• Burmese
Sunday, June 22, 2025
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Irrawaddy
26 °c
Yangon
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
No Result
View All Result
The Irrawaddy
No Result
View All Result
Home News Burma

Gambia Details Mass Rapes, Killings in Myanmar at World Court

Reuters by Reuters
December 10, 2019
in Burma
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0 0
A A
Myanmar State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi leaves the International Court of Justice in The Hague on Dec. 10 after attending a hearing in a case filed by The Gambia against Myanmar alleging genocide against Rohingya Muslims. / Reuters

Myanmar State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi leaves the International Court of Justice in The Hague on Dec. 10 after attending a hearing in a case filed by The Gambia against Myanmar alleging genocide against Rohingya Muslims. / Reuters

10.1k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

THE HAGUE—The Gambia’s legal team described mass rapes, the burning of families in their homes and the killing of dozens of Muslim Rohingya children with knives as it set out its genocide case against Myanmar at the UN’s International Court of Justice on Tuesday.

Myanmar State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace laureate, looked on impassively as the alleged atrocities were detailed at the beginning of three days of hearings in The Hague instituted by The Gambia against Buddhist-majority Myanmar in November.

“All that The Gambia asks is that you tell Myanmar to stop these senseless killings,” Gambia’s Justice Minister Abubacarr Tambadou said in opening comments. “To stop these acts of barbarity and brutality that have shocked and continue to shock our collective conscience. To stop this genocide of its own people.”

RelatedPosts

The Lady Myanmar’s Generals Can’t Defeat

The Lady Myanmar’s Generals Can’t Defeat

June 19, 2025
671
Myanmar’s Daw Aung San Suu Kyi Marks 80th Birthday in Junta Jail

Myanmar’s Daw Aung San Suu Kyi Marks 80th Birthday in Junta Jail

June 19, 2025
495
On Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s Birthday, Recalling the Cake That Rattled the Junta

On Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s Birthday, Recalling the Cake That Rattled the Junta

June 18, 2025
1.2k

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is expected to repeat denials of genocide and argue that military operations launched in August 2017 were a legitimate counterterrorism response to attacks by Rohingya militants on security forces.

Detailing events at the village of Min Gyi, lawyer Andrew Loewenstein drew on witness accounts recorded in a report by UN investigators, who estimated 750 people were killed there, including more than 100 children under the age of 6.

“I entered the house with four of my neighbors and three of us had babies,” Loewenstein quoted from one survivor’s testimony to the UN fact-finding mission. “There were dead bodies on the floor: young boys from our village. As we entered the house, the soldiers locked the door. One soldier raped me. He stabbed me in the back of my neck and in my abdomen. I was trying to save my baby, who was only 28 days old, but they threw him on the ground and he died.”

More than 730,000 Rohingya fled Myanmar after the military-led crackdown and were forced into squalid camps across the border in Bangladesh.

The UN investigators concluded the military campaign was executed with “genocidal intent.”

Myanmar has previously denied almost all allegations made by refugees against its troops, including those of mass rape, killings and arson, and promised to punish any soldiers involved in what it says were isolated cases of wrongdoing.

Calls for justice

Outside the court, dozens of Rohingya demonstrated to demand justice for victims. Hours earlier in Yangon, Myanmar’s commercial capital, thousands of people had rallied in support of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

“It’s like Mother Suu went to the frontlines for our country,” said 58-year-old Myint Myint Thwin. “Therefore, to show our support and that we stand with her, we joined this march.”

Once feted in the West, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has faced mounting international criticism over the Rohingya crisis. But she has remained popular at home since coming to power in 2016 as part of the transition to democracy after decades of military rule.

A Daw Aung San Suu Kyi supporter in The Hague, Moe Moe Hnin, said people abroad have been “misinformed” about events in Myanmar. 

“Yes, military dictators have been committing human rights violations in the whole of Burma,” she said. “It is not Burma, it is not Burmese people or our religion. We are not racist.”

This week’s proceedings, before a panel of 17 judges, will not deal with the core allegation of genocide, but Gambia has requested a court order for Myanmar to halt any activity that may aggravate the dispute.

The tiny, mostly Muslim West African country is arguing that Myanmar’s forces carried out widespread and systematic atrocities that constituted genocide during what the army called “clearance operations” against militants.

The tribunal has no enforcement powers, but its rulings are final and have significant legal weight.

In the refugee camps in Bangladesh on Tuesday, hundreds gathered on a hilltop and chanted, “Gambia! Gambia!”, pumping their fists. Some offered special prayers at mosques in the camps and many others were fasting.

“Our people were killed, our children were thrown into fire, our women were raped, our houses were burnt down. All we want is a fair trial,” said Nurul Amin, 30.

You may also like these stories:

Rights Groups Call for Myanmar Boycott Ahead of ICJ Genocide Hearings

Canada, Netherlands Voice Support for Genocide Case Against Myanmar

Myanmar State Counselor Arrives in Netherlands to Lead Rohingya Genocide Defense

Chinese Foreign Minister to Meet With Daw Aung San Suu Kyi Ahead of ICJ Genocide Case

Your Thoughts …
Tags: Daw Aung San Suu KyiEthnic CleansingInternational Court of JusticeRakhine StateRohingyaThe GambiaThe Hague
Reuters

Reuters

...

