Aung San Suu Kyi calls Rohingya genocide allegations 'misleading'

Myanmar's leader defended her country's military at the UN's top court

A handout photo released by the International Court of Justice shows a general view of The International Court of Justice (ICJ) holding a public hearing in the case concerning the Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (The Gambia v. Myanmar) at the Peace Palace in The Hague, with Myanmar's State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi (5thL) and Gambian politician and lawyer Abubacarr Marie Tambadou (4thR) attending. AFP

A handout photo released by the International Court of Justice shows International Court of Justice (ICJ) Judge and court president Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf speaking during a public hearing in the case concerning the Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (The Gambia v. Myanmar) at the Peace Palace in The Hague. AFP

A handout photo released by the International Court of Justice shows International Court of Justice (ICJ) Judge Navanethem Pillay attending the public hearing in the case concerning the Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (The Gambia v. Myanmar) at the Peace Palace in The Hague. AFP

epa08062118 Abubacarr Tambadou (L front, seated), minister of justice of The Gambia, and Aung San Suu Kyi (C), Myanmar State Counselor, on the second day before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Peace Palace, The Hague, The Netherlands, 11 December 2019. Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi defended her country at the International Court of Justice against accusations of genocide filed by The Gambia, following the 2017 Myanmar military crackdown on the Rohingya Muslim minority. EPA/KOEN VAN WEEL

epa08062116 Abubacarr Tambadou (2-L front, seated), minister of justice of The Gambia, and Aung San Suu Kyi (C), Myanmar State Counselor, on the second day before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Peace Palace, The Hague, The Netherlands, 11 December 2019. Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi defended her country at the International Court of Justice against accusations of genocide filed by The Gambia, following the 2017 Myanmar military crackdown on the Rohingya Muslim minority. EPA/KOEN VAN WEEL

TOPSHOT - Protesters in support of Myanmar's State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi hold pictures in front of the Peace Palace of The Hague on December 11, 2019, following Aung San Suu Kyi's second day of hearing on the Rohingya genocide case. Aung San Suu Kyi is set to speak out in Myanmar's defence at the UN's top court on December 11, 2019, a day after the former democracy icon was urged to "stop the genocide" against Rohingya Muslims. Once hailed internationally for her defiance of Myanmar's junta, the Nobel peace laureate will this time be on the side of the southeast Asian nation's military when she takes the stand at the International Court of Justice. - Netherlands OUT / AFP / ANP / Koen Van WEEL

Myanmar's leader Aung San Suu Kyi speaks in front of the judges on the second day of hearings in a case filed by Gambia against Myanmar alleging genocide against the minority Muslim Rohingya population, at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, Netherlands December 11, 2019. REUTERS/Yves Herman

epa08062075 A general view of the court room in the Peace Palace as Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi (C-L, back) stands during the second day before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), in The Hague, The Netherlands, 11 December 2019. Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi defended her country at the International Court of Justice against accusations of genocide filed by The Gambia, following the 2017 Myanmar military crackdown on the Rohingya Muslim minority. EPA/KOEN VAN WEEL

Myanmar's State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi (C) stands before the UN's International Court of Justice on December 11, 2019 in the Peace Palace of The Hague, on the second day of her hearing on the Rohingya genocide case. Aung San Suu Kyi appears at the UN's top court today, a day after the former democracy icon was urged to "stop the genocide" against Rohingya Muslims. Once hailed internationally for her defiance of Myanmar's junta, the Nobel peace laureate will this time be on the side of the southeast Asian nation's military when she takes the stand at the International Court of Justice. - Netherlands OUT / AFP / ANP / Koen Van WEEL

Myanmar's State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi looks on before the UN's International Court of Justice on December 11, 2019 in the Peace Palace of The Hague, on the second day of her hearing on the Rohingya genocide case. Aung San Suu Kyi appears at the UN's top court today, a day after the former democracy icon was urged to "stop the genocide" against Rohingya Muslims. Once hailed internationally for her defiance of Myanmar's junta, the Nobel peace laureate will this time be on the side of the southeast Asian nation's military when she takes the stand at the International Court of Justice. - Netherlands OUT / AFP / ANP / Koen Van WEEL

People demonstrate against Myanmar's leader Aung San Suu Kyi on the second day of hearings in a case filed by Gambia against Myanmar alleging genocide against the minority Muslim Rohingya population, outside the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, Netherlands December 11, 2019. REUTERS/Yves Herman

