TIMELINE: Events of Rohingya crisis ahead of ICJ hearings on Myanmar genocide case

The International Court of Justice will start hearings on Monday (January 12) in a landmark genocide case against Myanmar over its treatment of the Muslim minority, the Rohingya people.

The proceedings are expected to set precedents that could affect South Africa’s case against Israel over the war in Gaza, as this will be the first genocide case the ICJ has heard on its merits in more than a decade.

In the first week of the hearings, Gambia -- a predominantly Muslim West African country -- will outline its case from January 12 to 15. Backed by the Organisation for Islamic Cooperation, Gambia filed the case at the ICJ in 2019, accusing Myanmar of committing genocide against the Rohingya.

Myanmar, which has denied genocide, can present its side from January 16 to January 20.

In an unusual move, the Court -- also known as the World Court -- has also allocated three days for hearing witnesses. These hearings will be closed to the public and media.

A U.N. fact-finding mission concluded that a 2017 military campaign by Myanmar that drove 730,000 Rohingya into neighbouring Bangladesh had included "genocidal acts."

Myanmar rejected the U.N. findings as "biased and flawed." It says its crackdown was aimed at Rohingya rebels who had carried out attacks.

The case is being brought under the 1948 Genocide Convention, enacted in the wake of the mass murder of Jews in the Nazi Holocaust, which defines genocide as "acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group."

Both Myanmar and Gambia have signed the Genocide Convention, which gives the top U.N. court jurisdiction in the case.

Production: Phyllis Xu, Juarawee Kittisilpa, Joseph Campbell/Reuters