A new trade pact to replace nafta. While myanmars leader Aung San Suu Kyi has literally arrived at the International Court of justice where she is beginning her remarks defending her country against allegations of genocide lets listen in the 948 Genocide Convention one of the most fundamental multilateral treaties of all the time invoking that 940 age Genocide Convention its a matter of a most gravity. This is a treaty that we made following this is to match it killing of malls and 6000000 year jews and thats my country wholeheartedly signed as ferdie assertiveness december 949 and ratified on food since march 956. 00 genocide is a crime that the International Criminal tribunal for rwanda applied in response to the mass killing of perhaps 70 percent of the 2 chief in rwanda. It is a crime that is not applied by the tribunal to the former yugoslavia for the displacement of approximately 1000000 residents of course civil in 1909 neither was it applied by that tribe you know no by this court when deciding upon the exodus of the population from croatia in 1905 in both situations International Justice resisted the temptation to use this strongest of legal classifications because the requisite specific intent to physically destroy the targeted group in whole or in part was not present. Required to pretty the gambia is placed before the court an incomplete and misleading fact picture of the situation and Rakhine State and not mine yet it is of the octopus importance that the court assess the situation obtaining on the ground in rakhine dispassionately and accurate the situation in rakhine is complex and not easy to fathom but one thing surely touches all of us equally the sufferings of the many innocent people whose eyes of a torn apart as a consequence of the Armed Conflicts of 201617 in particular those who have had to flee their homes and the knowledge living in camps in caucasus bazaar. Mr president and members of the caught the troubles of Rakhine State and its population whatever the background go back into past centuries and has been particularly sivia over the past few years. Currently an internal Armed Conflict is going on there between the ara can army and all denies to but this to on group with more than 5000. 00 fighting 5000. 00 fighters and the regular Defense Services none of the speakers yesterday made any reference to this the arak an army 6 autonomy or independence for a crime or add a can as it is called finding inspiration in the memory of the historic kingdom of africa at. This conflict has led to the displacement of thousands of civilians in rakhine standard security restrictions such as curfew and checkpoints are in place at present in the conflict zone and affect the situation of civilians there regardless of their background mr president on nines october 2016 approximately 400 fighters of the other can ruin just Salvation Army known as our sa law and signal to noise attacks on 3 predisposed and mando and repeat on townships in north america time near the border with bungler dish also claims responsibility for these attacks which led to the death of 9 Police Offices more than 100. 00 dead or missing civilians and the theft of 68. 00 guns and more than 10 pounds in rounds of ammunition this was the start of an internal Armed Conflict between our side and the mosque if the Defense Services which lasted until late twentys 70 the selective factual propositions contained in the canvass application actually concerned this conflict in the months following the 9 october 26 in attacks of grew in strength in the mando the dow and with the down townships in norton rakhine. It resulted to threats and intimidation against local villages in order to gain support and allegiance executing suspected informants according to among others the International Crisis group are said received weapons and explosives training from afghan and pakistani militants and the only morning of 26 august 2017 several 1000 hours of fighters launched a coordinated attacks on more than 30 police posts in villages and an army base and north of rakhine most of the attacks took place on the narrow mando plain which is framed by densely forested hills to the east and the border with bungler gate to the west indications are that our says objective was to seize mando township. It may aid the call to briefly consider the historical significance of mondo. When britain made burma a colonial entity separate from british 937 the border between burma and india was drawn along the river nath where we find todays border between bungler gauge and. The historical kingdom of addict can have at times extended much further to the north than the river nath including most of fortis to do chicken district in bangladesh members of some are Kind Communities therefore felt that the border drawn by the british was too far south of the us that it was too far north. Has never challenge this border since independence in 1948. Britain did not use control reporters today in monotone township during world war 2 from september 942 a number of local muslim families offered fighters to the british irregular the force set up to collect intelligence and initially absorbed and the japanese bonds many muslim muslims gave their lives in combat against the japanese in rakhine the sacrifices made by muslim fighters motivated to call for the creation of an autonomous muslim space in northern rakhine centered on mondo whether or not this is encouraged by british officers britain rejected this