Lawyers slam Suu Kyi's defense of Myanmar genocide against Rohingya

Lawyers seeking to halt an ongoing genocide against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar have strongly denounced Aung San Suu Kyi’s defense of her country’s armed forces, saying the fallen pro-democracy icon chose to ignore “unspeakable” acts committed against civilians.

Lawyers presenting Gambia's case at the Hague accusing Myanmar of genocide against Rohingya said her arguments that Myanmar's 2017 military crackdown was a "clearance operation" targeting militants ignored widespread mass murder, rape and forced deportation.

"Madame agent, your silence said far more than your words," lawyer Philippe Sands said, referring to Suu Kyi, who is officially acting as Myanmar's agent in the case.

"The word 'rape' did not once pass the lips of the agent," added Sands, as Suu Kyi sat impassively in the courtroom.

The hearings have seen the astonishing spectacle of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate defending the very army that ordered her kept under house arrest for some 15 years.

She used a dramatic appearance at the court in The Hague on Wednesday to say there was no "genocidal intent" behind the operation that led to more than 700,000 Rohingya fleeing into neighboring Bangladesh.

But Paul Reichler, another of the lawyers, told the court that those killed included "infants beaten to death or torn from their mothers arms and thrown into rivers to drown."

"How many of them were terrorists? Armed conflict can never be an excuse for genocide," he added.

The lawyer said Suu Kyi had also failed to deny the conclusions of a 2018 UN investigation that found genocide had been committed in Myanmar against the Rohingya.

"What is most striking is what Myanmar has not denied," Reichler said.

“There is no reasonable conclusion to draw other than the inference of genocidal intent from the state’s pattern of conduct,” Reicher said. “We heard nothing about sexual violence from Myanmar yesterday, not a single word about it.”

Gambia has taken Myanmar to the ICJ, accusing it of breaching the 1948 UN Genocide convention and seeking emergency measures to protect the Rohingya.

Acting on behalf of the 57-nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Gambia requested emergency legal proceedings at the ICJ to recognize that Myanmar’s armed forces committed genocide against the Rohingya Muslims in 2017 and that violations continue.

With maps, satellite imagery and graphic photos, Myanmar’s accusers have detailed what they insist is a deliberate campaign of ethnic cleansing and genocide that saw more than 700,000 Rohingya flee to neighboring Bangladesh.

About 600,000 Rohingya people remain confined in Myanmar camps and villages, unable to leave without permission.

Gambia wants the ICJ to take “all measures within its power to prevent all acts that amount to or contribute to the crime of genocide.”

SS