The second trial of the ICJ in Rohingya begins today
The International Criminal Court (ICJ), the highest court in the world, is set to hear the case against Rohingya Muslims in Burma today.
The Gambia case is set to reach a four-day hearing in the ICJ court in The Hague on Monday. In the first hearing in 2019, a group led by State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi defended the case, but this time Suu Kyi is a prisoner of the coup junta. Both the military council and the National Unity Government (NUG), which emerged after the coup, are vying for the right to represent Burma at today's hearing.
Both groups have not yet received full international recognition as Myanmar's legitimate government. Ko Ko Hlaing, the Minister for International Cooperation, and Daw Thida Oo, the Attorney General of the Union, have been appointed by the Military Council to face the ICJ case. Both are under US sanctions. The NUG has also called on the ICJ to deal with a group led by UN Ambassador to Burma Kyaw Moe Tun.
Human rights groups are urging the ICJ not to accept the Burmese military regime as a country representing the country, which is committing human rights abuses. The NUG government has also announced that it has withdrawn its objections to the Rohingya from the ICJ under the NLD government. It is unknown at this time what he will do after leaving the post.
Child religious conversion: Deputy minister urges respect for state law
Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Religion) Ahmad Marzuk Shaary urged all parties to respect the law by state on the issue of conversion, including children.
According to him, there are differences in the provisions of the law in each state in relation to the conversion of children.
“There are states that require the consent of one parent, and there are states that require the consent of both.
“In this regard, we respect the conditions decided by the states as the matter is under state jurisdiction, and the conditions decided are also based on the views of scholars and valid fatwas,” he said in a statement, today.
She was commenting on the controversy involving three children who parted ways with her mother Loh Siew Hong who divorced her husband Nagahswaran Muniandy.
The father of the child is said to have changed their religion without Loh's knowledge and permission three years ago.
For the record on Sept 29, 2020, the Shah Alam High Court allowed a suit filed by a mother to declare the conversion to Islam of her three children who were then 13, 11 and eight years old, invalid and the conversion could not be registered by the Registrar General. Muallaf Selangor.
The High Court ruled that it was bound by the 2018 Federal Court decision in the case of the conversion of the children of kindergarten teacher, M Indira Gandhi.
In the case of Indira Gandhi, the Federal Court ruled that parental consent was required to convert the children to Islam.
Regarding the conversion of Loh's three children, his lawyer had previously sent a letter of demand to the registrar of converts in three states to challenge the conversion of his children, following it was not clear where it was done.
However, Perlis Mufti Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin in a live video uploaded on Facebook on February 16 said that the father of the three children had come to Perlis in July 2020 for their conversion to Islam.
Referring to the case, Ahmad Marzuk said, the action of the conversion of three children by his father who had converted to Islam was in line with the law in force in Perlis at the time, as stipulated in Section 117 (b) of the State Islamic Religious Administration Enactment 2006 Perlis which allows the conversion of children to Islam is done with the consent of one of the parents.
Therefore, the Pengkalan Chepa Member of Parliament explained again, it should not be a dispute when a party who has converted to Islam has converted his son's religion according to the procedures and state laws that have been set legally.
"What's more, accusing the Perlis religious authorities of 'kidnapping and converting' the children. We should not fan the flames of discord so as to threaten the harmony of multi-racial life in this country," he said.
Ahmad Marzuk also urged all parties not to inflame racist sentiments and respect the law, including at the state level.