Ali Riaz said that the nature of the crimes against Rohingya and their forcible deportation to Bangladesh falls under the purview of ICC’s jurisdictions. Talking to ucanews about the International Criminal Court’s move to hold Myanmar officials accountable, Riaz expressed hope the ICC will hold those accountable for these crimes.

The International Criminal Court asked Myanmar to submit its written observations by July 27 on the allegations of deporting over 700,000 Rohingyas to Bangladesh. Bangladesh recently responded to a request of the ICC whether the ICC has the territorial jurisdiction.

“Myanmar is not a signatory of the Rome Statute, but I think the ICC has the territorial jurisdiction too. The ‘forcible deportation’ across an international border into Bangladesh made this a significantly different situation, and as Bangladesh is a member, the ICC can create a special case for the operation of ICC jurisdiction,” said Riaz.

One thought on “Riaz: International Criminal Court has jurisdiction over forced deportation of Rohingya

  1. Thein Maung says:

    would Professor Ria advise what is the difference between the more than 500,000 bangladeshi refugees that crossed into Myanmar as a result of the 1971 Bangladesh war of liberation and the current Rohingyas 700,000 refugees that crossed into Bangladesh as a consequence of the war against Muslim Terrorists.
    Bearing in mind a time span of 47 years that the Bangladeshi refugees and their possibly their more than 1,000,000 descendants have lived off the bounty and land of Myanmar?? and never ever supported by either Bangladesh and or the UN.