In September, a United Nations-appointed independent International Fact-Finding Mission in a report insists that “hundreds of thousands of ethnic Rohingya who remain in Myanmar may face greater threat of genocide than ever, amid government attempts to erase their identity and remove them from the country”. Myanmar has rejected the findings of the report, saying that the mission was never approved by Yangon and it has begun its own investigations.
Despite that, the UN has assured itself enough to announce last month, for the International Criminal Court in The Hague to begin preliminary investigations in Bangladesh, a signatory to the ICC, where most of the Rohingya refugees are living in overcrowded conditions in Cox’s Bazar, reputedly the world’s largest refugee settlement. It is assumed, here, that under the UN’s auspices the investigation will be even more thorough.
On the heels of this action, comes another suit, also against Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Laureate, for crimes against Rohingya Muslims. The case is filed in Argentina, led by Argentinian lawyer Tomas Ojea, once a UN special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar between 2008 and 2014. Ojea is a first-hand witness to the suffering of the Rohingya. Two Argentine human rights groups are supporting the lawsuit.