Myanmar Denies Genocide, World Media Takes Notes
Myanmar appeared at the UN's top court, arguing its deadly campaign against the Rohingya didn't amount to genocide. The brazenness is startling, yet entirely unoriginal. This isn't the first time an accused state has dismissed mountains of evidence, eyewitness accounts, and international reports of ethnic cleansing as 'internal affairs' or 'counter-terrorism operations' (a familiar dog-whistle).
One might recall similar semantic gymnastics from various capitals when discussing their own, or their allies', 'security operations' that just happen to displace, imprison, and eliminate entire populations. The media, often complicit, simply reports the denial as if it carries equal weight to the evidence gathered by human rights bodies. It appears that 'genocide' is an exclusive club, and some
nations just don't qualify for membership, regardless of the body count. How many 'denials' does it take before the world stops pretending this is a legitimate legal debate?