DJ Desk
The governments of Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom
recently issued the following statement:
On November 15, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom filed
a joint declaration of intervention in the case brought by The Gambia against Myanmar at the
International Court of Justice.
In these proceedings, The Gambia alleges violations of the Convention on the Prevention and
Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Genocide Convention). It argues that Myanmar’s security
forces perpetrate widespread and systemic “clearance operations” against the Rohingya, and that
“genocidal acts committed during these operations were intended to destroy the Rohingya as a
group, in whole or in part, by the use of mass murder, rape and other forms of sexual violence, as well
as the systematic destruction by fire of their villages, often with inhabitants locked inside burning
houses”.
Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom are exercising the right
to intervene in this case under Article 63(2) of the Statute of the Court in order to set out their
interpretation of the relevant provisions of the Genocide Convention before the Court. They recall
that the Genocide Convention requires States Parties to prevent the crime of genocide and hold those
responsible to account.
Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom further reaffirm their
commitment to accountability and the international legal order and stress the Court’s vital role in the
peaceful settlement of disputes as the principal judicial organ of the United Nations.
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