{"id":96246,"date":"2019-12-10T16:27:44","date_gmt":"2019-12-10T23:27:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=96246"},"modified":"2019-12-10T16:27:44","modified_gmt":"2019-12-10T23:27:44","slug":"aung-san-suu-kyis-defiance-in-rejecting-allegations-of-genocide-at-international-court-of-justice-wins-public-support","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/12\/10\/aung-san-suu-kyis-defiance-in-rejecting-allegations-of-genocide-at-international-court-of-justice-wins-public-support\/","title":{"rendered":"Aung San Suu Kyi\u2019s defiance in rejecting allegations of Genocide at International Court of Justice, wins public support"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><em>By <strong>Senaka Weeraratna<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n<p>Thousands of\nsupporters in Myanmar have waved banners and colorful portraits of State\nCounsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, on Saturday, December 7, in a show of their\nloyalty on the eve of her departure for the U.N.&#8217;s top court i.e. International\nCourt of Justice (ICJ), to face genocide charges over the Rohingya crisis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Myanmar: Thousands Rally for Aung San Suu Kyi Ahead of Hague Court Hearing\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/dlN8NJ2fMZQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>One supporter named\nDamien Chakma in a comment on the Internet has said: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p> What Suu Kyi is\ndoing is absolute right, protecting Myanmar\u2019s interest in the face of OIC\nfunded propaganda. So called Rohingyas are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. Where was ICJ and UN when Bangladesh was ethnic cleansing Buddhist\ntribes (Chakma, Marma, Tripura etc.) from Chittagong Hill Tracts?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>China, Russia,\nVietnam, Cambodia and Laos, and several other countries such as Ukraine and\nIsrael, have unreservedly given their unqualified support to Myanmar at the UN.\nIndia, is sympathetic towards Myanmar and on December 09, passed legislation\namending India\u2019s Citizenship laws excluding Rohingyas from seeking asylum in\nIndia or claiming Indian Citizenship on the basis of Muslim refugees.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi made a two-day visit to\nMyanmar at the invitation of State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi on December\n07.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;U\nMaung Maung Soe, a political analyst, has said that When it comes to the\nRohingya issue, China has always shown their strong support for Myanmar,\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Myanmar is highly likely to discuss with China how\nthe country has prepared for the lawsuit, and China will likely give Myanmar\nsome tips for the hearings as well,\u201d said U Maung Maung Soe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He added that China does not want to see Myanmar get\ninto trouble, as the country is strategically and geographically important for\nChina\u2019s agenda and its sphere of influence in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-wordpress wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-the-irrawaddy\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps:\/\/www.irrawaddy.com\/news\/burma\/chinese-foreign-minister-meet-daw-aung-san-suu-kyi-ahead-icj-genocide-case.html\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>In another\ndevelopment, Twenty-eight supporters from Myanmar on Sunday (December 08)\njoined Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in her trip to The Hague. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>U Kyaw Htay Oo, one\nof the supporters, said that ICJ case is related to all Myanmar citizens\nbecause it could have huge impact on the dignity of the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is not only a\ncase for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi or the Military,\u201d he told&nbsp;<em>The Myanmar Times<\/em>.\n&#8220;We want to show that we always follow and obey the leader we believe in.\nTherefore, we are supporting our leader with all the money and all the people\nwe have.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The 28 supporters\nare spending around US$2,000 per person for a round trip to The Hague. According\nto the supporters, they are going to The Hague using their own money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The ICJ will hold\nhearings in the case from Tuesday to Thursday (December 10 \u2013 12, 2019).