Myanmar’s military junta has issued a rare public warning to its supporters to refrain from criticising the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and avoid using hate speech, citing its ongoing legal battle over allegations of genocide against the Rohingya.
The notice was broadcast on the military-owned Myawaddy television channel on Tuesday night and signed by the regime’s information team. It outlined four “special precautions” for followers, including instructions to avoid discriminatory language and attacks based on ethnicity.
The announcement marks the first time in decades that the military has publicly urged its base to scale back anti-Rohingya rhetoric, which has long been promoted by nationalist groups aligned with the armed forces.
While the statement did not directly use the term “Rohingya,” it referred instead to “a group not included in the list of national races,” reflecting the military’s longstanding refusal to recognise the Rohingya identity, instead using the term “Bengali” to describe the Muslim minority.
The guidelines also apply to public demonstrations, the statement said, warning that the restrictions must be followed at rallies held while the case is still before the court in The Hague.
The move comes as military-backed nationalist groups prepare to stage anti-Rohingya gatherings in Yangon and Mandalay next Tuesday.
Myanmar is currently facing a case at the ICJ brought by The Gambia, which accuses the country of breaching the Genocide Convention during security operations in Rakhine State in 2016 and 2017. International bodies and human rights organisations say those operations killed thousands of Rohingya and forced more than 700,000 people to flee across the border into Bangladesh.
Despite the warning, political parties aligned with the military and hardline nationalist networks have continued to promote rhetoric rejecting the genocide allegations and calling for renewed campaigns against the Rohingya.
