The Hague, Dec 10 (AFP/APP): Myanmar’s civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi appeared Tuesday at the International Court of Justice to defend her country against claims it committed genocide against Rohingya Muslims. Here are some key questions about how the UN’s top court, which was set up in 1946 to arbitrate disputes between countries, deals with the issue: – What is genocide? – “Genocide” was used for the first time within a legal framework at the Nuremberg trials of Nazi officials after World War II over the deaths of six million Jews in the Holocaust unleashed by Adolf Hitler’s Germany. Coined in 1944 by Raphael Lemkin, a Polish Jew, the term is derived from the Greek word “genos” for race or tribe, and the suffix “-cide” from the Latin word for “to kill.” The term became part of international law in 1948 under the UN Genocide Convention — the same convention now invoked by Gambia against Myanmar — and is defined as an “act committed with intent to destroy in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group.” – Is genocide hard to prove? – Yes. According to Cecily Rose, an assistant professor in international law at … Continue reading Five questions on the ICJ and genocide