Great Britain, France, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, and the Maldives are now part of Gambia’s genocide case against Myanmar at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), as announced on Wednesday.
The ICJ explained that these countries asked to join the case, and were allowed to submit their written views. The court will later decide if they can also speak during the oral hearings.
“The seven states concerned will be allowed to submit their written observations on the subject matter of their interventions. The Court will determine at a later date whether they should be authorised to make observations in the course of the oral proceedings,” the ICJ said.
Gambia, a mainly Muslim country in West Africa, filed the case in 2017. They accuse Myanmar of committing genocide against the Rohingya, a Muslim minority group.
A United Nations investigation found that Myanmar’s military campaign in 2017, which forced 730,000 Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh, included genocidal acts.
Myanmar denies these accusations, claiming their actions were aimed at Rohingya rebels who had attacked them.
The ICJ’s decision to accept these interventions means the countries can contribute their perspectives on the Genocide Convention. The Maldives can discuss the construction of the Convention’s rules. Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and the UK submitted a joint statement of intervention.
These countries can now provide written comments, and the ICJ will later decide if they can present these comments orally.