A delegation of the International Criminal Court (ICC) arrived in Dhaka yesterday on a weeklong visit to talk to senior government officials and representatives of international organisations over the Rohingya issue.

The delegation, led by ICC Deputy Prosecutor James Kirkpatrick Stewart, landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport around 8:54am.

ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda considers that there is a reasonable basis to proceed with an investigation in relation to the alleged deportation of members of the Rohingya community from Myanmar to Bangladesh and related crimes committed in context of the 2016 and 2017 waves of violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine State.

The ICC delegation is scheduled to hold a meeting with Foreign Secretary M Shahidul Haque at state guesthouse Padma at 9:30am today. The same day, they will meet Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan at his Secretariat office at noon and Law Minister Anisul Huq in Gulshan at 3pm.

The delegation will have an internal meeting tomorrow and leave for Cox’s Bazar on Friday afternoon. They will visit Rohingya camps and meet government officials on Saturday.

The next day, the delegation will hold talks with Cox’s Bazar DC; refugee, relief and repatriation commissioner; regional heads of Rab and BGB, and acting police superintendent in Cox’s Bazar.

They are scheduled to leave Dhaka on July 22.

INVESTIGATION INTO ATROCITIES

The ICC prosecutor has already requested its judges to authorise an investigation into alleged crimes like deportation and other atrocities committed against Rohingyas.

Myanmar is not a State Party to the Rome Statute, but Bangladesh is, it is important to keep in mind that the authorisation to investigate, if granted by judges, would not extend to all crimes potentially committed in Myanmar, but will focus on crimes allegedly committed in part on the territory of Bangladesh, according to the ICC.

Investigating deportation will, however, mean taking a close look at the alleged violence that left the Rohingyas with no choice but to flee Myanmar.

The request seeks authorisation from the court’s judges to open an investigation into alleged crimes within its jurisdiction, in which at least one element occurred in the territory of Bangladesh and within the context of two recent waves of violence in the Rakhine state, as well as any other crimes which are sufficiently linked to these events.

The requested authorisation to investigate the situation covers the period from October 9, 2016 and the recent waves of violence in Rakhine State.

The request follows a thorough preliminary examination by the ICC prosecutor’s office. It concluded that the legal conditions required under the Rome Statute to open an investigation have been met.

On April 9 last year, the ICC prosecutor filed a request with the court’s judges for a legal ruling on the question of jurisdiction over the alleged deportation of the Rohingyas.

The prosecutor has determined that there are no substantial reasons to believe that the opening of an investigation would not serve the interests of justice, taking into account the gravity of the crimes and the interests of victims.

The office of the ICC prosecutor conducts independent and impartial preliminary examinations, investigations and prosecutions of the crime of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression.