The Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has acknowledged a petition sent to it by a Nigerian non-governmental organisation, Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA Resource Centre), over the horrifying state and fate of minority Muslims of Rohingya.

In the petition, HEDA, which has a Special Observer Status with the UN ECOSOC, said its findings revealed the callousness and unfairness of the Myanmar’s military troops and government to the minority Rohingya Muslims.

The ICC in a response dated October 9, 2017 with Reference No. OTP-CR-313/17, acknowledged receipt of documents/letter forwarded to it by HEDA.

The acknowledgement letter which was addressed to HEDA’s chairman, Mr. Olanrewaju Suraju, was signed on behalf of the ICC by Head of Information & Evidence Unit, Mark P. Dillon.

Mr. Dillon promised the organisation of due consideration to the complaints: “We will give consideration to this communication, as appropriate, in accordance with the provisions of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.”

The head of Information and Evidence Unit cautioned that the acknowledgement does not constitute commencement of investigation but promised communicate the decision of the ICC on its preliminary review, with reasons, to HEDA, “Please note this acknowledgement letter does not mean an investigation has been opened, nor that an investigation will be opened by the Office of the Prosecutor. As soon as a decision is reached, we will inform you, in writing, and provide you with reasons for this decision.”

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