ICC Warrant Of Arrest Against Myanmar Junta Chief Is Positive For Rebel Forces

By Tirthankar Mitra

International Criminal Court (ICC) has decided to pursue a warrant of arrest against Myanmar military leader General Min Aung Hlaing for crimes against humanity. The atrocities committed against the Rohingya people have gone unpunished far too long. Leaving survivors in limbo, it sent a wrong message that perpetrators can escape accountability. ICC’s decision gives credence to enforcement of international justice.

In 2017, the campaign against the Rohingyas started in Myanmar. It was described by United Nations as a textbook case of ethnic cleansing. It displaced three million people who made their way to squalid refugee camps. These men and women fled their ancestral hearth and home after their villages were destroyed and they were scarred by mass killings and sexual violence.

ICC’s decision is a signal that no rank or title provides immunity from accountability. This decision is preceded by years of meticulous investigation, gathering testimonies and evidence amidst the political turmoil which engulfed Myanmar post 2021 coup.

But there is another side to this decision just as it ensures that the voices of the survivors of the ethnic cleansing and the witnesses who spoke out to pin down the perpetrators of the atrocities. There are practical hurdles as Myanmar is not party to the ICC and its ruling junta will be unwilling and unlikely to co-operate.

The ICC has no enforcement mechanism of its own. It relies on member states to execute its warrant. It exposes a crucial limitation of this court. It has to depend on political will of member nations.

But the fact remains that many of them are unwilling to act lest they upset a powerful nation or one of its allies. The ICC’s power is further undermined as major powers like Russia, China and United States are not its members limiting its influence in addressing crimes which took place in Myanmar.

But such omission for which the ICC has little to do, does not reduce the importance of its decision. For they offer hope to the Rohingyas in particular and other oppressed groups in general that their sufferings have not gone unnoticed.

It underscores the fact that human rights violations in any part of the world cannot escape scrutiny. But justice for the Rohingyas must go beyond the arrest warrant. Being sans a state, systematic discrimination coupled with the absence of a political will to ensure their safety return are the principal causes of the Rohingyas present misery. Global action is needed to address their plight. They need to be rehabilitated and reintegrated. For refugee camps do not offer a permanent solution.

The ICC’s decision is a step in the right direction. The obstacles in the pursuit of justice cannot be wished away. There cannot be any immunity for mass atrocities. The ICC decision is a step to break the cycle of violence.

General Hlaing is in the dock. He has to answer for the crimes which took place to carry out the orders of a regime he heads. He will not act unless he is forced to act for the safe return of the refugees and ensure proper climate for their stay.

Further, the pro democracy movement and other sections of the rebels will get boost at the humiliation of the military junta. Presently, the rebels are in possession of a large chunk of the country after fighting against the military in the last three years It is to be seen how the military junta responds to the ICC directive. (IPA Service)