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World court orders measures to prevent Rohingya genocide

| Updated: January 24, 2020 12:05:37


Judge Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf is pictured during the ruling in a case filed by Gambia against Myanmar alleging genocide against the minority Muslim Rohingya population, at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, Netherlands Jan 23, 2020. REUTERS Judge Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf is pictured during the ruling in a case filed by Gambia against Myanmar alleging genocide against the minority Muslim Rohingya population, at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, Netherlands Jan 23, 2020. REUTERS

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has ordered measures to prevent the genocide of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, reports BBC.

The decision comes despite de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi defending her country against the accusations in person last month.

Thousands of Rohingya died and more than 700,000 fled to Bangladesh during an army crackdown in 2017.

UN investigators have warned that genocidal actions could recur.

The ICJ case, lodged by the African Muslim-majority nation of The Gambia, called for emergency measures to be taken against the Myanmar military until a fuller investigation could be launched.

Myanmar has always insisted that it's military campaign was waged to tackle an extremist threat in Rakhine state.

In her defence statement at the court in The Hague, Ms Suu Kyi described the violence as an "internal armed conflict" triggered by Rohingya militant attacks on government security posts.

The panel of 17 judges at the ICJ on Thursday voted unanimously to order Myanmar to take "all measures within its power" to prevent genocide.

The measures are binding, but the court has no means of enforcing them.

However, the BBC's Anna Holligan, who is in The Hague, says that by coming to the court in December, Ms Suu Kyi in effect recognised its legitimacy and it will now be difficult for Myanmar to ignore its judgement.

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