Myanmar's State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi (R) stands before the UN's International Court of Justice on December 11, 2019 in the Peace Palace of The Hague, on the second day of her hearing on the Rohingya genocide case. Aung San Suu Kyi appears at the UN's top court today, a day after the former democracy icon was urged to "stop the genocide" against Rohingya Muslims. Once hailed internationally for her defiance of Myanmar's junta, the Nobel peace laureate will this time be on the side of the southeast Asian nation's military when she takes the stand at the International Court of Justice. - Netherlands OUT / AFP / ANP / Koen Van WEEL

TOPSHOT - A handout photo released on December 10, 2019 by the International Court of Justice shows Myanmar's State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi attending the start of a three-day hearing on the Rohingya genocide case before the UN International Court of Justice at the Peace Palace of The Hague. Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi faced calls for Myanmar to "stop the genocide" of Rohingya Muslims as she personally led her country's defence at the UN's top court on December 10. - RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / UN Photo/ICJ/ Frank Van BEEK" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS --- / AFP / UN Photo/ICJ / Frank Van BEEK / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / UN Photo/ICJ/ Frank Van BEEK" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS ---

Aung San Suu Kyi has defended the actions of Myanmar's military at the UN's top court, saying that allegations of genocide against Rohingya Muslims were "misleading and incomplete".

The Gambia, a small West African country, launched its case against Myanmar at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Tuesday.

Gambian Justice Minister Abubacarr Tambadou said it would be "extremely disappointing" if Myanmar's civilian leader repeated previous rejections of wrongdoing by the generals that once kept her under house arrest.

But addressing the ICJ on Wednesday, Ms Suu Kyi did exactly that.

"Regrettably The Gambia has placed before the court a misleading and incomplete picture of the situation in Rakhine state," she said.

Ms Suu Kyi challenged claims that events in 2017 in Rakhine State, home to the country's Muslim minority, could be legally classed as genocide. She said that problems in the region "go back centuries".

Ms Suu Kyi conceded that "disproportionate force" might have been used by soldiers at times. While Myanmar has prosecuted seven military officials for abuses, they were set free after serving less than a year of 10-year sentences.

She said a military-led "clearance operation" had taken place in western Rakhine State as a counterterrorism response to armed Rohingya attacks on dozens of police stations.

However, repression of the region’s Rohingya long predates the October 2016 incidents in which armed groups targeted the Myanmar military, the justification for launching the clearance operation.

UN investigators have said around 10,000 people, including women and children, may have been killed during the military crackdown.

More than 730,000 Rohingya fled Myanmar to neighbouring Bangladesh where they live in the world’s biggest refugee camp, Kutupalong in Cox’s Bazar. Ms Suu Kyi, 74, said Myanmar was working with Bangladesh to repatriate those who fled.

Mark Farmaner, director of Burma Campaign UK, accused Ms Suu Kyi of “barefaced lying” during her testimony and said her civilian government was guilty of genocide.

He told The National that Ms Suu Kyi's decision to appear at the ICJ was politically motivated.

“Aung San Suu Kyi is facing election next year. She hasn’t delivered on a lot of her election promises and she is using this case domestically to whip up nationalist support,” he said. “And separately by defending the military internationally, she is trying to persuade them that she is not a threat at all.”

The Gambia’s lawyers gave detailed descriptions of how the Rohingya were raped, murdered and had their homes burnt to the ground on the first day of the three-day hearing.

The Gambia, which is a Muslim-majority state and a member of the 57-nation Organisation of Islamic Co-operation, is initially seeking ICJ approval for temporary measures to be put in place protect the Rohingya. A ruling of genocide could be years away.

Amnesty International's regional director Nicholas Bequelin called the suggestion that Myanmar would be able to independently prosecute those suspected of crimes under international law "nothing but a fantasy".

He said senior military figures who orchestrated the human rights violations had already "enjoyed decades of total impunity".

A small group of pro-Rohingya protesters gathered outside of the court in The Hague shouting: "Aung San Suu Kyi, shame on you."

In the city of Yangon in Myanmar, several hundred people watched a live broadcast of the hearings in a park. There have been demonstrations of support for Ms Suu Kyi in the city.

Mr Farmaner said the civilian leader’s actions would lead to everyone in Myanmar suffering.

“Although she might be taking comfort that the country's Buddhist majority is standing behind her on this case, she is actually polarising the country by letting other ethnic minority groups see her defend the crimes of the military that have persecuted them too,” he said.

“Internationally, it is going to make it harder for Myanmar to get the support it needs for economic development and improve the standards of people when you have an authoritarian government that is denying genocide and committing its own human rights violations."

He said Ms Suu Kyi was leading the country “down a dangerous and tragic path”.