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>About 350\nsupporters of Myanmar based in European countries such as France and Norway will\nalso be travelling to The Hague during the hearing of the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Earlier on Saturday\n(December 07), thousands of people gathered at the administrative capital of\nNay Pyi Taw to show their support for the State Counsellor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Gambia\u2019s lawsuit<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Gambia, acting on\nbehalf of the Organization of Islamic Co \u2013 operation (OIC), has filed a lawsuit\nagainst Myanmar at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), allegedly on the\nground of committing the crime of Genocide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Government of\nMyanmar has taken up the challenge to contest this case at the ICJ and the\nState Counsellor,&nbsp;Aung San Suu Kyi, in her capacity as the Minister for\nForeign Affairs, will lead the legal team to defend her nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Myanmar\u2019s legal\nteam is expected to argue that genocide did not occur, that the top U.N. court\nlacks jurisdiction and that the case fails to meet a requirement that a dispute\nexists between Myanmar and Gambia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Under the Charter\nof the United Nations (UN), all member states of the UN, including Myanmar, are\nbound by the Statute of the ICJ.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The crime of\n\u2018Genocide\u2019&nbsp;means acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in\npart, a national or racial group. It is an issue that concerns all civilized\nnations and peoples, especially those who were victims of colonial rule during\nthe last 500 years against whom much of the brazen acts of Genocide were\ncommitted in many parts of the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Both the&nbsp;Government of Myanmar and its armed forces face many internal\nproblems related to ethnic tensions.&nbsp;Turning to recent\nevents in Myanmar, the&nbsp;ARSA (Arakan Rohingya Salvation\nArmy) with links to radical Islamic terrorist groups have been responsible in\nRakhine for acts of terrorism and slaughter of the innocents. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The&nbsp;<strong>Arakan\nRohingya Salvation Army<\/strong>&nbsp;(<strong>ARSA<\/strong>&nbsp;also known by its former\nname&nbsp;<strong>Harakah al-Yaqin<\/strong>&nbsp;(meaning&nbsp;<em>Faith Movement<\/em>&nbsp;in\nEnglish),is a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Rohingya_people\">Rohingya<\/a>&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Insurgency\">insurgent group<\/a>&nbsp;active in northern&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Rakhine_State\">Rakhine State<\/a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Myanmar\">Myanmar<\/a>. According to a December 2016 report by the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/International_Crisis_Group\">International\nCrisis Group<\/a> (ICG), it is led by&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Ataullah_abu_Ammar_Jununi\">Ataullah abu\nAmmar Jununi<\/a>, a Rohingya man who\nwas born in&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Karachi\">Karachi<\/a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Pakistan\">Pakistan<\/a>, and grew up in&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Mecca\">Mecca<\/a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Saudi_Arabia\">Saudi Arabia<\/a>. Other members of its leadership include a committee of Rohingya&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/%C3%89migr%C3%A9\">\u00e9migr\u00e9s<\/a>&nbsp;in\nSaudi Arabia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The\nICG reported on 14 December 2016 that in interviews, the leaders of ARSA\nclaimed to have links to private individuals in&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Saudi_Arabia\">Saudi Arabia<\/a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Pakistan\">Pakistan<\/a>. The ICG also claimed in unconfirmed reports\nthat Rohingya villagers had been &#8220;secretly trained&#8221; by Afghan and\nPakistani fighters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Arakan_Rohingya_Salvation_Army\">https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Arakan_Rohingya_Salvation_Army<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Attack on Hindus<\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On\n25 August 2017, Hindu villages in a cluster known as Kha Maung Seik in the\nnorthern&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Maungdaw_District\">Maungdaw District<\/a>&nbsp;of&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Rakhine_State\">Rakhine State<\/a>&nbsp;in&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Myanmar\">Myanmar<\/a>&nbsp;were attacked and 99&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Bengali_Hindu\">Bengali Hindu<\/a>&nbsp;villagers were massacred, by Muslim insurgents from the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Arakan_Rohingya_Salvation_Army\">Arakan\nRohingya Salvation Army<\/a>&nbsp;(ARSA).&nbsp;A\nmonth later, the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Myanmar_Army\">Myanmar Army<\/a>&nbsp;discovered mass graves containing the corpses of 45 Hindus, most\nof whom were women and children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ni Maul, a Hindu leader who helped Myanmar&#8217;s authorities with\nthe search of the bodies, told the media that the mass-graves were found from\ntestimony of eight Hindu women whose lives were spared and brought to\nBangladesh after they agreed to convert to Islam. