International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Fatou Bensouda asked the court yesterday to decide whether it has jurisdiction to investigate Myanmar鈥檚 mass expulsion of Rohingya.
If the court rules in her favor, Bensouda may be able to prosecute Myanmar for violating of the ICC鈥檚 Rome Statute, which outlaws 鈥渄eportation or forcible transfer of population鈥 as a crime against humanity.
The question of jurisdiction arises from the fact that Myanmar is not a party to the Rome Statute. Bensouda argues that the ICC鈥檚 jurisdiction would derive from the cross-border nature of the crime of deportation and Bangladesh鈥檚 membership in the court.
鈥淭his is not an abstract question but a concrete one, affecting whether the court may exercise jurisdiction…to investigate and, if necessary, prosecute,鈥 read Bensouda鈥檚 request for jurisdiction, which is the first of its kind the court has seen.
She also asked for a hearing on her request so that arguments from various interested parties could be considered. Congolese judge Antoine Kesia-Mbe Mindua is assigned to decide on Bensouda鈥檚 petition.
However, even if the court decides it can investigate Myanmar鈥檚 alleged crimes against the Rohingya, the government and military are unlikely to cooperate. While the United Nations and several world leaders have described Myanmar security forces鈥櫬燼ctions against the Rohingya as genocidal, Myanmar maintains that it has been waging a legitimate campaign against 鈥.鈥
The United Nations estimates that around 700,000 Rohingya have fled Myanmar since August 2017.
