YANGON- The International Criminal Court-ICC probe will not interfere with repatriation plan, official says

Phakiso Mochochoko, director of the Jurisdiction, Complementary and Cooperation Division of the ICC Office of the Prosecutor, said a team of investigators is visiting Rakhine Muslim refugee camps to collect evidence. He said justice will be delivered whether Myanmar cooperates or not.

ADS by:

Memento Maxima Digital Marketing

– SPACE RESERVE FOR YOUR ADVERTISEMENT –

 .

Mochochoko told reporters in Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka, that The Hague-based court will pursue the case even though Myanmar is not a party to the Rome Statute, the treaty that established it, and urged the Buddhist-majority nation to cooperate. Myanmar has denied committing crimes against humanity or genocide.

He said the court has a mandate to proceed with the case because Bangladesh is a party to the statute and the refugees crossed the border into that country. He admitted that the investigation would be a long and difficult one without Myanmar’s participation.

ADS by:

Memento Maxima Digital Marketing

– SPACE RESERVE FOR YOUR ADVERTISEMENT –

 .

“This is a challenge, we all agreed, it’s a challenge,” he said. “We have the experiences in the past, in some other situations where countries have refused to cooperate with us, they refused entry into their territory, but we have been able to investigate and prosecute the people.”

He said the investigators will talk to Rakhine Muslim refugees as well as witnesses in other countries.

Mochochoko said the investigators will work to identify who planned, facilitated and committed the alleged crimes.

“Investigators from the Office of the Prosecutor will now carefully and thoroughly seek to uncover the truth about what happened to the Rohingya people in Myanmar which brought them here to Bangladesh,” he said.

ADS by:

Memento Maxima Digital Marketing

– SPACE RESERVE FOR YOUR ADVERTISEMENT –

The responsible persons could be the head of state or other top people in Myanmar, he said.

Mochochoko said the investigation would not hamper Bangladesh’s effort to start the repatriation under the agreement it has with Myanmar.

He thanked Bangladesh for its support. “As we undertake our independent investigations, we look forward to continued support and collaboration” from Bangladesh, he said.

He said the ICC is working in cooperation with the UN’s top court, the International Court of Justice, which ordered Myanmar last month to take all measures in its power to prevent genocide against Rakhine Muslims.

The UN court said its order for measures to protect the Muslims is binding “and creates international legal obligations” on Myanmar.

ADS by:

Memento Maxima Digital Marketing

– SPACE RESERVE FOR YOUR ADVERTISEMENT –

More than 700,000 Muslims fled Rakhine to Bangladesh after the Tatmadaw (military) launched a crackdown on them in August 2017.

Myanmar has long claimed the Muslims are illegal migrants from Bangladesh, even though their families have lived in Rakhine for generations. Nearly all have been denied citizenship since 1982, effectively rendering them stateless.

The ICC is a court of last resort that takes on cases when national authorities are unable or unwilling to prosecute. / ASSOCIATED PRESS

ADS by:

Memento Maxima Digital Marketing

– SPACE RESERVE FOR YOUR ADVERTISEMENT –