Junta leaders must be brought to ICJ

Kashmir Watch, March 16
Abdur Rashid

Article 2 of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crimes of genocide (1948) defines genocide as “any of the following acts committed with intention to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious groups” including

1. Killing members of the group,

2. Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group,

3. Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part,

4. Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group and

5. Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

The present ruling military junta has been perpetrating almost all the crimes mentioned in Article 2 of the Convention against the Rohingya people without any slightest doubt amounting to genocide. Human Rights organizations have documented in a systematic way to prove that the junta is in fact carrying out genocide against the Rohingya people.

There are hundreds of instances of killing of Rohingya individuals like Zahir Ahmed 47, son of Abul Bashar of Khanripara who was tortured to death on February 4 in Maungdaw military intelligence office called Sarapa and his dead body thrown in to nearby river, almost everyday. In 1994 hundreds of youths had been shot to death extra judicially by the military and dumped in mass graves which were discovered by the public. In 1978 during Nagamin and in 1991-92 during Pyithaya operations hundreds of people were detained, tortured killed and starved to death by the ruling military junta. Are not these killings carried out with the intention to destroy Rohingya community?

Indictment of people with false cases like owning foreign mobile phone sets, secretly trading in narcotic tablets known as Yaba, illegally crossing to Bangladesh, and having links with insurgent groups etc. etc. with the intention of extorting money and torturing them to extract false confession is everyday phenomenon giving rise to a situation of fear in the Rohingya community. Police, Nasaka and intelligence people are roaming around towns and villages to find their prey almost all the time. Are these acts not causing serious bodily or mental harm to Rohingya community?

Revoking the citizenship and depriving the people from their political rights and perpetration of severe human rights violations like restriction on movement, forced labor, confiscation of lands, restriction on trade and business, seizure of agricultural produce in the name of tax have all been carried out under State patronization and direction. Are these acts not imposed on the Rohingyas to bring about a condition of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction?

Since 1980s severe restriction on marriage has been imposed on the Rohingya community. At times no permission is given at all to marry. Couples have to sign documents stating that they will not bear more than two children. Contraceptives injections have been given without the consent of the couple. Are not these measures intended to prevent birth within the Rohingya community?

All the above acts have been perpetrated against the Rohingya people alone among the people of Arakan because they are felt as dangerous, undesirable and a threat to junta’s continuous grip over Arakan. There is not the slightest doubt according to the definition of genocide that it is being carried out against the Rohingya people of Arakan. If Milosevic, Radovam Karadic could be brought to the International Court of Justice by the international community to face charges of war crimes and genocide why not the leaders of Burmese military junta should be brought to ICJ to face similar charges?

Source: Kashmir Watch.
Link: http://www.kashmirwatch.com/showhumanrights.php?subaction=showfull&id=1268777722&archive=&start_from=&ucat=2&var0news=value0news.