The All Kachin Youth Union (AKYU) say that they endorse the charges brought against the Burmese state at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) by Gambia concerning the genocide of the Rohingya in Rakhine State.

Pointing to some 100,000 people displaced by war, the Kachin have suffered similarly due to Burmese military offensives, the AKYU said in a statement released on Wednesday.

“It is not only the Rohingya—many other ethnic people have suffered a lot. Nobody can bring about justice inside Burma,” Hkangkum Lum Zawng, chairperson of AKYU, told KNG on December 11. “Today, the international community is trying to take action against Burma. Therefore, we are going to stand with the truth. We are supporting the action against abusers who committed the crime of genocide.”

The AKYU is “ready to cooperate” with international courts in pursuit of justice for human rights abuses perpetrated by the Burma Army. They join coalitions of Karen, Shan, Karenni and Mon organizations who have also released statements supporting the push for accountability in the face of war crimes.

State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi appeared in the court in the Hague, Netherlands, this week representing Burma in the face of the allegations, which she rejected and dismissed as “misleading” in her testimony on Wednesday.

Representatives of the prosecution presented evidence of the Burmese military committing systematic sexual violence against Rohingya women and girls, carrying out widespread massacres, and displacing hundreds of thousands of people in their military action against the Rohingya in 2017.

Kachin and other Burmese ethnic minorities support ICJ on genocide against Burma on Dec. 10, 2019. Photo: Hkun Htoi