Rohingya: ICC team visiting Bangladesh

FT ONLINE

A delegation from the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) is now visiting Bangladesh.

In November 2019, the ICC judges authorised the request by ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda to investigate alleged crimes against humanity committed against the Rohingya people from Myanmar.

The delegation is in Bangladesh as part of the ongoing activities of the ICC Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) concerning the Rohingya situation in accordance with its mandate under the Rome Statute.

The OTP delegation is led by Phakiso Mochochoko, director of Jurisdiction, Cooperation and Complementarity.

However, this delegation is not part of an investigation team and not collecting evidence in relation to any alleged crimes, according to a media note.

The general overall purpose of this visit is outreach - to engage with relevant stakeholders - and explain the judicial process and the status of the investigation to the public, it said.

An official statement will be issued on Tuesday on behalf of prosecutor Fatou Bensouda wrapping up the visit.

Bangladesh is now hosting over 1.1 million Rohingyas in its Cox’s Bazar district and most of them entered Bangladesh after August 25, 2017 amid military crackdown in Rakhine State of Myanmar against Rohingyas.

In a sweeping legal victory for members of the Rohingya Muslim minority, the United Nations' top court - International Court of Justice (ICJ) - ordered Myanmar to take all measures in its power to prevent genocide against the Rohingya people.

The court's president, judge Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf, said the International Court of Justice "is of the opinion that the Rohingya in Myanmar remain extremely vulnerable”.