MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th November, 2019) The International Criminal Court (ICC) Pre-Trial Chamber III authorized on Thursday an investigation into alleged crimes against the Rohingya people.
On July 4, ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda asked the court to approve an investigation into allegations of human rights violations against the Rohingya, who mainly reside in Myanmar. As Myanmar is beyond ICC jurisdiction, not having signed the 1998 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, the only crimes against the Rohingya that the court can investigate are those that at least partly happened on the territory of any country that signed the statute, such as Bangladesh, to where many Rohingya have been forced to flee from Myanmar.
"On 14 November 2019, Pre-Trial Chamber III of the International Criminal Court ('ICC' or the 'Court') authorized the Prosecutor to proceed with an investigation for the alleged crimes within the ICC's jurisdiction in the Situation in the People's Republic of Bangladesh/Republic of the Union of Myanmar ('the situation in Bangladesh/Myanmar')," the ICC said in a statement.
Despite concentrating primarily on Bangladesh, the court allowed the investigation of any Rohingya-related persecution, as long as it takes place in a country that signed the Rome Statute at the time a crime is committed.
According to the statement, the prosecutor will now begin collecting evidence into alleged human rights violations against the Rohingya.
According to the United Nations, more than 700,000 Rohingya have either fled or have been driven out of Myanmar by the military since the beginning of a large-scale campaign against the Muslim minority since 2017.
In 2018, the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar issued a report, accusing the Myanmar leadership of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
