Im melissa chan welcome to news asia think you for joining us its day 2 of the International Court of justice is hearings in the genocide case against myanmar and the countrys leader on sun suchi has spoken she acknowledged the possibility that the military could have used disproportionate force and that it might not have taken into account civilian safety enough but also said that these actions do not fulfill the definition of genocide. Mr president it cannot be rude out that disproportionate force was used by members of the defense of this is in some cases in does that a god of International Humanitarian law or that they did not distinguish clearly enough between also fighters and civilians. The spirit and mind this complex situation and the challenge to sovereignty and security in our country when youre assessing the intent of those who attempted to do with the rebellion surely under the circumstances genocidal intent cannot be the own you had poth once celebrated worldwide as a Human Rights Defender on sunset she has seen a dramatic fall from grace and she received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2012 in 2017 a military crackdown in iraq kind state forced more than 740000 or hinge of muslims to flee myanmar into neighboring bangladesh the refugees shown here crossing into bangladesh 2 years ago described multiple atrocities against their communities including mass murder rape and the destruction of the hinge of villages the lawsuit filed at the International Court of justice in the hague says the military operation amounted to genocide a government denies the allegations saying it was carrying out a legitimate operation in response to attacks by revenge a terrorists we have Phil Robertson of Human Rights Watch for more phil just to play devils advocate here on some sushi is leader but she has limited political power the military still holds a lot of control is there a situation where shes caught in a difficult situation and shes trying to push for political reforms and cant really criticize the military as much as she would personally like. Well its certainly true that the 2008 constitution limits or powers that was a constitution that was written by the military for the military and quite clearly gave Security Issues completely the control of the military all in their hands and that the civilians like uncensored she cannot oversee them but the reality is that she is become the queen of the cover up when shes sitting here in the hague arguing the case of the military even of her own Nobel Peace Prize colleagues other awardees said that she should be held criminally accountable for the crimes against. So youve covered Southeast Asia for about 2 decades i dont know you might have even met on some suchi does her change surprise you at all. It surprises me a great deal. You know i met her 2 times in the 1993 in the period when she was released from house arrest but the reality is that the person i talked to that in the person im seeing in the hague seem to be 2 entirely different people. You know the sad thing is that she appears to be using this situation of their own as a vote gathering strategy to support her party in the 2020 election shes playing the nationalist card here there have been rallies all over me on maher you know saying they support her and accuse the International Community of basically making things up against myanmar the reality is that these crimes against the rohingya have been an incredibly well documented by the by the u. N. And by others and the as we saw in there in her testimony was given in the hague later earlier today she doesnt have any concrete arguments against. Myanmar has been accused of not going to the hague what is the outcome that the gandhi is hoping what can you what actually happened to myanmar. Well what the gon be a has requested is temporary measures. That means that the International Court of justice could order within weeks or months number of things from the myanmar government to stop violence against the rohingya to ensure that more damage is not cost this could be requiring myanmar to provide access to some of these shut down locked away areas of northern or time state where they prevented International Humanitarian from going it could be allowing. Persons like us and others to go into these areas to monitor the situation could be ending the restrictions on freedom of movement that have prevented the remaining 600000 rohingya who are still in Rakhine State to not even leave their village to be unable to go to the hospital or or for children to get education or or for farmers or fisherman to pursue their livelihoods Phil Robertson thank you in addition to the hinge as the focus of the top court at the un hundreds of thousands of other muslim minorities are held in myanmar in camps in iraq and state most with little freedom of movement and as the International Says the institutionalized segregation is so severe that it constitutes a form of apartheid our next report looks at a divided community where some hope to forgive and forget. Destroyed mosque in downtown cairo. A bleak reminder of a community torn apart by myanma sick tarion strife. Muslims and buddhists once lived side by side but that ended with a wave of