The persecuted Rohingyas refugees in response to the speech of Aung San Suu Kyi recorded in the International Court of Justice ICJ in the Hague of Netherlands on Wednesday rejected her claim that the army generals committed no crimes that led to genocide.
They said that she is lying to the court about the incidents of genocide twisting facts and defending that the Myanmar Army Generals never committed any crimes.
The Rohingya leaders also said that Aung San Suu Kyi, the State Councilor of Myanmar, has no consideration on the atrocities carried out on the Rohingyas by the Myanmar junta.
Since August 2017, the Rohingyas who fled in masses to neighbouring Bangladesh, blame Aung San Suu Kyi for the crisis and now condemn her for defending Myanmar against the genocide case brought by the Gambia before the ICJ.
Younus Arman, a Rohingya registered refugee living in Kutupalong camp, world largest refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar and a rights activist told to The Bangladesh Post, “We had previously figured out that Suu Kyi is the puppet of the genocidal Myanmar army. Now she is trying to use her international image to defend the army once again.”
The Rohingyas in camps have tried to listen to the ICJ's hearings. As much as it is heard, there is nothing but frustration for the refugees in Suu Kyi’s speech,” said Younus Arman(25) born in camp as her parents came to Bangladesh during 1991 refugee influx, “she is also trying to use Bangladesh to hide the fact. She said there was a repatriation agreement with Bangladesh but till now no Rohingya had been returned to Myanmar with basic rights.”
About Suu Keyis statement on ICJ, the Young Rohingya refugee said, She event did not mention word ‘Rohingya’ in her 25 minutes speech, that proves, they (Myanmar authorities) never accept us in their(Myanmar).
Gambia’s case rests on two key elements, genocidal intent and genocidal acts. Referring mainly to the UN Fact-Finding Mission report, Gambia claimed genocidal intent in the systematic denial of legal rights to the Rohingya. These include restrictions on their ability to marry and bear children, severe restrictions on freedom of movement, including detention camps, and governmental support for, and participation in, pervasive hate campaigns aimed at demonizing and dehumanizing the group.
More than 730,000 Rohingya fled Myanmar in 2017 after a military-led crackdown. The United Nations has said the campaign was executed with “genocidal intent” and included mass killings and rape. Now a total of 1000,000 Rohingyas from Rakhine state living in Bangladesh.
Myanmar authorities have strongly disputed that conclusion, categorizing the military operation as a legitimate counter-terrorism response to attacks by Rohingya militants.
During three days of hearings, The Gambia’s legal team will ask the 17-member panel of UN judges at the ICJ to impose “provisional measures” to protect the Rohingya before the case can be heard in full.
Mohammad Ismail (58), a Rohingya teacher now resided in Balukhali camp said, “We lost faith on Aung San Suu Kyi before. Since she took responsibilities as the Chair of State Councilor she never took a single step to protect the Rohingya Muslim minority."
“Now she is engaged in politics in and outside of the country to save her position ahead of an upcoming general election in 2020, Mr Ismail said, to resolve the crisis, international bodes including Bangladesh should keep heavy pressure on Myanmar authorities.
The violent acts of the Myanmar military against Rohingyas and other minority ethnic groups have never been brought to higher international bodies like the UN Security Council. These outrages were only brought to the world’s attention after UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres labelled the Rohingya exodus, “a textbook example of ethnic cleansing” and UN special rapporteur Yanghee Lee suggested another term, “the hallmarks of genocide.”
