Dhaka Thursday December 12, 2019, Agrahayan 27 , 1426 BS

Made stateless by Myanmar in 1982, the Rohingyas have been left vulnerable to waves of violence at the hands of the Burmese army as part of a “clearing” programme that began in the 1970s. The latest of these waves forced more than 700,000 Rohingyas to flee to Bangladesh since 2017. In its report published in September 2018, an Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar revealed that “perpetrators have killed Rohingya, caused serious bodily and mental harm... [and] deliberately inflicted conditions of life calculated to bring about the physical destruction of Rohingya.”

This led the Gambia to accuse Myanmar of violating the 1948 Genocide Convention, asking the International Court of Justice (ICJ) of the United Nations to order Myanmar to cease continuing its “genocidal acts” against the Rohingyas and to bring those responsible to justice. The 46-page application submitted to the ICJ said: “The genocidal acts committed during these operations were intended to destroy the Rohingya as a group… by the use of mass murder, rape and other forms of sexual violence, as well as the systematic destruction by fire of their villages, often with inhabitants locked inside burning houses.”

This ground-breaking case could potentially be very important in terms of preventing further injustice, as according to another report published by a UN-appointed International Fact-Finding Mission in September 2019, “hundreds of thousands of ethnic Rohingya who remain in Myanmar may face greater threat of genocide than ever, amid government attempts to erase their identity and remove them from the country.” As such, the Gambia’s Attorney General and Justice Minister Abubacarr Marie Tambadou, also a former prosecutor at the tribunal into Rwanda’s 1994 genocide, appealed to the court during the ICJ hearing (which began on December 10 and is set to end today) to “tell Myanmar to stop these senseless killings... these acts of barbarity that continue to shock our collective conscience.”

Whether Myanmar will take heed of any such warning, should the court provide it, is another story. The main complications in regard to the ICJ hearing are: i) It may take years for the final judgement to be delivered; and ii) An individual cannot sue or be sued at the ICJ, and the court can only determine whether a state breached a law. According to Ilias Bantekas, a professor of law at Hamad bin Khalifa University, “The best the victims can claim from this is an acknowledgement of the type of mass crime committed and an authoritative record of events” (Al-Jazeera). The court could further direct Myanmar to issue “a formal apology to the victims”, alongside “some form of collective compensation.”

Most regrettably, Myanmar continues to deny committing any serious crimes against the Rohingyas. In her response at the ICJ yesterday, State Counsellor of Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi, said that “the Gambia has placed before the court an incomplete and misleading factual picture of the situation in Rakhine State in Myanmar.” Sticking to Myanmar’s old tune of blaming the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army for all the violence, Suu Kyi tactfully evaded the countless allegations of grave human rights violation directed against Myanmar by various human rights groups and UN missions. (A more detailed examination of her speech will be published tomorrow.)

Despite that, lawyer Priya Pillay believes that the case represents “a significant step in the quest for accountability.” And Richard Dicker, head of the international justice programme at the Human Rights Watch, says, “It’s difficult to overstate the importance of what is unfolding at the ICJ.”

Besides, the loopholes that exist at the ICJ could be made up for in a separate investigation that was opened by the International Criminal Court (ICC), after a UN Fact-Finding Mission last year called for six of Myanmar’s top generals to be tried for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. Unlike the ICJ, the ICC investigates individuals rather than states. Put together, the ICC and the ICJ will be investigating both the state of Myanmar and those individuals alleged to be responsible for the persecution of Rohingyas, which is good news.

Even though Myanmar has not signed up to the ICC, the court launched its preliminary investigations on the basis that Bangladesh—where the Rohingyas are refugees—is a member. According to government data, between August 2017 and November 3 this year, Bangladesh has had to directly spend Tk 2,308 crore for the management of the crisis, as well as bear a number of other visible and invisible costs. The investigation could ultimately lead to arrest warrants being issued for Myanmar’s generals, although the process itself is lengthy and may require Myanmar to hand over the suspects, which is unlikely.

