UN World Court begins landmark hearings on Rohingya genocide case against Myanmar by United Nations News, agencies   12 Jan. 2026   Public hearings opened on Monday at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in a landmark case brought by the Gambia against Myanmar, alleging violations of the Genocide Convention over the military’s treatment of the Rohingya minority.   The proceedings, held at the The Hague, mark the start of the merits phase in the case, after years of preliminary legal arguments. Over the next three weeks, ICJ judges will hear oral arguments from both sides, examine witnesses and experts, and consider whether Myanmar breached its obligations under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, to which the country is a party.   Opening the hearings, Judge Iwasawa Yuji, President of the Court, outlined a detailed schedule that includes two rounds of pleadings by Gambia and Myanmar, as well as closed sessions to hear testimony from witnesses called by both Parties.   Speaking on behalf of Gambia, Attorney General and Minister of Justice Dawda Jallow told the court that his country brought the case “after reviewing credible reports of the most brutal and vicious violations imaginable” committed against the Rohingya, a Muslim minority in Myanmar’s Rakhine province.   “By all measures, this case is not about esoteric issues of international law,” Mr. Jallow said. “It is about real people, real stories, and a real group of human beings.”   Gambia filed its application in November 2019, accusing Myanmar of breaching the Genocide Convention through acts allegedly committed during so-called “clearance operations” carried out by the Myanmar military, or Tatmadaw.   Those operations escalated sharply in 2017, prompting more than 700,000 Rohingya to flee to neighbouring Bangladesh amid widespread killings, sexual violence, village burnings and other abuses. Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, the then UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, described the situation as a “textbook example of ethnic cleansing.”   A UN Human Rights Council-mandated fact-finding mission said in 2018 that it had reasonable grounds to conclude that serious crimes under international law, including genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, had been committed.   Nearly one million Rohingya remain living as refugees in camps in Bangladesh, while countless others are displaced or trapped inside Myanmar in dire conditions.   In January 2020, the Court unanimously ordered provisional measures, directing Myanmar to take all steps within its power to prevent genocidal acts against the Rohingya, preserve evidence, and report regularly to the Court on its compliance.   Myanmar challenged the Court’s jurisdiction, but in July 2022 the judges ruled that they were competent to hear the case.   Eleven States also made written submissions in support of Gambia’s interpretation of the Genocide Convention.   Addressing the judges, Mr. Jallow said Myanmar remained trapped in “a cycle of atrocities and impunity,” noting that no one had been held accountable for crimes against the Rohingya.   He also pointed to the February 2021 military coup, which overthrew the civilian government and plunged Myanmar into renewed nationwide conflict. “Accountability is imperative,” he said, warning that impunity risks the repetition of atrocity crimes.   http://news.un.org/en/story/2026/01/1166746   Dec. 2025   WFP warns that Myanmar faces rising displacement and unacceptable hunger levels in 2026   More than 12 million people in Myanmar will face acute hunger in 2026, with a projected one million people hitting emergency levels that will require lifesaving assistance, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warned today. Intensifying conflict and a sharp jump in displacement now risks pushing an underfunded hunger crisis to breaking point.   The people of Myanmar already face dire levels of hunger; a place where mothers cannot afford enough food to sustain their health, and malnutrition has become a new reality for thousands of children. More than 400,000 young children and mothers with acute malnutrition are surviving on nutrient-deprived diets of plain rice or watery porridge.   “Conflict and deprivation are converging to strip away people’s basic means of survival, yet the world isn’t paying attention,” said Michael Dunford, WFP Country Director in Myanmar. “This is one of the worst hunger crises on the planet, and one of the least funded. We cannot allow this level of suffering to remain invisible. The scale of need is far outpacing our ability to respond.”   Internal displacement is expected to rise from 3.6 million to 4 million next year, according to the latest United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Myanmar Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan. This surge threatens to push millions of households who are barely coping into extreme deprivation.   