Similar Picks:

Three Rebel Army Chiefs Predict Rapid Fall of Myanmar Junta
Burma

Three Rebel Army Chiefs Predict Rapid Fall of Myanmar Junta

by The Irrawaddy
August 18, 2023
26.9k

Powerful armed groups in Karen, Kachin and Kayah states say the regime is ready to topple.

Read moreDetails
Interview

Myanmar’s Junta And Its Military Face Annihilation, Arakan Army Says

by Hein Htoo Zan
November 25, 2023
22.5k

The current war in Myanmar differs from past conflicts in the country because ethnic armies are no longer on the...

Read moreDetails
In Western Myanmar, an Ethnic Landlord is Poised to Liberate ‘Crony Beach’
Burma

In Western Myanmar, an Ethnic Landlord is Poised to Liberate ‘Crony Beach’

by The Irrawaddy
June 25, 2024
15.8k

After capturing Thandwe Airport, the Arakan Army is just steps away from Myanmar’s most valuable beach and the crony-owned resorts...

Read moreDetails
Myanmar Junta ‘Sweetens Deal’ For China in US$ 8 Billion SEZ And Port in Rakhine State
Myanmar-China Watch

Myanmar Junta ‘Sweetens Deal’ For China in US$ 8 Billion SEZ And Port in Rakhine State

by The Irrawaddy
December 27, 2023
14.8k

Business analysts say the concession contract was likely tweaked to offer better terms for China’s state-owned firm CITIC, which has...

Read moreDetails
Junta Watch: Sinking Feeling as Myanmar Navy Faces Onslaught in Rakhine; and More
Junta Watch

Junta Watch: Sinking Feeling as Myanmar Navy Faces Onslaught in Rakhine; and More

by The Irrawaddy
January 27, 2024
14.3k

Also this week, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s home to be sold, Karen mission fails, ultimate penalty for beaten generals,...

Read moreDetails
Arakan Army Seizes Major Myanmar Junta Base on Bangladesh Border
Burma

Arakan Army Seizes Major Myanmar Junta Base on Bangladesh Border

by Hein Htoo Zan
May 4, 2024
13.4k

The fall of the Kyee Kan Pyin Border Guard Police headquarters exposes Maungdaw to AA attacks.

Read moreDetails
Load More
Next Post
Myanmar's State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi attends a hearing at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague on Dec. 10, in the case filed by The Gambia alleging genocide against the Rohingya. / Reuters

Shan, Karen Groups Back Genocide Charges Against Myanmar Military

Military personnel and farmers engage in a dispute over farmland in Myaynigone Village in Kayah State’s Loikaw Township in June. / Karenni State Farmers Union

Military Sues 27 Farmers for Using Seized Land in Kayah State

No Result
View All Result

Recommended

Trade and Traffic from Thai Border Region Dwindle as Checkpoints Multiply

Trade and Traffic from Thai Border Region Dwindle as Checkpoints Multiply

3 days ago
916
The Lady Myanmar’s Generals Can’t Defeat

The Lady Myanmar’s Generals Can’t Defeat

3 days ago
671

Most Read

  • Myanmar Junta Moves to Seize Sagaing Roads

    Myanmar Junta Moves to Seize Sagaing Roads

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Certifying a Chinese Security Invasion; Boosting Ties With Nuclear North Korea; and More

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar Junta Changes Election Law Ahead of Polls

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Residents of Myanmar Ruby Hub Speak Out as TNLA Mining Takes Toll

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Trade and Traffic from Thai Border Region Dwindle as Checkpoints Multiply

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Get The Irrawaddy’s latest news, analyses and opinion pieces on Myanmar in your inbox.

Subscribe here for daily updates.

Contents

  • News
  • Politics
  • War Against the Junta
  • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
  • Conflicts In Numbers
  • Junta Crony
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Asia
  • World
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Election 2020
  • Elections in History
  • Cartoons
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Commentary
  • Guest Column
  • Analysis
  • Letters
  • In Person
  • Interview
  • Profile
  • Dateline
  • Specials
  • Myanmar Diary
  • Women & Gender
  • Places in History
  • On This Day
  • From the Archive
  • Myanmar & COVID-19
  • Intelligence
  • Myanmar-China Watch
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Fashion & Design
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Photo Essay
  • Donation

About The Irrawaddy

Founded in 1993 by a group of Myanmar journalists living in exile in Thailand, The Irrawaddy is a leading source of reliable news, information, and analysis on Burma/Myanmar and the Southeast Asian region. From its inception, The Irrawaddy has been an independent news media group, unaffiliated with any political party, organization or government. We believe that media must be free and independent and we strive to preserve press freedom.

  • Copyright
  • Code of Ethics
  • Privacy Policy
  • Team
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Burmese

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Business
    • Economy
    • Business Roundup
  • Books
  • Donation

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.