ICC team wraps up Bangladesh visit for Rohingya report

By Md. Kamruzzaman

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) - Wrapping up the visit to the camps for the persecuted Rohingya in Bangladesh, a team from the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor's office expressed commitment for “continued progress” on the preliminary examination process.

Following the week-long visit to Rohingya camps in the southern Cox’s Bazar district, Phakiso Mochochoko, Director of Jurisdiction, Complementarity and Cooperation Division of the ICC spoke to reporters in the capital Dhaka.

The independent and impartial preliminary examination of the ICC on alleged deportation of the Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar to Bangladesh is ongoing and will follow its course, Mochochoko said.

“The office is committed to making continued progress on the preliminary examination process,” he stressed.

“The delegation also had the opportunity to exchange views with the representatives of various agencies of the United Nations and members of the diplomatic community, as well as academics from the University of Dhaka’s Centre for Genocide Studies [on Rohingya crisis],” he added.

On the views and concerns of Rohingya refugees, humanitarian agencies and NGOs, Mochochoko said that the insights gained from this visit will be helpful for the ICC to speed up its ongoing assessment.

“A preliminary examination is not an investigation,” he reiterated, adding that [it] is an assessment of the Rome Statue criteria to decide whether an investigation into the [Rohingya] situation at hand is warranted.

About Myanmar’s military crackdown on Rohingya Muslims since Aug. 25, 2017, however, an ICC preliminary report published last December said: “During the course of these [military] operations more than 40 percent of all villages in the northern Rakhine state were reportedly partially or totally destroyed and it is estimated that by September 2018, over 725,000 Rohingya had fled to the neighboring Bangladesh.”

- Persecuted community

The Rohingya, described by the UN as the world's most persecuted people, have faced heightened fears of attack since dozens were killed in communal violence in 2012.

According to Amnesty International, more than 750,000 Rohingya refugees, mostly women and children, have fled Myanmar and crossed into Bangladesh after Myanmar forces launched a crackdown on the minority Muslim community in August 2017.

Since Aug. 25, 2017, nearly 24,000 Rohingya Muslims have been killed by Myanmar’s state forces, according to a report by the Ontario International Development Agency (OIDA).

More than 34,000 Rohingya were also thrown into fires, while over 114,000 others were beaten, said the OIDA report, titled "Forced Migration of Rohingya: The Untold Experience."

Some 18,000 Rohingya women and girls were raped by Myanmar’s army and police and over 115,000 Rohingya homes were burned down and 113,000 others vandalized, it added.

The UN has also documented mass gang rapes, killings – including of infants and young children – brutal beatings and disappearances committed by Myanmar state forces.

In a report, UN investigators said such violations may have constituted crimes against humanity and genocidal intent.