call as soon as it had reoccupied before independence in 1948. The muslim but this intercommunal violence of 1942 recurred in 1948 and several times after that this cycle of violence has negatively affected life in northern rakhine making it the 2nd poorest change and mema. Mr president and members of the court may i go back to the situation in rakhine on the morning of 25th august 28th 17 more than 30 police stations and villages and one military base had been attacked before sunrise and a highly coordinated fashion by an organized on Group Operating along a densely forested hill ranges that provide ample options opportunity for hiding many of the our suffixes had been recruited from local villages in the weeks and months of receiving the attack there must defend services sponsored to the attacks of us of fighters by the use of Ground Forces there were armed incidence in more than 60 locations the main clashes occurred in 12 places in mindi dont like to leave in late september late manu really good job in village and they have done job village. The dates Indian Village chain carly of. Village knew the ward joe pond a village watch of mondo town and sutton mon dieu. Mr president please allow me to clarify the use of the term clearance operation name is simply in your mind its meaning has been distorted as early as in 1950 s. This has been used during military operations against the Burma Communist Party and because range since then the military has used this expression and Counter Insurgency and Counterterrorism Operations after attacks by insurgents or terrorists in the memoir language nation me literally means clearing off the caliphate simply means to clear an area of insurgents or terrorists it is still not easy to establish a clear pattern to events in these 12 locations many are self i just died they may have been several 100 casualties and some of the 12 occasions there was some into communal violence but this and hindu minority communities also feel that the security after the original author attacks and many fled from their home. It may be worth noting that the use of air power in military operations is avoided as far as possible to minimize the risk of Collateral Damage however in one incident in order to extract a unit surrounded by hundreds of hours of fighters the use of the helicopter was required there was shooting from the helicopter which assaulted and fatalities which may have included noncombat. Mr president it cannot be ruled out that disproportionate force was used by members of the Defense Service is in some cases in disregard of International Humanitarian law or that they did not distinguish clearly enough between ourselves and civilians they may also have been say this to prevent civilians from looting or destroying property after fighting or in abandoned that it is but these are determinations to be made and the due cause of the criminal justice process not by any individual in the government. These ben mind this complex situation and the challenge to sovereignty and security in our country when youre assessing the intent of those who attempted to deal with the rebellion surely under the circumstances genocidal intent cannot be the only hypothesis and its 2008 constitution. Has a military Justice System criminal cases again so does offices for possible war crimes committed in rakhine must be investigated and prosecuted by that system on 25th november 29000 the office of the judge advocate general announce the start of a Court Martial for allegations linked to the good doc and village incident one of the 12 main incidents referred to earlier the office also let it be known that there will be additional call smart show if further incriminating evidence is brought out by the independent commission of inquiry. The i. C. U. In is an independent special investigation procedure a stablished for a crime allegations by the president of myanmar chaired by a former deputy minsk minister from the philippines but 3 other members including a former undersecretary general of the United Nations from japan. On 26 november 29000 this commission announced that it had taken about 1500 witness statements from all affected groups and rakhine and that it has interviewed 29 military personnel who are deployed to the affected affected townships in northern rakhine during the military operations from country if all goes 2172. 00 fists september 27th team. As well as 20 Police Personnel who were stationed at the police posts that were attacked on 25th or 27 q theres currently no other fact finding body in the world that has garnered relevant 1st hand information on what occurred in rakhine in 2017 to the same extent as the independent commission of inquiry and the office of the judge advocate general in. This fact reinforces my sense that i said refrain from any action or statement that could undermine the integrity of this ongoing criminal justice process is in. They must be allowed to run their costs it is never easy for armed forces to recognise self interest and accountability for their members and to implement a will to accountability to act till investigations and prosecutions. I respectfully invite the members of the court to consider for the moment the record of other countries this is a common challenge even in results from the countrys. Recent cases in the news in the News Headlines and the strange that even when military Justice Works there can be a versus this can also happen in myanmar as part of the overall efforts of