http://reliefweb.int/report/myanmar/humanitarian-action-children-2025-myanmar-revision-1-september-2025 http://www.unhcr.org/news/press-releases/unhcr-s-grandi-calls-increased-aid-access-and-funding-myanmar-s-forgotten http://www.unhcr.org/news/briefing-notes/unhcr-bangladesh-has-welcomed-150-000-rohingya-refugees-last-18-months http://www.unhcr.org/news/speeches-and-statements/statement-un-high-commissioner-refugees-filippo-grandi-united-nations http://www.ohchr.org/en/statements-and-speeches/2025/09/high-commissioner-turk-rohingya-conference-international-community http://www.wfp.org/news/wfp-appeals-urgent-funding-prevent-ration-cuts-over-one-million-rohingya-refugees-bangladesh http://news.un.org/en/story/2025/03/1161446 http://www.unhcr.org/news/press-releases/un-and-partners-seek-934-5m-life-saving-aid-1-5-million-rohingya-refugees-and   Dec. 2025   Concerns over Myanmar's elections. (OHCHR)   Next month some of the people of Myanmar will start voting in an election imposed by the junta. This military-controlled ballot will be conducted in an atmosphere rife with threats and violence putting the lives of civilians at risk.   The growing insecurity and the lack of measures to protect civilians raise serious concerns about the safety of voters who choose or are forced to participate.   These elections are also taking place in an environment in which the military is actively suppressing participation. Many major political parties are excluded and over 30,000 of the military’s political opponents, including members of the democratically elected government and political representatives, have been detained since 2021.   Discrimination also looms large in the electoral process, with Rohingya, Tamils, Gurkhas, and Chinese, among others, excluded from voting. Civil society and independent media have little to no voice. The military has stepped up mass electronic surveillance to identify dissidents, and there are fears this will be used at the polling stations.   Additionally, the military lacks control over large areas of the country and it will be unable to cover the entire country in a meaningful and representative manner. Some 56 townships, in which martial law declarations remain active, will be excluded. Some 31 townships in the first round will have no actual voting due to the absence of candidates.   Far from being a process that could spear-head a political transition from crisis to stability and the restoration of democratic, civilian rule, UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk says this process seems nearly certain to further ingrain insecurity, fear and polarization throughout the country. The utmost priority must be to end the violence and ensure the flow of humanitarian aid.   http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/12/myanmar-turk-warns-against-violence-and-intimidation-ahead-military http://news.un.org/en/story/2026/01/1166729 http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2026/01/un-expert-first-round-voting-myanmar-exposes-junta-orchestrated-election http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-briefing-notes/2025/11/concerns-over-myanmars-upcoming-elections http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/10/myanmar-un-expert-urges-asean-not-step-backward-recognising-juntas-sham   Oct. 2025   Nicholas Koumjian, head of the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM), told the UN General Assembly that “the frequency and severity of international crimes in Myanmar have escalated.”   Warning that civilians of all ethnicities are bearing the brunt, he said: “We have amassed evidence that persons detained by the military authorities have been tortured and subjected to various forms of sexual violence.”   “We have evidence of the identity of the perpetrators and their commanders.” Mr. Koumjian added that his team has also documented summary executions and attacks on schools, hospitals, and places of worship as the military increasingly relies on airstrikes.   He noted that in Rakhine state, where the Arakan Army (an ethnic armed group fighting against Myanmar’s military junta) has seized more territory, the military’s brutal response has left civilians destitute and starving.   “We are gathering evidence of alleged atrocities, including drone attacks targeting civilians, executions, rape, torture, and the obstruction of humanitarian aid to a population facing starvation,” he said.   Tom Andrews, UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights situation in Myanmar, said the situation in has worsened dramatically, with nearly 22 million people now requiring aid and 16.7 million facing acute food insecurity.   March earthquakes in central Myanmar left some 200,000 people homeless, damaged 157,000 buildings, and caused an estimated $11 billion in losses.   “The military junta took this natural disaster and turned it into a humanitarian catastrophe,” Mr. Andrews said. “They blocked systematically the delivery of humanitarian aid, harassed and threatened relief workers, looted homes and medical supplies, and forcibly conscripted young people into the military.”   