Press Release, Myanmar Accountability Project: Myanmar Junta Nominates Sanctioned Officials to Defend it at the International Court of Justice, MAP Condemns it as a “mockery” of International Justice

London, 17 February 2022: Two people who are under international sanctions, accused of committing serious human rights violations and subverting the rule of law are set to represent the Myanmar junta at the International Court of Justice, the ICJ, in the Hague.


The junta legal team includes Attorney General, Thida Oo, and junta Minister for Planning, Finance and Industry, Win Shein, who together have been sanctioned by Canada, the EU, the UK and the US. Thida Oo is accused by the US of personally masterminding fabricated charges against senior members of the ousted democratic government in order to bar them from politics.


The Court is set to hold a week-long public hearing which opens next Monday. It’s the next phase of the case of The Gambia against Myanmar, which is accused of violating the Genocide Convention during so-called “clearance operations” in 2017 that saw 750,000 Rohingyas flee to Bangladesh.


The junta is expected to raise procedural objections to the case. But the ousted democrats have told the court they have officially removed these objections and that only they, not the junta, have the right to represent the state of Myanmar in the Court.
“Nominating this pair who have so little regard for the rule of law and human rights norms makes a mockery of international law and legal mechanisms”, said MAP Director, Chris Gunness. “Their key objective is to block the court proceedings and deny justice to the Rohingyas. It illustrates perfectly how unfit the junta is to represent Myanmar at the ICJ”.


“MAP also deplores the decision by the ICJ to let the illegal junta, which led a failed coup, to speak for the state of Myanmar”, said Gunness. “Last December the UN General Assembly in New York decided unanimously to deny credentials to the junta and leave in his seat the Myanmar Ambassador, Kyaw Moe Tun, who is aligned with the National Unity Government, the NUG. The presence of the junta at the ICJ is a violation of the General Assembly resolution”.


The NUG includes members of the democratic movement who were ousted in a coup in February 2021, since when the junta has lost control of vast swathes of the country in what the UN characterises as a civil war.


“It’s clear the junta has no basis on which to represent the state of Myanmar in any UN body, such as the ICJ or any international organisation. Our hope is that the Court will move on quickly to the substantive allegations of genocide and that the Rohingya People will be given the justice for which they have already waited too long”, said Gunness.


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For further Information please contact Chris Gunness on cgunness@outlook.com or WhatsApp +447587698990

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