ICJ to deliver landmark judgment in Rohingya genocide case against Myanmar on Nov 19

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) will deliver its judgment on 19 November in a landmark case brought by The Gambia against Myanmar over alleged violations of the Genocide Convention against the Rohingya community.

ICJ President Judge Iwasawa Yuji will read the judgment during a public sitting at 10am local time at the Peace Palace in The Hague, the court announced on 3 November, reports Maktoob Media.

Formally titled Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (The Gambia v. Myanmar), the case began on 11 November 2019, when The Gambia filed an application accusing Myanmar of breaching its obligations under the 1948 Genocide Convention.

The Gambia has asked the court to declare that Myanmar violated the convention, cease any ongoing internationally wrongful acts, provide reparations to victims of alleged genocidal acts against the Rohingya and guarantee that such violations will not be repeated.

The application invoked Article IX of the Genocide Convention as the basis for the court's jurisdiction and included a request for provisional measures.

In January 2020, the ICJ ordered Myanmar to comply with provisional measures. Myanmar subsequently challenged the court's jurisdiction and the admissibility of the case. However, in a judgment delivered on 22 July 2022, the court rejected the preliminary objections, ruling that it had jurisdiction to hear the case and that The Gambia's application was admissible.

The proceedings then moved to the merits, with Myanmar filing its counter-memorial, followed by written submissions from both parties. Public hearings on the merits took place from 12 to 29 January 2026, during which witnesses and an expert called by the parties were examined.

Eleven states intervened in the proceedings under Article 63 of the ICJ Statute. Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom intervened jointly, while the Maldives, Slovenia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Belgium and Ireland submitted separate declarations.

The court found all their declarations of intervention admissible. However, the intervening states were informed that their written observations sufficiently presented their positions and that they would not need to participate in the oral proceedings.

The 19 November judgment marks a major stage in international legal proceedings over alleged genocide against the Rohingya, a predominantly Muslim ethnic minority from Myanmar's Rakhine State. The court's decision will address the merits of The Gambia's case.

The atrocities against the Rohingya escalated sharply in 2017, forcing more than 700,000 people to flee to neighbouring Bangladesh amid widespread killings, sexual violence, village burnings and other abuses. Around 600,000 Rohingya remain trapped inside Rakhine State under severe apartheid-like restrictions.

Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, the then UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, described the situation as a "textbook example of ethnic cleansing".

A UN Human Rights Council-mandated fact-finding mission said in 2018 that it had reasonable grounds to conclude that serious crimes under international law, including genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, had been committed.

Nearly one million Rohingya continue to live as refugees in camps in Bangladesh, while countless others remain displaced or trapped inside Myanmar in dire conditions.

On 21 March 2022, following a rigorous factual and legal analysis, the United States determined that members of the Burmese military had committed genocide and crimes against humanity against the Rohingya.

In February 2021, following the November 2020 elections won by Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy, then-commander-in-chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing led a military coup that overthrew the civilian government.

More than five years later, Myanmar's military junta continues to commit war crimes and crimes against humanity across the country. Min Aung Hlaing installed himself as president following elections held in December 2025 and January 2026, which Human Rights Watch described as fraudulent.

In Rakhine State, Rohingya civilians have been caught in fighting between the military junta and ethnic Arakan Army forces since late 2023. Both sides have committed grave abuses, including extrajudicial killings, widespread arson and unlawful recruitment.

The Myanmar military continues to commit war crimes and crimes against humanity against the Rohingya, including apartheid, persecution and deprivation of liberty.

The Arakan Army, which now controls most of Rakhine State, has also intensified repression against Rohingya Muslims through forced labour and arbitrary detention, while committing grave violations of the laws of war amounting to war crimes.