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Four Hindu women in Bangladesh told&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Agence-France_Presse\">Agence-France Presse<\/a>&nbsp;that they were among the\neight who escaped. They stated that they were forced to marry the attackers in\norder to save their lives and they were later taken to camps of Rohingya\nMuslims in Bangladesh. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Hindu women stated that the militants found them beautiful\nand decided to convert them. They added that later the eight women along with\nchildren were taken to a house in Bawtalar village where they were forced to\neat rice with meat, which is prohibited in their religion. They were then\nbrought to Kutuparlaung refugee camp on August 28 where they were housed with\nMuslims and forced to wear&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Burqa\"><em>burqas<\/em><\/a><em>. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The\nMyanmar authorities accused the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Arakan_Rohingya_Salvation_Army\">Arakan\nRohingya Salvation Army<\/a>&nbsp;(ARSA)\nof perpetrating the Hindu massacre in the Kha Maung Seik area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/w\/index.php?title=Tirana_Hassan&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1\">Tirana\nHassan<\/a>, Crisis Response Director at Amnesty International,\nsaid, \u2033It\u2019s hard to ignore the sheer brutality of ARSA\u2019s actions, which have\nleft an indelible impression on the survivors we\u2019ve spoken to.\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026.In this\nbrutal and senseless act, members of ARSA captured scores of Hindu women, men,\nand children and terrorized them before slaughtering them outside their own\nvillages. The perpetrators of this heinous crime must be held to account\u2033.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amnesty.org\/en\/latest\/news\/2018\/05\/myanmar-new-evidence-reveals-rohingya-armed-group-massacred-scores-in-rakhine-state\/\">https:\/\/www.amnesty.org\/en\/latest\/news\/2018\/05\/myanmar-new-evidence-reveals-rohingya-armed-group-massacred-scores-in-rakhine-state\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kha Maung Seik massacre<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Kha_Maung_Seik_massacre\">https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Kha_Maung_Seik_massacre<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Co \u2013 ordinated attacks by <\/strong><strong>ARSA<\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On 25 August 2017, the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Arakan_Rohingya_Salvation_Army\">Arakan Rohingya\nSalvation Army<\/a>&nbsp;(ARSA) claimed\nresponsibility for coordinated attacks on police posts and an attempted raid on\nan army base. The Myanmar government announced a death toll of 77 Rohingya\ninsurgents and 12 security forces in northern&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Maungdaw\">Maungdaw<\/a>&nbsp;following\nthe attacks. The government stated that they had attacked a police station in\nthe&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Maungdaw_District\">Maungdaw District<\/a>&nbsp;with a handmade bomb alongside\nthe coordinated attacks on several police posts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In late August 2017, the Burmese government accused ARSA of\nkilling 12 civilians, including Hindus and Muslims, some of whom were suspected\nby ARSA of being government informants. On 24 September 2017, Myanmar&#8217;s\nmilitary accused ARSA of killing 28 Hindus in Ye Baw Kya village in the\nprevious month after they uncovered their bodies in a mass grave<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The elected Government of\nMyanmar with a mandate to protect the citizens of Myanmar, had no choice but to\nsend its armed forces to Rakhine in order to protect Buddhists, Hindus, and\nvarious indigenous Tribal Groups, who faced the wrath of ARSA and the Bengali\nMuslims who have infiltrated Rakhine heavily with intent to grab land and\ndispossess the original inhabitants namely the citizens of Myanmar, from their\ntraditional home land in Rakhine. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A propaganda war has been\nlaunched against Myanmar by the OIC and the highly prejudiced international\nmedia such as Al Jazeera that totally ignores the Bengali Muslim land grab that\nblights Rakhine, the Chittagong Hill Tracts (Bangladesh), and various parts of\nIndia including Assam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A similar situation of\norganized and co -ordinated violence arose in Sri Lanka, when on Easter Sunday\nApril 21, 2019, suicide bombers linked to radical Islamic terrorist groups\nkilled 259 people and injured over 500 people.