unrest through a kind state in 2012 when neighbor turned on neighbor and muslims were forced from their homes. For the past 7 years theyve lived here under armed guard in this muddy camp denied proper housing jobs and medical care muslims are still permitted to visit the town but only for 2 hours and under police escort. This camp resident who wishes to remain anonymous says he said about the loss of his old life. It upsets me to look at where we used to live he says i never imagined this would happen. He and most others in the camp a common muslims unlike the ranger there are recognized minority but that hasnt saved them from segregation before the attacks many work the fishing boats or transported cargo from the beach now those jobs and others in town are exclusively carried out by buddhists for muslim homes and mosques have been stripped of all religious symbols. But the buddhist woman who lives here says she hasnt forgotten her all. The money i have many muslim friends. When they come into town. Many of the people here dont even give them a glass of water. But i do. Local politician cure turn says hes town is ready to welcome the muslims back but only with the governments go ahead but. Its not right for them to live in the camp like it is. In my opinion this shouldnt happen. Despite myanmars religious tensions some still hope that this divide the community can one day be rebuilt. Winter has always been a special season for People Living along the Japanese Alps which bisects the countrys main island priests for centuries have kept records of how often the local lake froze when rifts like this appeared in the ice it was seen as a good omen but since the 1960 s. That has rarely happened and many worry its because of Global Warming. All this calm on the surface but for all to say momo say the solitude and next is cause for anxiety a vibrant rush of life as in away due to Climate Change or Much Research when i was little as soon as we finished school we come to lake and go fishing. So isnt it for children it was completely normal for us to come here every day it was our Playing Field the water was clean and of fish them but. Things like this from the early 20th century show the lake in its heyday a hot spot for winter sports. Fishing. And even military drills. But it is also a domain of the divine when ridges like this appear theyre known as only what tare when giant sheets of ice crack and buckle into miniature mountain ranges legend has it their footsteps of the gods for nearly 600 years shinto priests have noted the date the riches appear records that Scientists Say show a rapid rise in local temperatures. There are fruit stand up if you look at old records the 1600s was a very cold century and during this time there was only one year when the lake didnt freeze over and create the arse ridge or not through that was once in 100 years or so for 99 years there was the only what tare every year and this was considered natural but from 165. 00 onwards maybe its effect of Global Warming the ice ridges have practically disappeared and the lake almost never freezes over. Still hope springs eternal at the 2 naga shrine priests make offerings of rice sucking salt and water and pray for the only white tare to return this year. You know if you move on without the wrong on all the wrong or. A phenomenon now so rare it could vanish into a distant memory. Thats it for now head over to our website www dot com ford slash asia to view this show online and for other stories from the region we leave you with images from the range of prices beginning with myanmar as crackdown in 2017 thank you for watching next time and if i. Needed to do. The coming to politics business religion. Iran people of the islamic world. Making its initial flirtation those are strengths and states of emergency. Into chaos. For certain traditions. Hence the chief. Threatens to. The fort carson. The start of an era that defines overmanaged. 19. The big news today. December 23rd. Be good to all we will force you german legislators are readying. Companies to clean up days of supply chains and respect workers rights minimum wages and climate protection. Our strangulations. Saudi aramco shares make their stock market did you record breaking initial Public Offering to give the company a valuation of 1. 00 trillion dollars coming from Prince Mohammed bin saw months of 1st stepping stone overall saudi arabias oil reliant economy. This is business. As welcome. Beard corys in india all sweatshops in bangladesh everywhere across asia workers rights Environmental Protection and Childrens Health is being disregarded by Global Companies at the source their products in the region the German Government asked 3000. 00 textile retailers and producers to voluntarily clean up their supply chains suggested a self Police Licensing option with an official certification that companies can apply for the scheme was called green button and only less than a 100 companies were willing to sign up for it they would have to fulfill a total of 46. 00 criteria to do with Environmental Protection and workers rights applying alongside the entire supply chain so Different Companies would have to prove that their products made by child labor that they pay a minimum