The shadow National Unity Government (NUG) announced on February 1 that it would withdraw all of State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi’s objections to the Gambia’s indictment of the Myanmar military for genocide against the Rohingya at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
Aung San Suu Kyi had previously called on the court to dismiss the genocide case that was bought by the Gambia and to cancel the interim measures requested by the Gambia at the first ICJ hearing on December 12, 2019.
“The court has been informed that Myanmar has withdrawn its initial objection through the ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun and it has accepted the jurisdiction of the court. These objections are for procedural purposes only and are not concerned with the case", said the NUG’s announcement.
The ICJ has announced that the genocide case against Myanmar will be heard for a second time from February 21 to 28.
Both. The NUG and the Military Council are vying for the right to represent Myanmar at the hearing. The International Criminal Court (ICC) has yet to announced which group will be allowed to represent Myanmar.
The NUG government said in a statement that if the ICJ accepted the military council as its representative, it would be setting a dangerous precedent that was inconsistent with the attitudes of the UN General Assembly.
The NUG informed ICJ that Kyaw Moe Tun, the UN Permanent Representative for Myanmar, is the only person allowed to deal with the court as the Myanmar military has illegally detained members of the Myanmar judiciary and their subordinates.
The NUG said that if the ICJ recognizes the junta, it will encourage them to continue committing the heinous crimes that they commit on a daily basis and will delay efforts to bring them to justice at the ICJ.