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OIC welcomes ICJ hearing


Published : 26 Nov 2019 09:28 PM | Updated : 07 Sep 2020 09:37 PM

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation has welcomed the International Court of Justice decision to conduct its first hearing in December 10-12 in the case against Myanmar for its atrocities against ethnic minority Rohingyas. A post on the website of the organisation on November 24 stated this, adding that the OIC called on the international community to support this legal effort for justice and accountability for Rohingyas and to engage in all diplomatic and political efforts to stop Myanmar from perpetrating violence against this persecuted minority.

The case was filed by the Republic of The Gambia, as the chair of the OIC Ad Hoc Ministerial Committee on Accountability for Human Rights Violations Against the Rohingyas, for violations by Myanmar of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

As part of the lawsuit, the ICJ is requested to impose provisional measures, as a matter of extreme urgency, to protect Rohingyas against further harm by ordering Myanmar to stop all of its genocidal conduct immediately. Genocide is a crime under international law, as well as international criminal law and all states have an obligation to prevent, to punish, and to not commit genocide.

The Ad Hoc Ministerial Committee was established at the 45th OIC Council of Foreign Ministers meeting in Dhaka in May 5-6, 2018. The Gambia, as the chair of this committee was tasked with submitting the case to the ICJ, following a decision by the OIC Heads of State, during the 14th Islamic Summit Conference in Makkah AlMukarramah on May 31, 2019.