such conditions of life have in fact led to the deaths of women and children in the past two years since the
provisional measures were ordered.
Since the ICJ’s provisional measures were ordered, the military authorities in Myanmar have progressively
tightened restrictions on those confined to the camps rather than easing them. Restrictions on freedom of
movement and access to healthcare also remain in place for Rohingya in northern Rakhine State. When
Rohingya men, women and children have sought to flee the appalling conditions of life imposed on them by
the military junta in Rakhine State, they have been arrested, detained and treated as criminals, further
dehumanising them.
As the junta continues to build new structures on the sites of razed Rohingya villages where mass killings
took place during the clearance operations of 2016 and 2017, this also defies provisional measure 3 with its
explicit instruction to prevent the destruction of and ensure the preservation of evidence related to allegations
of genocidal acts.
The Myanmar junta’s abject failure to comply with the ICJ’s provisional measures and the lack of
transparency around reporting on its compliance with the order call into question the effectiveness of the
measures, given their protective function. Their purpose is to protect the Rohingya, a group described by the
Court as ‘extremely vulnerable’. The lack of transparency underpins impunity for atrocity crimes and may
embolden the junta to commit further heinous crimes, not only against the Rohingya but against the wider
population of Myanmar. The Court must act decisively and without further delay to strengthen the provisional
measures order.
Legal analysts have pointed out that there is no legal impediment in its Statute or the Rules of the Court
which prevent the ICJ from making Myanmar’s reports on compliance with provisional measures public. As
Rosenberg et al have argued, in a public interest case like this - which deals with both erga omnes and erga
omnes partes obligations to the whole international community - ‘the norm and consistent practice should be
that reports are public and that confidentiality should be justified only by compelling reasons from the
Court.’cix Under the Rules of the Court, the ICJ may of its own accord either issue further provisional
measures, or amend the existing order by providing more specific instructions.cx This should include a
requirement for public reporting.
Although Article 77 of the Rules read with Article 41(2) of the Court’s Statute provides that any provisional
measures ordered by the Court are to be communicated to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), there
is no indication that the reports on compliance with the orders have been provided to the UNSC.cxi If the
compliance reports were made public and therefore subject to greater scrutiny, this would compel UN
member States to press the UN Security Council to adopt a resolution on Myanmar. Such a resolution should
include referring the situation in Myanmar to the International Criminal Court; a comprehensive arms
embargo, including on jet fuel to the military; and targeted economic sanctions imposed on the Myanmar
military, its leaders, and its sources of revenue.
Recommendations to the International Court of Justice
• In light of the ongoing irreparable harm being suffered by members of the Rohingya group, move to either
amend the existing provisional measures order or issue further provisional measures, including, but not
limited to, requirements that:
- Myanmar makes its reporting public, to ensure transparency and rigorous scrutiny of its compliance
with the order;
- Myanmar implement policy and legislative changes as part of concrete measures it must take to
comply, including the restoration of full citizenship to the Rohingya as a vital first step;
- Myanmar end all arbitrary restrictions on freedom of movement, access to health and other resources
indispensable for survival for the Rohingya and allow humanitarian actors immediate, unrestricted,
and sustained access to Rakhine State and the rest of the country;
- Myanmar cooperate with United Nations bodies and other international investigative mechanisms
that seek to investigate the acts that are the subject of this case.
Recommendations to the international community
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