Myanmar nationalists support military’s ICJ genocide defence at Yangon rally

Self-styled “nationalists” and pro-military activists gathered in downtown Yangon on Monday to voice support for Myanmar’s legal representatives currently answering allegations of genocide in the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Led by Win Ko Ko Latt, a longtime leader of anti-Rohingya and anti-Muslim movements, the rally was attended by around 500 people. It was marked by a noticeably softer tone regarding Myanmar’s ethnic and religious minorities than the same nationalist figures have used in the past. Members of the military proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) and allied parties—including the People’s Party and the People Pioneer Party—were among the attendees. The temperature in Yangon reached 33 degrees Celsius under the midday sun. As Win Ko Ko Latt took the stage, supporters in the crowd below offered blessings. In reference to a warning issued by the military on January 21, Win Ko Ko Latt said he would avoid using racially discriminatory language at the event. He called the Rohingya “people who are in another country”, and remarked that “there is no reason to insult any ethnicity.” This attitude stood in contrast to his past rhetoric, which has drawn widespread criticism for inflaming hostility against Rohingya people and Muslims, including a speech in January 2015 that cast the Rohingya as interlopers and likened them to thieves. “They sneak in—so they are thieves. And those who support thieves are also thieves,” he said at the time. The plaza outside Yangon’s City Hall has repeatedly served as a venue for Win Ko Ko Latt’s anti-Rohingya mobilisations in the past. While addressing another rally in central Yangon on February 9, 2020, he also called for the ouster of the then-incumbent, civilian-led National League for Democracy (NLD) government, urging for the military to retake power. At the same event, he called the Rohingya ethnic identity “fake” and challenged the NLD administration to formally deny the validity of their existence as an ethnic group. “I condemn Aung San Suu Kyi for not daring to say clearly that there is no such ethnicity as Rohingya in Myanmar,” he said. “If the country is about to fall into the hands of foreigners, I call on the Tatmadaw—do not just stand by,” he added, using the Burmese name for Myanmar’s armed forces. Win Ko Ko Latt at Monday’s rally in Yangon (Myanmar Now) Win Ko Ko Latt has also appeared at protests outside the United States Embassy in Yangon, including a demonstration in April 2016 against the American government’s use of the term “Rohingya” in public statements. Thusitta, a nationalist Buddhist monk, also addressed the crowd on Monday. A secretary of the small, informal group called the Patriotic Monks Union (Yangon), Thusitta has also previously organised rallies disparaging Myanmar’s Rohingya and Muslim minorities. In a similar contrast to his past rhetoric, Thusitta acknowledged how current international legal scrutiny has necessitated a change in the nationalists’ public posture. “I’m bursting to say what I really feel,” he told the crowd. “But this is a very important time, and I can’t simply say whatever I want.” Myanmar’s military is currently defending itself against accusations of genocide being heard at the ICJ in The Hague, in a case brought against the country by The Gambia in 2019. The case primarily concerns the military’s involvement in acts targeting Myanmar’s Rohingya community during “security operations” in Rakhine State between 2016 and 2017. The rally in Yangon was framed by organisers as a show of solidarity with the junta’s representatives at the court, even as the speakers took care to rein in the inflammatory language that has defined similar gatherings in the past. Newspapers controlled by the military regime also carried coverage of the event on Tuesday.

Myanmar nationalists support military’s ICJ genocide defence at Yangon rally

While backing the junta’s legal team in The Hague, longtime nationalist movement leaders struck an uncharacteristically soft tone regarding the ethnic minority that Myanmar stands accused of targeting

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