the new government to provide justice a Court Martial found a 10 muslim men had been summary executed in Indian Village one of the trial of the case and of serious incidents refer to. It sentence for offices and 3 soldiers each to 10 years in prison with hard labor after serving a part of the sentences they were giving a military pardon many of us in your mom were unhappy with the spot other cases are undertaken without control to see for example in the months to case a Court Martial sat close to that location in question stage where 3 internally displaced civilians had been killed it sentenced 6 soldiers its to 10 years in prison in january 28th Team Relatives of the victims and local Civil Society representatives were invited to the proceedings to the office of the judge advocate general in amman is always standards well resourced with more than 1000. 00 staff and to present an all regional commands to out the country. Im encouraged by the good Court Martial and i expect the office to continue its investigations and prosecutions based on reliable evidence gathered in rakhine and from persons who witnessed but have seen that. Can that be genocidal intent on the part of the state that actively investigates prosecutes and punishes so does in offices who are accused of wrongdoing all the focus here is on members of the military i can assure you that appropriate action would also be taken against civilian offenders in line with due process there will be no tolerance of Human Rights Violations in the rakhine or elsewhere. Mr president there are those there are those who wish to externalize accountability for alleged war crimes committed to in rakhine almost automatically without proper reflection some of the United Nations human rights mandy relied upon in the application presented by the gambia have even suggested that there cannot be accountability to military Justice System this not only contradicts article 20 b. Of the constitution of myanmar it undercuts painstaking domestic efforts relevant to this stablish of cooperation between the military and the sith civilian government in myanmar in the context of a constitution that needs to be amended to complete the process of democratic i say. That process is now under way at the super tall the union parliament. The emerging system of International Criminal justice rests on the principle of complimentarity accountability to domestic criminal justice is the norm only if domestic accountability fails may International Justice come into play it would be inconsistent with complementarity to require are the domestic criminal justice should proceed much faster than International Criminal justice a rush to externalize accountability may undermine professionals in domestic criminal justice agencies or disappearance of competition between domestic and International Come to better to due to the Publics Trust in the intentions of impatient international actors. Nose to incent be left unturned to make domestic accountability work it would not be helpful for the International Legal or illegal order if the impression takes hold that only results rich countries can conduct adequate domestic investigations and prosecutions and that the domestic justice of countries still trust striving to cope with the burden of unhappy legacies and present challenges cannot be made good enough the gambia will also understand this challenge with which they too are confronted. Mr president and members of the court these reflections are relevant to the present hearing because the applicant has brought a case based on the Genocide Convention we are however dealing with an internal Armed Conflict started by coordinated and comprehensive attacks by the other country hinges salvation salvation on our side to which namaz the sense of the responded. Tragically this Armed Conflict led to the exodus of several 100000 muslims from the 3 northernmost townships of rakhine into bungler day just as Armed Conflicts increase retreats the court had to deal led to the massive exodus of 1st ethnically kurds and later ethnic serbs and have already stated if war crimes have been committed by members of memoirs to send services they will be prosecuted to our military Justice System in accordance with the mouse constitution it is a matter for the competent criminal justice of torah cheese to assess whether the example they had been in adequate distinction between civilians and are so fighters disproportionate use of force violations of human rights. Here to prevent plundering of property or destruction or acts of forcible displacement of civilians such conduct if proven could be relevant on the International Humanitarian law or human rights conventions but not under the 948. 00 Genocide Convention for reasons on which Professor William shapers elaborate in a moment. Mr president allow me to share one further reflection in this great hall of Justice International law may well be our own need Global Values system and International Justice a practice that affirms our common values. Leaders of states and relevant intergovernmental and to nongovernmental organizations should also be cognizant of their responsibilities to express and of fundamental values feeding the saints of the extreme polarize ation in the context of rakhine for example can harm the values of peace and harmony and me among i do reaching the wounds of conflict can undermine unity in rakhine narratives im not simply confined to hate speech language that contributes to extrem