There is also a third case that Myanmar must worry about. A case filed in Argentina—under the principle of “universal jurisdiction” similar to the one in the ICJ—by Argentinian lawyer Tomas Ojea, once a UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Myanmar between 2008 and 2014. Ojea is a first-hand witness to the sufferings of the Rohingyas and his lawsuit is being supported by two Argentine human rights groups.

The procedures of all three lawsuits are long and complex. And what each court decides is anyone’s guess, even though evidence gathered by the UN and others does lend sufficient weight against Myanmar. However, there is another aspect here that is equally important—that of politics.

Thus far, the international community has not taken enough significant steps, nor put sufficient pressure on Myanmar, to substantially influence the condition of the crisis. The UN Security Council has failed to pass any meaningful resolution, mainly due to the opposition of Russia and China, both of whom have good relations with Myanmar. Other countries that could have played a big role in mitigating the crisis have also refrained from doing so, perhaps believing that silence will best serve their own interests.

If nothing else, these cases will raise the political cost of supporting Myanmar for all countries, which could mean that countries that previously supported Myanmar can no longer afford to do so. Simultaneously, it increases the viability of countries that have so far remained on the fence to join the ranks of countries that are speaking up for the rights of the Rohingyas—and against genocide.

This could potentially make it easier for the international community to come to a consensus, and to finally take actions needed to put enough pressure on Myanmar to stop its violent campaign against the Rohingyas.

As far as holding those responsible for the crimes that have been committed are concerned, that seems more difficult. But it’s not impossible. Should the ICJ rule against Myanmar, and the two other courts find those named in the additional cases guilty, and the international community puts enough pressure on Myanmar to comply with the court rulings, something like that could happen.

For now, that seems like a long shot. But the heat on Myanmar has certainly been turned up. And the Myanmar authorities, who have shown absolute contempt for all of its critics so far, should definitely think twice about how they should proceed from this point on.

Eresh Omar Jamal is a member of the editorial team at The Daily Star.

His Twitter handle is: @EreshOmarJamal

Myanmar’s State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi (Centre) stands before the International Court of Justice at the start of a three-day hearing in a Rohingya genocide case, in the Peace Palace of The Hague, the Netherlands, on December 10, 2019.

PHOTO: AFP

Are we paying enough attention to digital public relations?

Human behaviour continues to evolve over time. In this post-modern age, however, our collective behaviour has been evolving faster than ever. Modern humans thrive on constant online engagement, interaction and communication. Our lives are now defined by an insatiable need for digital connectivity, to an extent that we have lost sense of the physical world and have developed a new cosmos for our own individual self—all within the parameters of cyberspace. We are always connected to each other and any information we need is only seconds away. Accessing and sharing information has never been simpler and easier.

The traditional thought process is being replaced with the modern digital cuisine of connectivity: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Messenger, WhatsApp, Viber, Telegram, WeChat, Line, etc. Information and entertainment are on the palms of our hands, with a variety of service-providers rooting for our attention. For customers, three words define the experience—Endless Digital Entertainment. Therefore, business corporations that have not been able to master the newer modes of communication have lost ground to those that have.

The media industry across the globe is suffering the brunt of this transformation. Newspapers as well as marketing communications agencies are racing to catch up with the rapid transition to digital screens. Customers are now fully aware of the business operations of media houses. Hence, publishing advertisements for products and services is no longer the ideal route to influence customers but may only be for building awareness—and that, too, without credibility.

Our consumption behaviour has changed tremendously. We are now much more informed. Before taking any decision, we can consider all our options. Therefore, “credibility” is KEY. To ensure credibility, word of mouth has also become ever more important. We seek more of direct reviews from our loved ones, friends and even strangers on the internet. For that purpose, we search and find articles and information about products and services, rather than visiting stores, malls or checking out published advertisements. We do not purchase a product before we have considered all our options and are convinced of our chosen brand’s credibility.

