AFP, Yangon :
Myanmar is facing a barrage of legal challenges from all over the world in an attempt to hold it accountable over the alleged genocide against its Rohingya Muslim population.
West African nation The Gambia this week launched a case at the UN’s top court while rights groups have filed a separate lawsuit in Argentina.
Meanwhile investigations at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague continue into the 2017 military crackdown that forced some 740,000 Rohingya to flee into Bangladesh.
UN investigators last year branded the bloody expulsion a genocide, and called for the prosecution of top generals-including the powerful army chief.
They also accused civilian leader and one-time democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi and her government of complicity in the atrocities.
Here are some of the different legal challenges in the complex search for justice: The International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague investigates war crimes and is focused on individual, not state, responsibility.
The United Nations Security Council needs to refer Myanmar to the court for full proceedings to start.
But geopolitics have so far stymied attempts, with China and Russia describing the Rohingya crisis as an internal matter. Myanmar has not signed up to the ICC, but last year the court launched preliminary investigations on the basis that Bangladesh-where the Rohingya are refugees-is a member.
This could ultimately lead to arrest warrants being issued for Myanmar’s generals.
But the process is lengthy, requiring participation from Bangladesh and-somewhat implausibly-Myanmar to hand over suspects. Another option could be for the ICC to create an ad hoc or mixed tribunal similar to ones created for Rwanda, Yugoslavia, Lebanon and Cambodia. But again this would, in theory, require cooperation from Myanmar authorities.
Myanmar is facing a barrage of legal challenges from all over the world in an attempt to hold it accountable over the alleged genocide against its Rohingya Muslim population.
West African nation The Gambia this week launched a case at the UN’s top court while rights groups have filed a separate lawsuit in Argentina.
Meanwhile investigations at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague continue into the 2017 military crackdown that forced some 740,000 Rohingya to flee into Bangladesh.
UN investigators last year branded the bloody expulsion a genocide, and called for the prosecution of top generals-including the powerful army chief.
They also accused civilian leader and one-time democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi and her government of complicity in the atrocities.
Here are some of the different legal challenges in the complex search for justice: The International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague investigates war crimes and is focused on individual, not state, responsibility.
The United Nations Security Council needs to refer Myanmar to the court for full proceedings to start.
But geopolitics have so far stymied attempts, with China and Russia describing the Rohingya crisis as an internal matter. Myanmar has not signed up to the ICC, but last year the court launched preliminary investigations on the basis that Bangladesh-where the Rohingya are refugees-is a member.
This could ultimately lead to arrest warrants being issued for Myanmar’s generals.
But the process is lengthy, requiring participation from Bangladesh and-somewhat implausibly-Myanmar to hand over suspects. Another option could be for the ICC to create an ad hoc or mixed tribunal similar to ones created for Rwanda, Yugoslavia, Lebanon and Cambodia. But again this would, in theory, require cooperation from Myanmar authorities.
