia and head of the legal team before the ICJ in this case is Abubacarr Marie Tambadou, Attorney General and Justice Minister of the Gambia.
Myanmar is a Southeast Asian Nation of more than 100 ethnic groups, bordering with India, Bangladesh, China, Laos and Thailand, and the Rohingya are a stateless people of Indo-Aryan ethnic origin who follow Islam and reside in Rakhine State in Myanmar.
The Rohingya conflict is an on-going battle in the Northern part of Myanmar’s Rakhine State. The state is characterized by religious violence between the Rohingya Muslims and Rakhine Buddhist communities. This is followed by a military crackdown on Rohingya civilians with the collaboration of Myanmar’s Security Forces and militant attacks by Rohingya rebels in Buthidaung, Maungdaw and Rathedaung townships.
Genocide is the systematic killing of a substantial number of people on the basis of their ethnicity, religion, political beliefs, social status or other particularities.