In order to build this credibility, businesses across the globe are looking for ways to develop positive perception about their products and services through new scopes of public relations in both traditional and digital spaces. Whether in the traditional or digital space, public relations (PR) is the most effective tool a brand can use to develop credibility and add new perspectives for customers to consume or buy.

Public relations is all about building a brand’s identity, developing reputation and projecting a brand’s characteristics in a way that will lure customers to consume and influence them to buy, all depending on how you communicate with your customers. These days, due to the emergence of social media, the bridge between brands and customers has become more direct, interactive and engaging.

Hence, using public relations, brands can now communicate key messages, instigate relevant brand emotions, target customers’ need more specifically, and address their queries and serve them individually. This leads to positive customer experiences and helps brands engrave a positive perception in the customer’s mind. All of the above complements the constant delivery of key messages to the customers through traditional print and online media houses.

Building credibility lies in the art of delivering messages subtly to customers across the board—driving brand sensations, sculpting a positive thought process, instigating awareness and establishing industry stance. Hence, it is safe to say that social media has become the most powerful tool for public relations.

Nowadays, companies seek direct engagement with their customers and consumers. Every brand wants to create the best possible user experience—be it about service or product. Every company wants to establish itself as more customer/consumer-friendly than its competitors. For that, it wants to interact with each individual customer and draw a blueprint of their behaviour to fully comprehend and outline a pattern of their consumption. This has set the tone for an integration within the communication industry—the merging of social media and public relations with data science and research.

But a question that we must ask ourselves is, how prepared is Bangladesh to start integrating social media with public relations, and public relations with data science and research?

The communication industry globally is evolving into an integrated one-stop solution for all. Bangladesh, however, has remained stuck in traditional ways despite the vision for digitalisation making commendable strides. The main reason for this could be the relatively slow progress in ensuring industrial frameworks, regulations and policies that can help the industries to grow, mature and compete globally.

Another aspect the country suffers from is the lack of understanding of how public relations actually works—the misconception that public relations is bounded by the idea of press releases and paid adverts. Unfortunately, this misconception rides heavily amongst the local corporates and even communication specialists across companies. The whole idea of media engagement is mostly misconstrued and public relations is quietly placed in the backseat of the communication vehicle. As a result, the industry bleeds heavily in terms of effective communication, and suffers with a deepening wound in keeping up with global standards.

On the other hand, the potential of digital marketing has only been limited to likes, comments and shares. Whereas, globally, the social media platform has become the key dais for building reputation and perception. Global brands have taken the opportunity to use this platform to deliver brand messages in the most unconventional ways, embracing subtlety and amplifying features through quirky videos and static posts that beg people’s attention. Business organisations need to realise that social media is only a public relations tool to enhance reputation and drive the right messages to the right people. The way to go about modern communication is simply integrating public relations with social media. The potential to drive and enhance reputation with the right strategic approach can deliver a wondrous outcome, and the prospects of generating good content that can create awareness are limitless.

Just like public relations uses traditional media like print media houses, television channels and online news portals as prime platforms for delivering key messages, similarly, social media can be considered as one of the most effective platforms to do the same. Big corporations need to understand that integrating the two industries into one can pave the way for more effective communication, which will not only be more strategic in nature but also well-aligned with more focused messaging. In this era of the millennials and Generation Z, it has become pertinent that agencies and corporations start to embrace the ideology of digital marketing as a tool of public relations. Maybe, with this, the true potential of digital marketing will be realised and it will bring more sense in terms of ideation and also enable them to address and deliver key messages to the right people more effectively.

It is important that our educational institutions realise the importance of communication and public relations and create scopes to produce human resources with the right skill-sets. Industry players should also work on opening the doors to the global market by eradicating misconceptions prevailing in the industry and ensure productive dialogue with the global players to establish a strong foundation that promotes local players to implement and understand global practices. They should also create opportunities to further develop the communication industry.

Syed Rayhan Tarique is Associate Director at Client Relations, Forethought PR Limited.