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Three churches&nbsp;and three luxury hotels in\nColombo were targeted in a series of coordinated&nbsp;terrorist&nbsp;suicide\nbombings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Both Myanmar and\nSri Lanka have a shared past linked to Theravada Buddhism running for over a\nthousand years. History shows that both countries had assisted each other in\ntimes of crisis when the survival of each country was at stake. An existential\nthreat from a common source intending to displace Buddhism in both countries\npersists today. This trend is clearly visible in the narrative of the\ndisappearance and replacement of Buddhism in several Asian countries during the\nlast one thousand years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Dharmic (Indo \u2013\nBuddhist) world must take cognizance of these historical developments and ask\nthe question whether the current happenings in Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand\n(all Theravada Buddhist countries now besieged ) are but a continuation of a\ncalibrated process set in motion over a thousand years ago to dislodge and\nfinally replace Buddhism from its traditional primacy in Buddhist Asia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is worthy of\nnote that Indian civilizational influence outside India prevails largely in\nBuddhist countries of Asia. The failure to counter aggressive Abrahamic\nincursions can only lead to the shrinking of Buddhist and Hindu space in South\nAsia, South East Asia and the Far East. It is in India\u2019s long &#8211; term interest\nas a rising world power to extend both support and protection to countries\nwhere India\u2019s Dharmic civilizational influence prevails and continues to be\nvalued and deeply respected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What can India and\nBuddhist majority countries do at the UN and International Court of Justice?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>a)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Sri Lanka, India,\nThailand, Nepal must join hands with China, Russia, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos,\nand several other countries that have unreservedly given their unqualified\nsupport to Myanmar at the UN.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>b)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;It is open to any\ncountry to intervene at the International Court of Justice in the capacity of\nan amicus curiae. What is \u2018amicus curiae\u2019? Latin \u2018for friend of the court\u2019. In\nother words, amicus curiae is an instrument for the benefit of the court, that assists\nit in some manner.&nbsp;Black\u2019s Law Dictionary\ndefines&nbsp;<em>amicus curiae<\/em>&nbsp;as \u2018[a] person who is not a\nparty to a lawsuit but who petitions the court or is requested by the court to\nfile a brief in the action because that person has a strong interest in the\nsubject matter.\u2019 It is within the power of the ICJ to accept Amicus Curiae briefs\nfrom countries that have a strong interest in the proceedings and its outcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>OIC is in the picture via Gambia. The\nabsence of the equivalent of an OIC in the Buddhist world such as a summit\nlevel League of Buddhist Nations, is worrisome. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While European Christian heritage\nnations are protected heavily by the European Union (EU) and NATO, and Islamic\ncountries have the powerful 57 member OIC to take up their cause at the drop of\na hat, Buddhist countries lack an international Buddhist organization with\nclout to adequately defend them at a time of crisis.&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Between Turkey and Indonesia,\nthere are only four non \u2013 Muslim countries, namely the pre-dominantly Hindu\nIndia, and three predominantly Buddhist countries, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They all face threats to their\nsurvival from armed violence and demographic change. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Can they withstand the storm of\nhistory? <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Senaka Weeraratna<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>December 10, 2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Senaka Weeraratna Thousands of supporters in Myanmar have waved banners and colorful portraits of State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, on Saturday, December 7, in a show of their loyalty on the eve of her departure for the U.N.&#8217;s top court i.e. International Court of Justice (ICJ), to face genocide charges over the Rohingya [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-96246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-forum"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96246","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96246"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96246\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}