Question Period Note: Allegations of genocide in Myanmar, and the 2021 Coup d'État

• Canada has, and continues to, unequivocally condemn the coup against the democratically elected government of Myanmar and has supported the people of Myanmar in the face of brutality and egregious international human rights and humanitarian law violations.
• In line with the aspirations of the people of Myanmar, Canada will continue pushing for peaceful restoration of democracy as well as accountability for crimes against the Rohingya and other communities.
• Canada recently announced the second phase of its strategy to respond to the Rohingya and Myanmar crises, dedicating $288.3 million from 2021 to 2024, to provide support to Rohingya refugees, host communities in Bangladesh and vulnerable and conflict-affected people of Myanmar.
• Canada has also imposed multiple rounds of sanctions against individuals associated with the military regime in response to both the 2017 Rohingya crisis and following the 2021 Military coup.
• Canada has called for a referral of the situation to the International Criminal Court, supported the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar in gathering evidence, and is jointly intervening with the Netherlands in The Gambia's Genocide case against Myanmar at the ICJ.

Canada's position is that the determination of whether a situation constitutes genocide must be done by a competent international or national court or tribunal, bearing in mind that the legal definition of genocide is precise and complex, as outlined in international treaties such as the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. At a minimum, an assessment by a credible independent body (e.g. UN) as it pertains to war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide may provide the basis for Canada to determine whether a particular crime or internationally wrongful act has taken place.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ), which is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations tasked with adjudicating international legal disputes, including on questions of State responsibility for internationally wrongful acts such as genocide, is currently seized of this matter. Specifically, in November 2019, The Gambia brought a case against Myanmar at the ICJ alleging violations of the Genocide Convention for actions taken against the Rohingya population in Rakhine state. In September 2020, Canada and the Netherlands jointly announced their intention to intervene in this case. Both legal teams are working together on the content of the intervention, with the aim of filing a joint declaration of intervention after the Court rules on Myanmar's preliminary objections in the coming months.

On September 20, 2018, the House of Commons unanimously adopted a motion on the genocide of Rohingya, which endorsed the UN Fact Finding Mission. This motion was reaffirmed on September 27, 2018 in a motion that revoked ASSK's honorary citizenship.

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