Misleading Claim Viral About ICC 'Ordering' Case Against Bangladesh’s Mohd Yunus

While an Awami League leader lodged a complaint, the ICC has not charged Muhammad Yunus.

Fact-Check: Awami league leader has issued a complaint with the ICC.

(Source: The Quint) 

A claim is being circulated on social media platforms that a case was filed by the "International Court" against Bangladesh interim government's chief adviser Muhammad Yunus and 61 other Bangladeshi leaders on the "accusation of mass genocide against Hindus."

An archive of the post can be found here.

(Source: Facebook) 

(Archives of similar claims can be found here and here.)

Is the claim true?: The assertion is misleading as the ICC has NOT filed a case against Yunus.

• Awami League Anwaruzzaman Chowdhury has filed a case against Yunus and 61 others under Article 15 of the Rome Statute at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands.

• Chowdhury filed a complaint against the violence inflicted upon minorities including Hindus, Christians, and Buddhists in the weeks-long resistance leading to former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fleeing the country.

What we found: We ran a relevant keyword search and came across multiple news reports about Chowdhury filing a complaint against Yunus and others with the ICC for the violence against minorities in Bangladesh.

• According to a report by The Print and ANI, he accused Yunus and others of "genocide and crimes against humanity" after the student revolt that removed the Hasina administration from the country.

• The Awami League shared a video featuring Chowdhury, who described the nature of complaint against the interim government. The complaint has been filed under Article 15 of the Rome Statute.

However, we did not find any update after this. There are no reports or information on the ICC website that state whether the proceedings have started for this case or the complaint has been taken by the esteemed court.

About Article 15 of the ICC: We went through the article under which complaint has been made.

• The article describes how a complaint is processed. The Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) determines the seriousness of the complaint. Then, if it is concluded that there is a reasonable basis to proceed with an investigation, they shall submit to the Pre-Trial Chamber a request for an investigation, with any supporting material collected.

• If the Pre-Trial Chamber, upon examination, considers that there is a reasonable basis to proceed with an investigation and that the case appears to fall within the jurisdiction of the Court, it shall authorise the commencement of the investigation.

• It also mentioned that a claim or petition could be denied. It states that after evaluating the information, if the prosecutor determines that it does not fall under the Court's jurisdiction or does not give a valid reason for an investigation, it will notify the sender of the Article 15 communication in writing.

Here are the rules under Article 15 of the court. 

(Source: ICC) 

• We have reached out to the ICC for a confirmation regarding the case and the copy will be updated once we get a response.

Bangladesh Interim Government dismisses League's complaint: According to a report by the Times of India, Yunus' legal advisor, Asif Nazrul, rejected the request as a bid to deceive international perception. "This is not a case petition. Any person can do that," noted TOI.

Conclusion: A misleading claim has gone viral that the ICC ordered a case against Yunus and others for "mass genocide against Hindus" in Bangladesh.

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