PARIS (Reuters) – France, Canada, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Britain announced their intention to intervene in the case of the alleged genocide that the Burmese authorities would have perpetrated against the Rohingya , brought before the highest court of the United Nations in The Hague.
The countries filed a joint declaration of intervention with the International Court of Justice (ICJ), citing their “common interest in achieving the higher purposes of the convention”, in reference to the 1948 Convention on Prevention and Punishment of the genocide.
“We are focusing in particular on violence against women and children,” German foreign affairs chief Tania von Uslar said in a message published on the X platform.
A UN investigation concluded that the 2017 military campaign in Burma, which displaced 730,000 Rohingya to neighboring Bangladesh, involved “genocidal acts”.
Burma denies committing genocide and rejects the United Nations’ findings, calling them “biased and erroneous.” Authorities say the crackdown targeted Rohingya rebels responsible for attacks.
The ICJ rejected Myanmar’s objections to the genocide proceedings in July last year, paving the way for legal action.
The Maldives also joined the intervening countries “out of deep concern over ‘continued human rights violations and barbaric attacks against Rohingya Muslims’.”
(Reporting by Tassilo Hummel; French version by Dagmarah Mackos, editing by Kate Entringer)
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