UN Court Hears Landmark Rohingya Genocide Case Against Myanmar

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague has begun three weeks of historic hearings to determine whether Myanmar committed genocide against the Rohingya Muslim minority, marking the first full genocide case at the United Nations’ top court in more than a decade.

The case, filed by The Gambia in 2019, alleges that Myanmar’s 2017 military operations in Rakhine State  which drove at least 730,000 Rohingya refugees into Bangladesh amid reports of mass killings, systematic rape, and widespread arson violated the 1948 Genocide Convention.

At the opening session, Gambia’s justice minister told judges that the Rohingya were “targeted for destruction”, urging the court to hold Myanmar accountable for acts that reduced the community to suffering and displacement.

Myanmar has denied the genocide allegations, characterising its actions as legitimate security operations, and its leadership contested the court’s jurisdiction before 2022.

The proceedings will include testimony from affected Rohingya survivors in closed sessions to protect their privacy, and both sides will present legal arguments over the coming weeks.

Legal experts and rights advocates say the outcome could set important international legal precedents on how genocide is defined and proven, with implications for other high-profile cases at the ICJ.