The Gambia filed a lawsuit against Myanmar with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Monday, accusing the country of genocide of the Muslim Rohingya minority, an international human rights organization said
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th November, 2019) The Gambia filed a lawsuit against Myanmar with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Monday, accusing the country of genocide of the Muslim Rohingya minority, an international human rights organization said.The Gambian attorney general and justice minister, Abubacarr Tambadou, informed 10 rights watchdogs about this initiative at a meeting in The Hague, according to Human Rights Watch.
It came a day after the Foreign Ministry of the Gambia, where over 90 percent of population are Muslims, stressed the need to hold Myanmar accountable and "take action for the Muslim Umma." The ministry noted that the Gambia sought to "rebrand" its image and become a "human rights capital of Africa."
The ministry also recalled that the Gambia acted as a signatory to the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Myanmar itself joined the convention in 1956.
The conflict in Myanmar's Rakhine state between the Rohingya, a Muslim minority, and the Buddhist majority dates back to the previous century. Central authorities and the Buddhist population consider the Rohingya to be undocumented immigrants from Bangladesh.
Tensions escalated in 2017, when Myanmar's military launched a major offensive on Rohingya villages and outposts in the Rakhine state after unidentified Islamic extremists attacked police and security posts. More than 700,000 Rohingya have fled the country as a result, mainly to neighboring Bangladesh.
