The ICJ case
In November 2019, The Gambia filed a case against Myanmar at the International Court of Justice under the Genocide Convention, accusing the state of perpetrating, attempting, and failing to punish acts of genocide against the Rohingya. In January 2020, the ICJ ordered Myanmar to take provisional measures to prevent further acts of genocide and to preserve evidence.
The ICC case
The International Criminal Court ruled in 2018 that, although Myanmar is not a party to the Rome Statute, the Court has jurisdiction over the alleged crime of forced deportation because the victims were displaced into Bangladesh, which is a state party. An investigation into crimes against humanity is ongoing.
The IIMM and universal jurisdiction
The UN Human Rights Council also established the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM) in 2018 to collect, consolidate, and preserve evidence for use in criminal proceedings. National courts in Argentina and elsewhere have accepted universal-jurisdiction cases brought by Rohingya survivors and advocacy groups.
Justice as a long road
These cases will take years to resolve. For Rohingya survivors, however, the very fact that the violence is being formally addressed in international law — and that the word "genocide" is being used by courts and states — is itself a measure of recognition long denied them.