The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Thursday claimed jurisdiction to probe the alleged atrocities, inhumane treatment and depuration of Rohingya Muslims in the hands of Myanmar military. The alleged force exodus of Rohingya people has made Bangladesh intake hundreds and thousands of Rohingya refugees.
Rohingya Muslims have been living in Myanmar for since long but the reports coming in from there suggests Myanmar doesn’t own them, with leaving them stateless and even carrying their genocide. Since August last year, around 0.7 Million Rohingya Muslims have fled from Myanmar to Bangladesh, with northern Rakhine state being suffered the most.
The Hague-based court has asked the chief prosecutor to follow the rulings “as she continues with her preliminary examination concerning the crimes allegedly committed against the Rohingya people.”
The ruling by ICC came over as the chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda asked that whether she can investigate the mass-deportation as a crime against humanity or not?
The court has asked to provide the preliminary investigation in this regard that would actually tell if the full-fledged probe is needed in this matter. ICC asserted the preliminary probe “must be concluded within a reasonable time,” the court said.
A special U.N. investigative panel coming in this regard on 27th August has already claimed Myanmar of doing brutality against Rohingya’s with the intent of genocide.
“The judges’ decision offers a glimmer of hope for justice for the thousands of Rohingya victims who were deported to Bangladesh from Myanmar and continue to suffer in Bangladesh as a result of this serious crime,” said Adilur Raman Khan, a vice-president of the International Federation for Human Rights.
The Human Rights groups have welcomed the ICC ruling over the matter as this issue had been begging to be addressed since long.