ICJ Rejects Burmese Military’s Objections to the Rohingya Genocide Case

July 22, 2022

Ellicott City, Maryland, USA ——- On July 22, 2022, judges at the UN International Court of Justice rejected the four preliminary objections by Myanmar’s military junta to the Rohingya genocide case filed by The Gambia. This will allow the case to proceed on the basis of Article IX of the Genocide Convention and for the court to begin reviewing evidence.

The Chin Association of Maryland, Inc. (CAM) issues the following statement:

  1. CAM welcomes the ICJ decision to proceed with the Rohingya genocide case and reject the four preliminary objections from the Burmese military.
  1. CAM urges UN Member States to join Canada and the Netherlands in supporting The Gambia’s case and holding the military accountable for genocide and crimes against humanity.
  1. CAM also urges the prosecution of the Burmese military for its atrocities committed against the Chin Christian ethnic and religious minority in Chin State and Sagaing Region. The military’s burning of Chin churches and residences as well as its killings of pastors and civilians constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity.

CAM previously welcomed U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s determination of genocide against the Rohingya in March 2022. CAM Executive Director Zo Tum Hmung told the Washington Post that while the designation was important, “Issuing a statement is great, but it’s not enough… Time is critical, because if the military thinks the United States is too busy with Ukraine to deal with Myanmar, they will think they can do whatever they want.”

Since the 2021 military coup, CAM has documented Burmese military atrocities against the Chin people in two reports: “After the 2021 Military Coup in Myanmar/Burma: Challenges for Internally Displaced Persons and Refugees” (October 2021) and “Seventeen Months After the Military Coup in Myanmar/Burma: Escalating Persecution of Chin Christians in Chin State and Sagaing Region” (June 2022).
Contact:
Zo Tum Hmung
Tel. 443-936-8616
zotumhmung@chinmd.org

The Chin Association of Maryland, Inc. (CAM) is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization based in Ellicott City, Maryland.  CAM empowers the Chin communities in Maryland to be successfully integrated into American society. CAM also advocates for durable solutions for Chin and other refugees and internally displaced persons, and religious freedom and human rights in Burma.

Chins, virtually all of whom are Christians, are an ethnic nationality from Burma. They became Christians primarily due to the missionary efforts of the American Baptist Churches USA. They are a major recent U.S. refugee group that fled from Burma to neighboring countries to escape ethnic, political and religious persecution by the Burmese military since 1962. In 2001, about 1000 Chin asylees came to the U.S through Guam, resettling largely in Maryland, Indiana, Florida, and Texas. Since 2002, the U.S. has resettled many more Chin refugees coming through Malaysia and India. Chins now number 70,000 across the United States, with about 5,000 making Maryland their home.