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WORLD NEWS Saturday 8 September 2018
Myanmar rejects int'l court's right to Rohingya probe

By MIN KYI THEIN addressed another issue
NAYPYITAW, Myanmar (AP) that has drawn internation-
— Myanmar's government al criticism of Myanmar, the
on Friday rejected an Inter- sentencing of two Reuters
national Criminal Court rul- journalists to seven years in
ing that it has jurisdiction to prison on charges of illegal
investigate allegations that possession of official docu-
Myanmar security forces vi- ments. Zaw Htay said at a
olated international law by news conference in the
driving hundreds of thou- capital, Naypyitaw, that
sands of Rohingya Muslims the court's ruling Monday
from their homes. against Wa Lone and Kyaw
The office of Myanmar Soe Oo was the preroga-
President Win Myint said tive of the judicial branch,
Thursday's decision by The and the government could
Hague-based court was not interfere.
"the result of faulty proce- The verdict and sentence
dure and is of dubious legal caused international out-
merit." rage. The prosecutors' case
It reiterated the govern- was widely seen as based
ment's previously stated on fabricated evidence,
position that it has no ob- and a key police witness
ligation to respect the undercut the case when
court's ruling because it is Myanmar's government spokesman Zaw Htay talks to journalists during a press briefing at the he testified in a pre-trial
not a party to the treaty Presidential Palace in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Friday, Sept. 7, 2018. hearing that the reporters
that established the institu- Associated Press had been set up. q
tion. It also listed points of
law and evidentiary argu- crossed into Bangladesh
ments in rejecting approval after a brutal counterin-
for the court to make a pre- surgency campaign by
liminary investigation. Myanmar security forces.
A special U.N. commission The report issued Monday
on Monday recommended by the three-member "fact-
prosecuting senior Myan- finding mission" working un-
mar military officers for sus- der a mandate from the
pected genocide. U.N.-backed Human Rights
Because Myanmar is not a Council alleged wide-
member of the internation- spread rights violations, in-
al court, some legal experts cluding rape, murder, tor-
had contended the court ture and the burning of Ro-
did not have jurisdiction. hingya homes and villages.
But the argument that Myanmar denies any or-
prevailed, made by court ganized abuses and says
Prosecutor Fatou Bensou- the army's operations were
da, was that while the Ro- a response to attacks last
hingya were forced from August by an underground
their homes in Myanmar, Rohingya insurgent group
part of the crime involved on Myanmar security per-
them being driven across sonnel in Rakhine state.
the border into neighbor- Earlier this year, Myan-
ing Bangladesh, which is a mar signed agreements
member of the court. with Bangladesh and U.N.
Myanmar's statement Fri- agencies concerning the
day said the court's deci- repatriation of the Rohing-
sion "was the result of mani- ya, but it has been drag-
fest bad faith, procedural ging its feet in allowing ac-
irregularities and general cess to U.N. representatives
lack of transparency." to ensure their safe return.
It challenged the factual The Muslim Rohingya have
basis of the ruling, contend- long been treated as out-
ing that "The allegations of siders in Buddhist-majority
deportation cannot be fur- Myanmar, even though
ther from the truth." their families have lived in
"Myanmar reiterates that the country for genera-
it has not deported any tions. Nearly all have been
individuals in the areas of denied citizenship since
concern and in fact has 1982, effectively rendering
worked hard in collabora- them stateless, and they
tion with Bangladesh to are also denied freedom of
repatriate those displaced movement and other basic
from their homes." rights. Earlier Friday, the top
Some 700,000 Rohingya government spokesman