On 19 November the International Court of Justice (ICJ) will be ruling in a really significant case against the government of Myanmar, which is accused of committing genocide against the minority Muslim Rohingya. Gambia brought the case to the ICJ under the Genocide Convention in 2019. During the hearings Gambia argued that a 2017 offensive by Myanmar government forces that forced at least 730,000 Rohingya into neighbouring Bangladesh constituted a genocide. Myanmar denies the charge and has said the offensive was a counter-terrorism campaign and therefore legitimate and definitely not genocide.
It’s the first time the UN court may rule that a state is liable for genocide. Melanie O’Brien, Professor of International Law at the University of Western Australia Law School and former President of the International Association of Genocide Scholars explains the challenging legal issues that make this case so important in the field of international justice.
And the podcast comes with extracts from an interview with Navanathem Pillay, the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize winner and judge in this case.
ASYMMETRICAL HAIRCUTS
This podcast has been published as part of a partnership between Justice Info and Asymmetrical Haircuts, a podcast on international justice produced from The Hague by journalists Janet Anderson and Stephanie van den Berg, who retain full control and independence over the contents of the podcast.
