On September 2, 2020 the governments of The Netherlands and Canada issued a joint statement of their intention to intervene in the matter of The Gambia v. Myanmar. In 2019 both countries had expressed their intention of supporting The Gambia with their application to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
ARNO thanks The Netherlands and Canada for continuing to support The Gambia in their application to the International Court of Justice and the matter relating to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. The intervention by The Netherlands and Canada specifically focusing on the crimes of sexual and gender based violence.
As reported by the United Nations International Independent Fact Finding Mission (FFM):
“sexual and gender-based violence was a hallmark of the Tatmadaw’s operations in northern Myanmar and in Rakhine. These violations, for most part perpetrated against ethnic women and girls, were used with the intent to intimidate, terrorise and punish the civilian population and as a tactic of war. The Tatmadaw was overwhelmingly the main perpetrator.”
As a result of the sexual and gender based violence the FFM found:
“Rohingya women, men and boys have also been traumatised through the forced witnessing of sexual and gender-based violence inflicted on their relatives and community members, with severe long-term mental effects.”
ARNO appreciates the steps taken by these countries to participate in these proceedings and further calls upon all countries who have signed and ratified the Genocide Convention to encourage Myanmar to follow through with the ICJ’s unanimous Provisional Orders and to end gender and sexual violence not only towards the Rohingya people but towards all indigenous and ethnic groups who reside in Myanmar.
Further, ARNO calls upon Aung San Suu Kyi, State Councillor, to immediately put in place policies and implement and enforce laws which prevent and punish perpetrators of gender and sexual based violence not only against Rohingya people but all indigenous and ethnic minorities in Myanmar who live under the oppressive and murderous tactics of the Tatmadaw.❐
