Overseas Mon Coordinating Committee Supports ICJ’s Lawsuits against Burma

04/12/2019
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Overseas Mon Coordinating Committee Supports ICJ’s Lawsuits against Burma

December 2, 2019

The Mon communities around the world, the OMCC, fully support Gambia’s lawsuits against the Burmese government for alleged state-sponsored genocide against the Muslim people in Arakan State of Burma. An abundance of substantial evidence clearly shows that Burmese officials are associated with the violation of the “Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide” as adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations (UN). Therefore, we welcome the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ’s) public hearing from December 10 to December 12, 2019, at the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands.

The Burmese army, Tatmadaw, has a longstanding track record of committing similar atrocities against various ethnic groups in the past, such as the Kachin, Karen, Kokang, Ta’an (Palaung), Pa-Oh, Mon, Shan, and Arakan. Such violations have included mass murders, use of gang rape, destruction of private properties, forced relocation, arbitrary detention, extrajudicial killings, torture, arson, land confiscation, and widespread sexual violence during the last 70 years of what can only be described as an ongoing civil war in Burma.

Moreover, the Burmese military has been and is engaging in wholesale plundering, destruction of private properties and assets by aerial bombardment, and naval attacks in the Northern part of Burma. The Burmese army was committing severe human rights abuses in Arakan and the Northern part of Burma, including civilian killings, torture, and forced portering as well as the strategic denial of humanitarian aid.

The successive Burmese governments fail to reveal such war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocides that have been and still are committed by the military and its leaders. The state also fails to protect its people, and a weak judiciary system is unable to take action against the perpetrators in Burma. Therefore, we, the Mon communities around the world, fully support the international communities’ course of action to hold Burma’s military accountable for both its past and current crimes.

Contact Information : Nai Siri Mon Chan

Phone : +66 928099478

Email : sirimonchan@gmail.com