Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been fiercely criticized in court for her "silence" in response to claims that her country's military, the Tatmadaw, conducted systematic sexual violence and rape against Rohingya women, an ongoing International Court of Justice (ICJ) trial heard on Thursday, during a case investigating accusations of genocide against Myanmar
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th December, 2019) Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been fiercely criticized in court for her "silence" in response to claims that her country's military, the Tatmadaw, conducted systematic sexual violence and rape against Rohingya women, an ongoing International Court of Justice (ICJ) trial heard on Thursday, during a case investigating accusations of genocide against Myanmar."We heard much from Myanmar's agent about the importance of domestic accountability but not a word, not a word about the women and the girls of her country, Myanmar, who have been subjected to these awful, serial violations. Madame Agent, your silence said far more than your words," Professor Philippe Sands, representing the Gambia, which has brought this trial to court, said during the ICJ hearing.
During the trial, Myanmar's defense has rested on the claim that genocidal intent cannot be inferred from their military action, and that military operations were designed to eliminate a terrorist threat from the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army.
However, Paul Reichler, a lawyer also representing the Gambia at the ICJ trial, slammed Myanmar for this defense.
"Many were infants, beaten to death or torn from their mothers' arms and thrown into a river to drown. How many of them were terrorists? By raping and gang raping and savagely mutilating women and girls. Is that indicative of fighting terrorism, or of committing genocide against a hated group?" Reichler said.
The Tatmadaw began military operations against the Rohingya, a Muslim minority, in 2017. According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, approximately 725,000 refugees have fled from Rakhine state into neighboring Bangladesh.
In 2018, a UN fact-finding mission to Myanmar accused Aung San Suu Kyi's administration of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Rakhine, Kachin and Shan states.
