“They know the blanket denial will not work any more,” said Nay San Lwin, co-founder of the UK-based Free Rohingya Coalition. “We don’t believe in the military or public justice system, and we want justice through the international court.”
Financial Times – 23 Jan 2020 https://www.ft.com/content/47b01102-3cdb-11ea-a01a-bae547046735
(Note: FT has replaced this article with another one but still can read the copy here: https://finanz.dk/aung-san-suu-kyi-says-war-crimes-may-have-been-committed/
“We are very happy. Today, our suffering has been recognized by the World’s Court,” Rohingya activist Nay San Lwin told TIME by phone from outside the court.
Earlier he said it was “a victory” just to have the case heard. “The world has been showing us sympathy, but until now, there was no real legal action,” he said.
TIME Magazine – 23 Jan 2020 https://time.com/5770080/myanmar-rohingya-genocide-un-court/
“As Rohingya, we feel vindicated today that the International Court of Justice has effectively established that genocide is the possible name of our persecution,” said Nay San Lwin, a co-founder of the Free Rohingya Coalition. “Justice is partially served. We know that there is a long road ahead, [but] this is a great day for the Rohingya.”
The Washington Post – 23 Jan 2020 https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/international-court-of-justice-orders-myanmar-to-prevent-genocide-against-the-rohingya/2020/01/23/ff383ff4-3d29-11ea-afe2-090eb37b60b1_story.html
“This was not an independent inquiry — this was a government commission,” Nay San Lwin, co-founder of the Free Rohingya Coalition, told a news conference at The Hague on Thursday.
Los Angeles Times – 23 Jan 2020 https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-01-23/top-un-court-orders-myanmar-to-take-all-measures-in-its-power-to-prevent-genocide-against-rohingya
12 minutes selfie Skype video interview with Myanmar Channel News – 23 Jan 2020 (In Burmese Language)
https://bit.ly/2NUfyFq
“The court order will partially serve our purposes at the moment, and it’s a victory for us,” said Nay San Lwin, co-founder of the Free Rohingya Coalition.
“Still, we have a long way to go. But, for the first time in the history of our oppression, we got a court order to protect the Rohingyas and it is directed at both the military and Myanmar government. This is a great day for Rohingyas. We thank Gambia for taking this case to the world’s highest court.”
Arab News – 23 Jan 2020 https://www.arabnews.com/node/1616996/world
“The island is less than 20 years old, and there is no guarantee that it will not disappear in the next monsoon,” Nay San Lwin said. “The best thing is if the U.N. team can visit, and if the U.N. says it’s livable then people can consider it. But before that no one should be relocated there.”
Los Angeles Times – 23 Jan 2020 https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-01-23/will-thousands-of-refugees-soon-be-sent-to-a-remote-island
The ruling is a huge win for Rohingya Muslim activists and refugees, who have been clamoring for the international community to take action against the persecution of their people. Ro Nay San Lwin, a 42-year-old Rohingya Muslim activist, was in the courtroom at the Hague when the ICJ laid down their verdict. Lwin told Insider the decision was "the first victory" for his people.
"My people, they are really happy and feel like today justice has been served," he said. "After this long suffering, they finally have a sense of relief."
Lwin ran an information network inside keeping fellow Rohingya informed of attacks and military movement before fleeing the country himself. He later co-founded the Free Rohingya Coalition and has been a vocal activist in the fight to get Rohingya's justice.
While the military crackdown first made headlines in 2017, Lwin says the persecution of Rohingyas has been ongoing for 40 years. Rohingya were stripped of their citizenship and placed in internment camps where they struggled to access education, healthcare or even leave their villages, according to Amnesty International. The human rights organization called the systemic discrimination of the Rohingya by Myanmar authorities a "dehumanizing system of apartheid."
The ICJ's ruling is just the first step in a legal case against Myanmar and will likely take years to adjudicate, but Lwin says he hopes the provisional measures approved by the ICJ will protect the remaining 600,000 Rohingya still in Myanmar's Rakhine State and prevent further attack on them.
"The Myanmar government and military must follow [the ICJ's] order or face consequences from the international community and possibly the United Nations Security Council," Lwin told Insider. "[This ruling] will change the narrative of the genocide and have a big impact on the government."
INSIDER – 23 Jan 2020 https://www.insider.com/myanmar-ordered-to-protect-rohingya-muslims-from-genocide-by-un-2020-1
ICJ orders Myanmar to protect Rohingya
Al Jazeera's Neave Barker reports from The Hague.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzAJvPyuK94
Al Jazeera – 23 Jan 2020
3 minutes Facebook Live by European Rohingya Council – 23 Jan 2020 (In Rohingya)
https://www.facebook.com/theerc.eu/videos/664824330925040/ (66,000 views now)
Talking to The Daily Star, Nay San Lwin, media coordinator at the Free Rohingya Coalition, a global platform of the Rohingyas, said they were expecting the ICJ to order provisional measures to stop the genocide.
“We expect it because genocide has happened over the years against us. It still continues. It must stop and the evidences of genocide must be protected for holding Myanmar accountable,” he said over phone from Germany, where he lives.
Asked what would happen if China and Russia used their veto at the UN Security Council, Nay San Lwin said he expects that not to happen.
“If it happens, it means there will be no future for the Rohingyas as well as for the global justice and humanity. But we hope justice will be done.”
The Daily Star – 23 Jan 2020 https://www.thedailystar.net/frontpage/news/rohingya-genocide-case-icj-ruling-today-1857787
“As Rohingya, we feel vindicated today that the International Court of Justice has effectively established that genocide is the possible name of our persecution,” Nay San Lwin, co-founder of the Free Rohingya Coalition, told the Washington Post. “Justice is partially served. We know that there is a long road ahead [but] this is a great day for the Rohingya.”
International Business Times – 23 Jan 2020 https://www.ibtimes.com/international-criminal-court-rules-genocide-against-rohingya-myanmar-2908096
Nay San Lwin, co-founder of the Free Rohingya Coalition, said: "Myanmar has to know that if it does not follow the order there will be consequences. They must know that the world will react if they do not comply."
Al Jazeera – 23 Jan 2020 https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/01/myanmar-respect-icj-order-stop-genocide-rohingya-200123144204115.html
Press Conference by No Peace Without Justice in The Hague – 23 Jan 2020
Spoke as a panelist -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUW6Km9fJ5w
Nay San Lwin, media coordinator of the Free Rohingya Coalition (FRC), a global platform for the ethnic group, said, “Justice is partially served. We know that there is a long road ahead.”
The Daily Star – 24 Jan 2020 https://www.thedailystar.net/frontpage/news/justice-partially-served-1858276
U.N. court orders Myanmar to prevent genocide
11 minutes Radio Interview
Channel Islam International (South Africa) – 24 Jan 2020 https://soundcloud.com/channelislam/24-01-20-un-court-orders-myanmar-to-prevent-genocide
Two Rohingya women killed as Myanmar army shells village
3 minutes TV Interview
Press TV – 25 Jan 2020 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7SV3JWswd4
