The Rohingya Crisis and the International Criminal Court

Abstract

This chapter discusses how the International Criminal Court (ICC) has dealt with the RohingyaRohingya crisis and the challenges that lie ahead, even though that is essentially a domestic matter for MyanmarMyanmar, which is not a party to the Rome StatuteICC Statute (Rome Statute). BangladeshBangladesh, the main refuge for RohingyaRohingya, has been a party to the International Criminal Court Code since 2010, however. On September 6, 2018, the Pre-Trial Chamber I of the ICC found that it has jurisdiction over the crime against humanity of deportation and other crimes with transboundary elements. On November 14, 2019, the Pre-Trial Chamber III of the ICC authorized the Prosecutor to proceed with an investigation for the alleged crimes within the ICC's jurisdiction in the situation in BangladeshBangladesh/MyanmarMyanmar. In 2020, video footage was made public of two former members of TatmadawTatmadaw confessing their complicity in a sweeping operation against the RohingyaRohingya, whereupon they were transferred to the ICC. In January 2021, the military staged a coup d'état, and the possibility of holding MyanmarMyanmar accountable for gross human rights violations against the RohingyaRohingya in MyanmarMyanmar has since been at an impasse. In an effort to avoid giving the appearance of legitimacyLegitimacy to the junta, the National Unity Government (NUG) was created in exile, based on the ousted civilian government. As mentioned above, MyanmarMyanmar is not a party to the Statute of the ICC, and thus, there is no legal basis obligating MyanmarMyanmar to cooperate with the ICC. Hence, the extent to which the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) of the ICCInternational Criminal Court (ICC)Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) [of the ICC] will be able to obtain MyanmarMyanmar's cooperation is of interest. Meanwhile, the exiled regime has declared its acceptance of ICC jurisdiction and has shown a cooperative attitude toward the ICC in general.