Myanmar Tells U.N. Court Rohingya Crackdown Was Counterterrorism, Not Genocide

BY Rosemary

Myanmar told judges at the United Nations’ top court on Friday that its military campaign against the Rohingya Muslim minority was a legitimate counterterrorism operation and did not amount to genocide, as it defended itself against sweeping allegations that it violated the Genocide Convention.

Addressing the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Myanmar argued that its 2017 security operations in Rakhine state were a lawful response to attacks by a Rohingya insurgent group and were not aimed at destroying the ethnic minority as such. The campaign, launched after coordinated assaults on police posts, triggered one of the world’s largest refugee crises in recent years.

“Myanmar was not obliged to remain idle and allow terrorists to have free reign of northern Rakhine state,” said Ko Ko Hlaing, representing Myanmar before the court, as he sought to rebut accusations of genocidal intent.

The case was brought in 2019 by Gambia, which accuses Myanmar’s military of breaching the Genocide Convention adopted in the aftermath of World War II. Gambia argues that Myanmar’s actions—marked by mass killings, widespread sexual violence and the systematic burning of Rohingya villages—were designed to destroy the minority group, at least in part.

The 2017 crackdown forced more than 700,000 Rohingya to flee across the border into Bangladesh. Today, about 1.2 million Rohingya live in sprawling, overcrowded refugee camps there, facing dire conditions, limited education and growing insecurity. Aid agencies warn that children are particularly vulnerable, with armed groups recruiting minors and girls facing sexual exploitation, while reductions in international assistance have deepened hunger and hardship.

Myanmar, a predominantly Buddhist country, has long refused to recognize the Rohingya as one of its ethnic groups, labeling them “Bengalis” and portraying them as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh despite generations-long ties to the region. Most Rohingya were stripped of citizenship under a 1982 law, leaving them stateless.

As hearings opened earlier this week, Gambian Justice Minister Dawda Jallow told the court that the case was filed after decades of persecution and dehumanizing rhetoric against the Rohingya culminated in what he described as “savage, genocidal clearance operations” in 2016 and 2017. He said those actions were followed by policies aimed at erasing the group’s presence in Myanmar.

Myanmar has rejected those claims, disputing the evidence presented by Gambia, including findings from a United Nations-backed fact-finding mission that documented widespread atrocities. Hlaing told the court that Gambia had failed to meet the high burden of proof required to establish genocide.

“This case will be decided on the basis of proven facts, not unsubstantiated allegations,” he said, arguing that emotional appeals could not replace rigorous legal evidence.

The proceedings have also highlighted the dramatic political changes inside Myanmar since the case began. In 2019, the country was represented at the court by then-leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who denied that genocide had taken place and portrayed the violence as an unfortunate byproduct of counterinsurgency operations. Suu Kyi is now imprisoned after the military seized power in a 2021 coup, and she has been convicted on multiple charges that her supporters say were politically motivated.

Myanmar initially challenged the court’s authority to hear the case, arguing that Gambia lacked standing because it was not directly affected by the conflict. Judges rejected that argument in 2022, ruling that any state party to the Genocide Convention can bring a case alleging violations, clearing the way for the proceedings to move forward.

Gambia has dismissed Myanmar’s insistence that it was merely fighting terrorism. Jallow told the court that “genocidal intent is the only reasonable inference” from the military’s pattern of conduct against the Rohingya.

The legal pressure on Myanmar’s leadership has intensified beyond the world court. In late 2024, prosecutors at the International Criminal Court sought an arrest warrant for Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, the head of the ruling military junta, accusing him of crimes against humanity related to the persecution of the Rohingya. That request remains under consideration, adding to the international scrutiny facing Myanmar’s military rulers.