Rohingya crisis: ICC seeks Bangladesh’s opinion on running case against Myanmar

The International Criminal Court or ICC has written to Bangladesh asking for its opinion on whether The Hague-based court has jurisdiction to run a case against Myanmar on Rohingya issue.

The letter from the pre-trial chamber followed Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda’s application on Apr 9 when she asked the ICC to rule on whether it has jurisdiction over the deportations of Rohingya people from Myanmar to Bangladesh, a possible crime against humanity.

When asked, Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque confirmed to bdnews24.com about the letter which was sent on Monday.   

Myanmar government, however, has expressed “serious concern” on the news regarding the application by the ICC prosecutor.

Since August last year, nearly 700,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled a brutal military crackdown in Myanmar, the United Nations and aid agencies have said.

The refugees have reported killings, rape and arson on a large scale. The United States and the United Nations have described the situation as ethnic cleansing.

Myanmar has denied nearly all allegations, saying it waged a legitimate counter-insurgency operation.

The government has said the army crackdown was provoked by the attacks of Rohingya militants on more than two dozen police posts and an army base last August.

Rohingya houses in Rakhine State set on fire allegedly by the Myanmar Army, Sept 11, 2017. Photo: mostafigur rahman

Ten Rohingya Muslim men with their hands bound kneel in Inn Din village Sept 1, 2017. Reuters

An ICC ruling affirming jurisdiction could pave the way for Prosecutor Bensouda to investigate the deportation of many thousands of Rohingya.

“This is not an abstract question but a concrete one, affecting whether the Court may exercise jurisdiction ... to investigate and, if necessary, prosecute,” Bensouda said in the filing.

Fatou Bensouda

The main reason for doubt about the jurisdiction is that while Bangladesh is a member of the court, Myanmar is not.

Bensouda argued that given the cross-border nature of the crime of deportation, a ruling in favour of ICC jurisdiction would be in line with established legal principles.

The pre-trail chamber 1 in the letter, a copy of which is with bdnews24.com, invited the competent authorities of Bangladesh to submit written observations, either publicly or confidentially, on the three specific matters.

Those are:

(i) the circumstances surrounding the presence of members of the Rohingya people from Myanmar on the territory of Bangladesh;

(ii) the possibility of the Court’s exercise of territorial jurisdiction over the alleged deportation of members of the Rohingya people from Myanmar into Bangladesh; and

(iii) any other matter in connection with the prosecutor’s request that, in the opinion of the competent authorities of Bangladesh, would assist the Chamber in its determination of this Request.

The court said the observations of the Bangladesh authorities would assist the chamber in its determinations of the request sub judice.