Myanmar Resorts To Denial In Rohingya Genocide Case At ICJ

ISTANBUL, Jan 17 (Bernama-Anadolu) -- Myanmar resorted to denial Friday in a Rohingya genocide case filed by The Gambia at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Anadolu Ajansi (AA) reported.

"Myanmar's firm position is that The Gambia has failed to meet its burden of proof. This case will be decided on the basis of proven facts, not unsubstantiated prosecution," Ko Ko Hlaing, representative of Myanmar, told the UN's principal judicial organ.

The Gambia brought the case in November 2019, accusing Myanmar of violating "the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.”

On Thursday, the court heard from The Gambia's legal team regarding investigations that Myanmar's military officials incite violence through hate speech, referring to the ethnic minority as "Muslim dogs" who should be made "extinct."

The ICJ will continue to hold public hearings until Jan 29 about allegations that Myanmar committed genocide against the Rohingya Muslim minority.

Eleven states -- Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, the UK, the Maldives, Slovenia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Belgium, and Ireland -- filed declarations of intervention.

The Muslim Rohingya minority has long suffered oppression in Myanmar's Rakhine State, where officials have been accused of genocide.

About one million have fled to neighbouring Bangladesh since 2017.

-- BERNAMA-ANADOLU