Published : 04 Nov 2026, 01:10 AM
Updated : 04 Nov 2026, 01:33 AM
The International Court of Justice will deliver its judgment on Nov 19 in a landmark case accusing Myanmar of committing genocide against the Rohingya, the country's persecuted Muslim minority.
Reuters reported the development on Monday, citing the court. Judges will begin reading out the ruling at 8am GMT.
The Gambia brought the case in 2019, arguing that a 2017 military offensive against the Rohingya amounted to genocide. The crackdown forced at least 730,000 people to flee across the border into Bangladesh.
Rohingya refugees have recounted killings, mass rape and arson. A UN fact-finding mission concluded that the offensive included “genocidal acts”.
Myanmar denies the allegations, maintaining that its military operation was a legitimate counter-terrorism campaign.
The ruling will be only the third time the ICJ has delivered a judgment in a genocide case and its first in more than a decade.
It could influence future proceedings, including South Africa’s 2023 case accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza, a charge Israel denies.
The ICJ, also known as the World Court, is the UN’s highest judicial body. It settles disputes between states and hears cases involving alleged violations of international treaties, including the 1948 Genocide Convention.
Genocide is rarely established in international courts because judges must find that crimes were committed with the specific intent “to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group”.
ICJ judgments are final and cannot be appealed.
