Yahoo Finance Court orders Myanmar to protect Rohingya Muslims
The International Court of Justice has ordered Myanmar to take urgent measures to protect its Muslim Rohingya population from persecution and atrocities - and preserve evidence of alleged crimes against them.
Thursday's court ruling came after the mostly Muslim Gambia launched a lawsuit in November at the U.N.'s highest body for disputes between states.
It accused Myanmar of genocide against Rohingya in violation of a 1948 convention.
More than 730,000 Rohingya fled Myanmar after a military-led crackdown in 2017.
Their villages up in smoke, they left in whatever way they could for neighbouring Bangladesh.
Protesters in the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka showed their outrage, setting a mock coffin for Myanmar's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi on fire.
On Thursday (January 23), moments before the court in The Hague began reading its ruling, the Financial Times published an article by Aung San Suu Kyi in which she said war crimes may have been committed against Rohingya Muslims.
But she said that refugees had exaggerated the abuses against them.
During a week of hearings last month, she asked the judges to drop the case.
The ruling dealt only with Gambia's request for so-called preliminary measures, the equivalent of a restraining order for states.
It gives no indication of the court's final decision, which could take years to reach.
The World Court's rulings are final and without appeal, but it has no real way of enforcing them.
More than 100 Myanmar civil society groups published a statement, saying they hoped international justice efforts would "bring forth the truth" and end impunity.
