Justice for the Rohingya? The ICJ’s decision in the Myanmar genocide case
Nov 20, 2026 — 11 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.
The Human Rights Research and Education Centre (HRREC) is pleased to present this hybrid event as part of Developments in human Rights. This series explores developments in human rights in Canada and internationally in today’s rapidly changing world.
The International Law Association of Canada (ILA Canada), Inter Pares, the Faculty of Law International Law Group, the Centre for International Policy Studies (CIPS), and the International Commission of Jurists Canada (ICJ Canada) are partners in event.
Justice for the Rohingya? The ICJ’s decision in the Myanmar genocide case
In August-September 2017, Myanmar’s “clearance operations” caused a mass exodus of some 800,000 Rohingya while leaving thousands dead, raped and otherwise tortured, along with destruction of entire communities. International investigations and global outcry led countries like Canada to condemn Myanmar’s commission of genocide. In fact the long-known persecution of the Rohingya had incurred international condemnation for decades including for international crimes.
In January 2019, responding to a groundswell for action, HRREC invited then Visting Professor Jan Wouters to illuminate in a public address possible action under the Genocide Convention – long considered a distant if not fantastic idea. Ten months later, The Gambia brought the case against Myanmar at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), resulting in January 2020 in significant Provisional Measures (which remain in force). The case was the first in history to be brought by a non-injured State on the basis of common interest with obligations owed to the international community as a whole (obligations erga omnes partes).
On 19 November 2026, at the Peace Palace in The Hague, the ICJ will deliver its Judgment in the case on Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (The Gambia v. Myanmar). 11 States, including Canada, intervened. Jan Wouters will share his expert reactions and comments on the judgment and possible orders. Two leading Rohingya advocates – women’s rights advocate Yasmin Ullah and journalist John Jonaid – will comment on the decision, the case as a whole, and the Rohingyas’ long struggle for justice and for the full realisation of their rights.
Bringing almost 35 years of involvement with Rohingya as well as regarding a number of other contemporary genocides, Professor John Packer will moderate the panel cognizant that four other cases under the Genocide Convention are before the ICJ while a number of other current situations lay beyond the ICJ’s jurisdiction.
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