Airstrikes on civilian targets surged in the aftermath, surpassing pre-earthquake levels. The health system was also targeted, with 169 attacks on medical facilities and personnel in the first eight months of 2025, while food shortages in central Rakhine state worsened sharply, leaving 58 per cent of families unable to meet basic needs.   “The crisis is getting worse every day,” he warned. “This is not only a national tragedy; it is affecting the entire region and beyond.”   Aug. 2025   UN-mandated independent investigators have uncovered “systematic torture” in Myanmar’s military-run detention facilities – including beatings, electric shocks, strangulations and gang rape – a pattern of atrocities which is intensifying across the country.   In its annual report, the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM) said it had made “important progress” documenting crimes and identifying those responsible, including commanders of security forces overseeing detention facilities.   Myanmar descended into civil war following the military coup of February 2021 and the detention of civilian leaders, including President Win Myint and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi. The takeover sparked mass protests, a violent crackdown on dissent and a nationwide armed resistance movement.   The crimes detailed in the report include burning of sexual body parts, other forms of sexual violence and summary executions of captured combatants or civilians accused of being informers.   “We have uncovered significant evidence, including eyewitness testimony, showing systematic torture in Myanmar detention facilities,” said Nicholas Koumjian, Head of the Mechanism.   “We stand ready to support any jurisdictions willing and able to prosecute these crimes.”   The report covers the period from 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025 and draws on more than 1,300 sources, including nearly 600 eyewitness testimonies, photographs, videos, documents, maps and forensic evidence.   It also details intensified investigations into aerial attacks on schools, homes and hospitals – including incidents in the days following the March 2025 earthquake, when rescue operations were still underway.   Evidence collected by investigators has already supported proceedings before the International Criminal Court (ICC), the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and in Argentina.   It contributed to the ICC Prosecutor’s November 2024 request for an arrest warrant for Min Aung Hlaing, Myanmar’s military chief and to the Argentine Federal Court’s February 2025 warrants against him and 24 others.   “Our report highlights a continued increase in the frequency and brutality of atrocities committed in Myanmar,” Mr. Koumjian said. “We are working towards the day when the perpetrators will have to answer for their actions in a court of law.”   Fighting between the military, pro-democracy forces and ethnic armed groups has displaced millions and pushed the country into deep political, economic and humanitarian turmoil.   The country also faces the long-running consequences of the 2017 military operations against the Rohingya Muslim minority in Rakhine state.   Those campaigns – described by the then UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein as “a textbook example of ethnic cleansing” – forced hundreds of thousands of Rohingya to flee across the border into Bangladesh, where most remain in crowded refugee camps.   http://www.msf.org/deadly-airstrike-hospital-mrauk-u http://news.un.org/en/story/2025/08/1165630 http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/09/myanmar-death-destruction-and-desperation-mirror-2017-atrocities-un-report http://iimm.un.org/ http://www.hrw.org/news/2025/10/17/open-letter-on-the-myanmar-crisis http://www.unicef.org/press-releases/unicef-statement-reported-death-children-after-brutal-attack-school-rakhine-state http://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2025/10/southeast-asia-asean-summit-must-address-deteriorating-crisis-in-myanmar-and-ongoing-scam-compound-activity/ Visit the related web page
	Human rights obligations cannot be subordinated to commercial seed monopolies by OHCHR, UN Working Group on Peasants   Dec. 2025   UN experts today welcomed a landmark ruling of the High Court of Kenya declaring unconstitutional provisions of the Seed and Plant Varieties Act that criminalised the saving, use, exchange and sale of Indigenous and farm-saved seeds.   “This judgment rightly recognises that seed sharing is not a crime, but a fundamental element of peasants’ identity, resilience and contribution to national food systems,” said the Working Group on Peasants and other people working in rural areas.   The High Court of Kenya found that the law, which granted exclusive marketing and property rights over seeds to breeders and seed companies and exposed farmers to potential imprisonment of up to two years for seed-saving and seed-sharing, violated farmers’ rights to life, livelihood and food.   The Court stressed that centuries-old practices of seed-sharing form the backbone of Kenya’s food security and cultural heritage.   “This decision is a significant affirmation that the human rights of peasants and the imperatives of food security and biodiversity must prevail over overly restrictive intellectual property regimes,” the Working Group said.   The experts noted that similar restrictive provisions, often modelled on the 1991 Act of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV), have been incorporated into national laws in many countries – criminalising age-old practices in Indigenous and peasant agriculture.   “The Kenyan ruling sends a clear and timely message that human rights obligations cannot be subordinated to commercial seed monopolies or narrow interpretations of plant breeders’ rights,” the Working Group said.   The decision is consistent with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas (UNDROP), in particular article 19, which recognises the right to seeds, including the right to save, use, exchange and sell farm-saved seed or propagating material.   The experts recalled their Briefing Paper on the Right to Seeds, which clarifies that States must ensure that seed policies, certification schemes and intellectual property frameworks, are designed and applied in a manner that respects, protects and fulfils these rights, and that peasants-managed seed systems are legally recognised and actively supported.   “Courts play a critical role in ensuring that national laws comply with international human rights standards,” the Working Group said. “Where legislative frameworks have criminalised traditional seed systems or restricted peasants’ customary practices, judicial review offers an essential safeguard to restore the primacy of human rights and the right to food.”   The experts commended the courage and perseverance of Kenyan peasants, Indigenous Peoples and civil society actors who mobilised to secure seeds rights before the Court.   “Their determination offers inspiration to peasant movements worldwide and shows that when courts uphold human rights, they defend not only the livelihoods of small-scale farmers and Indigenous Peoples but also the future of diverse, resilient and sovereign food systems,” they said.   “Kenya’s ruling should inspire similar human-rights-based interpretations of seed laws and plant variety protection regimes in other jurisdictions,” the Working Group said.   http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/12/kenyas-seed-sharing-ruling-milestone-peasants-rights-and-food-security-un   19 Dec. 2025   Domestic interpretations cannot override norms designed to protect humanity from the worst crimes. “Crimes against humanity are imprescriptible under international law.”   UN human rights experts today expressed grave concern over the content of Peru’s Constitutional Court ruling upholding the “impunity” law, which allows statutes of limitations for crimes against humanity.   “This ruling is a dangerous step backward,” the experts said. “Crimes against humanity are imprescriptible under international law.”   The majority decision of four judges upheld the constitutionality of Law 32107, arguing that the statute of limitations could apply to such crimes if committed prior to Peru’s ratification of the Rome Statute and the Convention on the Non-Applicability of Statutory Limitations to War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity. The Court further argued that treaty obligations were not self-executing due to an interpretative declaration, invoked legality and non-retroactivity principles, and cited lengthy proceedings.   “As a peremptory norm binding on all States, the prohibition of statutory limitations for crimes against humanity is not contingent on treaty ratification,” the experts said.   “The principle of legality does not shield perpetrators of atrocities that were criminal under international law at the time,” they said. “Neither can delays in proceedings justify impunity for grave violations.”   The UN experts recalled their previous opinions and the decisions of the Inter-American Court and Commission on Human Rights warning Peru about the illegality of the Act under international law.   “Peru is bound by the norms of general international law and by its international obligations. Domestic interpretations cannot override norms designed to protect humanity from the worst crimes,” they said.   The Court’s ruling also ordered the annulment of judicial decisions that disregard the constitutionality of the “impunity law”.   “This decision undermines judicial independence and introduces a risk of additional reprisals against justice operators who are already under attack for applying binding international standards,” the experts said.   They called on Peru to align its laws with international standards, ensure accountability, and protect judicial actors.   “Justice delayed must not become justice denied,” the experts said.   http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/12/peru-un-experts-concerned-about-constitutional-court-ruling-impunity-law
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