Historical case of Gambia, Myanmar accused of genocide Against the majority Muslim Rohingya minority, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) began this week.
Gambia’s attorney general and justice minister, Dawda A. Jalo, told ICJ judges on Monday that the Rohingya were “targeted for destruction” by Myanmar’s government, as the final hearing of the case nearly a decade after the country’s military launched an offensive that forced some to flee. 750,000 Rohingya From their homes, mostly in neighboring Bangladesh. Refugees recounted incidents of mass murder, rape and arson.
Recommended stories
4 List of itemsEnd of list
The case is being heard for the first time by the International Court of Justice on allegations of mass violations and atrocities against the Rohingya. The ICJ will rule for the first time on genocide cases brought by a third country in defense of another nation or group.
In an unusual and moving gesture, Jallow asked the Rohingya refugees present in the Supreme Court’s Peace Hall to stand by the 15-member panel of judges.
The refugees are expected to testify in closed sessions, but it is not yet known when the court will make a final decision. The ICJ cannot enforce its decisions but its decisions carry legal weight.
Experts say the court’s decision in the Rohingya case could affect compliance on a large scale Israel v. South Africa Genocide Case, which was filed in court on behalf of the Palestinian people in December 2023. Since then many other countries have joined the case.
Here’s what we know about why The Gambia is fighting for the Rohingya:
Why is Gambia claiming Myanmar?
The Gambia sued Myanmar in November 2019, accusing the Southeast Asian country of committing genocide against the Rohingya in violation of the 1948 Genocide Convention.
As a Muslim-majority country, the small West African nation of 2.5 million people sued on behalf of 57 members. Organization of Islamic Cooperationof which he is an active member.
The decision brought the country and the mastermind of the case, former Attorney General Abubakar Tambadou, into the world spotlight. Tambadou has since taken up a position at the United Nations – he is the Registrar of the International Residency Mechanism for the International Criminal Tribunal, an international court established by the United Nations Security Council. He was nominated for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize.
Seven countries, Canada, Denmark, Netherlands, Germany, Maldives, France and Britain, have successfully applied to support Gambia’s case at the ICJ.
Myanmar’s armed forces, known as the Tatmadaw, have been waging a violent, months-long offensive against the Rohingya people in Myanmar since late 2016. Although the group has long faced persecution in Myanmar, according to rights groups, attacks have escalated sharply, as Rohingya communities have been shelled and shelled. Kidnapping
In 2019 – the year The Gambia filed its case with the ICJ – a United Nations fact-finding mission reported that some 10,000 people had been killed and 730,000 displaced in refugee camps in neighboring Bangladesh. The military offensive showed “genocidal intent” and the government aimed to “erase” the identity of the Rohingya and remove them from Myanmar, the UN mission found.
The Gambia’s long history of repression may have inspired the prosecution of former dictator Yahya Jammeh, who ruled the country with an iron fist for 22 years until 2017, Imran Darbo, formerly a barrister at the Gambian Ministry of Justice, told Al Jazeera.
Jammeh was removed from office by a regional military mission in 2017 after he failed to step down after losing the presidential election.
In 2018, the new government launched an investigation into Jammeh-era atrocities by his “killer squad” security forces, including widespread kidnappings and killings.
As the Rohingya crisis unfolded, Gambians collectively reckoned with the harrowing testimonies of many victims, despite the lack of precedent at the ICJ at the time, prompting the government to take action.
“At the time, we were going through our truth-and-reconciliation commission and realizing the value of protecting human rights,” Darbo said.
“Most people (in The Gambia) were shocked by what was unfolding, so the thought was that if the concept of human rights is universal, we can’t just focus on our own issues. We felt what the Rohingya were feeling … we were all on the same page about it.”
Gambia’s active role in the OIC has also played a big role, Darbo added. While bringing an ICJ case would be costly for the small nation, the OIC’s support is likely to ease economic pressure, he said.
What is Gambia’s argument at the ICJ?
Dawda, Gambia’s justice minister, told ICJ judges in his opening arguments on Monday that the Rohingya had been “deliberately targeted” by Myanmar’s ruling military and had their lives turned upside down.
“They have been targeted for destruction,” he said.
“Myanmar has denied them their dreams, in fact they have turned their lives into a nightmare, subjecting them to the most horrific violence and destruction imaginable.”
Paul Reichler, another lawyer on the Gambian team, read extensive witness testimony from 2017, describing scenes of burning houses, gang rapes and arbitrary killings.
The Myanmar government, Reichler added, had called the Rohingya an “impure and inhuman race” that threatened the local population.
A third team member, Philip Sand, concluded that the scale of the violence showed that “Myanmar acted in this case with genocidal intent”.
What did Myanmar argue?
Myanmar’s defense forces, led by International Cooperation Minister Ko Ko Hlaing, will begin responding to the allegations on Friday, January 16, continuing until January 20.
In 2019, Myanmar was under civil rule when the case was filed. Myanmar denied the charges at a preliminary hearing in the case in December that year. Former leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi, who was ousted in a military coup in 2021, appeared in court in person and called Gambia’s claims “incomplete and misleading”.
In January 2020, the ICJ ordered Myanmar to take emergency measures to prevent what experts called a genocide of the Rohingya. “Amazing Rebuke” Aung San Suu Kyi.
Myanmar’s government – now under the control of the military, which is also struggling with an ongoing insurgency – denies allegations of genocide and ethnic cleansing and says it was targeting Rohingya armed groups in “clearance operations”.
Who are the Rohingya?
The Rohingya are a largely Muslim ethnic group in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state, which borders Bangladesh.
Until their forced displacement in 2017, there were about one million Rohingya in Myanmar, making them an ethnic minority among Myanmar’s 137 ethnic groups. Other Rohingya populations live in India, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.
Although the Rohingya are recognized as indigenous to Myanmar, the government does not recognize them and they are “illegal immigrants” in Bangladesh.
The Rohingya have long complained of state-sanctioned attacks and general discrimination – they are denied citizenship and laws severely restrict their movement. Several armed groups have emerged, calling for an independent Arakan State, a historical name for Rakhine State and reminiscent of the extinct Arakan Empire that existed in the same area between the 4th and 13th centuries.
In October 2016, violent attacks on the Rohingya people escalated sharply when the government launched attacks targeting the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), an armed group formed in 2013.
At least 750,000 Rohingya fled, mainly to Bangladesh, but also to India, Thailand and Malaysia.
Survivors have told horrifying stories of security officials setting fire to their communities, injuring, killing and torturing people – including children.
Many fled the dangerous jungles, while others crossed the Bay of Bengal in perilous boat journeys, leading to an unknown number of deaths.
By 2025, hundreds of thousands of Rohingya were living in desolate, overcrowded tents in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.
Most depend on humanitarian aid. Recent cuts in foreign aid funding by the United States government have adversely affected missions serving these communities, rights groups say, with reduced food rations and school closures for children.
Some have tried to leave the camp and travel to other countries by boat. In May 2025, the UN reported that two boats carrying 427 Rohingya fleeing Bangladesh and Rakhine State capsized at sea, in just one instance.
While the Bangladesh government has willingly accepted fleeing Rohingya refugees, the country says the Rohingya will eventually have to return to Myanmar.