The government of The Gambia has been tasked by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to use all international legal instruments to hold accountable the perpetrator of crimes against the Rohingyas in Myanmar.

The 2019 Makkah Summit asked The Gambia to lead a strong ad hoc Ministerial Committee to take immediate measures to launch the case at the International Court of Justice on behalf of the OIC.

In a Communique issued by the Muslim leaders upon completion of the Makkah Summit, the OIC insists on the need for thorough ‘‘international, independent and transparent investigations into the human rights violations in Myanmar, including sexual violence and aggression against children, and to hold account all those responsible for these brutal acts in order to bring justice to the victims’’.

The Summit also called for all stakeholders to ensure free and unrestricted access to humanitarian assistance for affected persons and communities.

The Right of Palestinian Statehood

At the gathering at the Holy City of Makkah, His Excellency President Adama Barrow and other world leaders from Muslim countries affirmed their support for the Palestinian right of statehood.

The Summit said in a communique that Palestinians must ‘’attain their inalienable national rights, including their right to self-determination and the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian State on the 1967 borders with Jerusalem as its Capital’’.

It further condemned the relocation of the United States embassy to Jerusalem, emphasizing total opposition to any plans ‘’that would prejudice the historical and legal status of Al-Quds Al-Sharif’’. Any meaningful solution to the longstanding conflict, it added, must protect and guarantee the rights of the Palestinian people.

The host of the Summit, King Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia said ‘Palestine is the main issue until the Palestinians get their rights’’.

The OIC also agreed that efforts must be made to confront the threat of terrorism and those who sponsor it.