Myanmar's Citizenship Law as State Crime: A Case for the International Criminal Court

Abstract

This article argues that Myanmar's authorities subject the Rohingya to human rights violations that can be accurately described as the crime of apartheid. Myanmar's discriminatory application of its citizenship laws and processes is central to this crime, yet while Myanmar is not a signatory to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, the court's jurisdiction remains limited. However, Myanmar's government has brought this crime to the territory of International Criminal Court (ICC) member state Bangladesh. Because Myanmar's government insists upon Rohingya participation in discriminatory citizenship processes as a precondition of refugee repatriation to Myanmar, this presents the ICC with an opportunity to assert its jurisdiction. While current ICC investigation focusses mostly on alleged crimes committed by the Myanmar military, crimes associated with Myanmar's citizenship processes would likely be the responsibility of Myanmar's civilian government, including State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, making Myanmar's civilian political leaders liable for the first time to ICC prosecution.

New data infrastructures for environmental monitoring in Myanmar: Is digital transparency good for governance?

“…At the same time, the political economy and use of digital media build on analog foundations (Brooten et al, 2019;Schissler, 2015). Given Myanmar's longstanding ethno-nationalist violence, it is deeply troubling but perhaps unsurprising that the internet and Facebook have been co-opted to extend old patterns of surveillance and repression and to stoke anti-Muslim violence (Dean, 2017;Fink, 2018;Lee, 2019). 10 Though Myanmar's state surveillance during the military junta was not technologically advanced it was extensive, and emerging technologies of environmental monitoring must be placed in the context of this longer history in which much of the country remains wary of surveillance by any means and top-down authority.…”