Suu Kyi rejects Rohingya genocide claims at UN court

Wednesday, 11 December 2019 15:55

Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi has rejected allegations that her country’s armed forces committed genocide against the Rohingya minority.

Addressing the UN International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Wednesday, she defended the Myanmar military and called the allegations as "incomplete and misleading".

Suu Kyi explained that a military-led "clearance operation" in western Rakhine State in August 2017 was a counterterrorism response to coordinated Rohingya militant attacks against dozens of police stations.

While the leader conceded that disproportionate military force may have been used and civilians killed, she said the acts did not constitute genocide.

She faced three days of hearings at the UN court following a lawsuit brought by Gambia last month accusing Myanmar of violating the 1948 Genocide Convention.

More than 730,000 Rohingya fled Myanmar to Bangladesh after the military launched its crackdown.

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