World not to tolerate Myanmar atrocities: Amnesty
ICJ on Thursday ordered Myanmar to take urgent measures to protect its Muslim Rohingya population from persecution and atrocities
After the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Myanmar to take "provisional measures" to prevent genocidal acts against the Rohingya community, Amnesty International said that the world will not tolerate Myanmar atrocities.
"The decision sends a message to Myanmar's senior officials that the world will not tolerate their atrocities, and will not blindly accept their empty rhetoric on the reality in Rakhine State today," said Amnesty's Regional Director Nicholas Bequelin.
He also said Myanmar must comply with the ICJ's ruling and take immediate action to cease ongoing violations against the community and to prevent the destruction of evidence.
"The decision comes just days after Myanmar published a summary report of the findings of the government-established 'Independent Commission of Enquiry'. The Commission was neither independent nor impartial and cannot be considered a credible effort to investigate these crimes against the Rohingya. Meanwhile, there have been no efforts to investigate the serious and wide-ranging violations against other ethnic minorities or elsewhere in the country," Nicholas said further.
He again said, "Until all those responsible for serious violations – including those with command responsibility – are held to account, these atrocity crimes will remain rampant. The UN Security Council must urgently refer the situation in Myanmar to the International Criminal Court."
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Thursday ordered Myanmar to take urgent measures to protect its Muslim Rohingya population from persecution and atrocities, and preserve evidence of alleged crimes against them.
In a victory for Gambia, which filed the case accusing Myanmar of genocide, the panel of 17 judges unanimously supported imposing measures on Myanmar to protect any evidence of crimes that could be used by the court in later hearings.
The Rohingya remain "at serious risk of genocide," the court found, ordering Myanmar to report back within four months on the steps it had taken to comply with its decision.
The decision comes despite de facto leader Aun San Suu Kyi defending her country against the accusations in person last month.
In a ruling today, ICJ says Myanmar must report to the court on all measures taken for the Rohingya, within four months.
Thursday's ruling dealt only with Gambia's request for so-called preliminary measures, the equivalent of a restraining order for states. It gave no indication of the court's final decision, which could take years to reach.
