The Rohingya, Justice and International Law

Written by an international judge, professor and former ambassador with decades of experience in the field, this is an incisive and highly readable book about international law as well as realpolitik in bilateral and multilateral diplomacy in the quest for justice by victims of serious human rights violations amounting to grave crimes of international concern. Focusing on the plight of the ethnic and religious group of persons called the ‘Rohingya’, normally residing in Myanmar, as the case study, the book elaborates the complex legal technicalities and impediments in international courts and foreign domestic criminal courts exercising ‘universal jurisdiction’ in relation to acts amounting to genocide, crimes against humanity and/or war crimes. It builds on and adds value to existing literature on the international law applicable to the protection of human rights as interpreted by the International Court of Justice as well as that on the international criminal justice meted out by domestic criminal courts, ad hoc international criminal tribunals and the permanent International Criminal Court. The book will be essential reading for students, researchers and academics in public international law, international criminal law, international human rights law as well as government officials and those working for NGOs and international organizations with mandates in these fields.

Part I: Introduction 1 Narratives about the ‘Rohingya’ and Their Plight 2 The Rohingya Situation and International Reactions Part II: The International Court of Justice: State Responsibility 3 The Gambia’s Case before the ICJ 4 Proving Violations of the 1948 Genocide Convention Part III: The International Criminal Court: Individual Criminal Responsibility 5 Introduction to the International Criminal Court 6 Practical Difficulties Faced by the ICC Part IV: Justice in Foreign Domestic Courts 7 Exercise of Universal Criminal Jurisdiction by Argentina and Other Nation States 8 Sanctions and Redress under Domestic Law for Victims of Serious Human Rights Violations Abroad Part V: Stock Taking 9 Lessons Learnt and Future Possibilities

Kriangsak Kittichaisaree is a Judge of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. He has served as Chairperson of the UN International Law Commission’s Working Group on ‘The Obligation to Extradite or Prosecute (aut dedere aut judicare)'; and as Thailand’s Ambassador to Iran, Australia and Russia. He has taught international law at renowned law schools in four continents. His publications include International Criminal Law (2001), Public International Law of Cyberspace (2017); The Obligation to Extradite or Prosecute (2018), and International Human Rights Law and Diplomacy (2020).