IV. Legal Framework
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in particular obligates Bangladesh to investigate these potential crimes, stating: “Each High
Contracting Party shall be under the obligation to search for persons alleged to have committed, or
to have ordered to be committed, such grave breaches, and shall bring such persons, regardless of
their nationality, before its own courts.” 385
Given the evidence that war crimes may have been committed in the camps in Cox’s Bazar,
Bangladesh is obligated to investigate or ensure such crimes are appropriately investigated. The
crimes documented in this report further merit attention by the ICC, which has already established
jurisdiction and is investigating atrocities against Rohingya occurring in Bangladesh and Myanmar,
including potential atrocity crimes committed by ARSA and similar groups.386
385 See, First Geneva Convention, Art. 49; Second Geneva Convention, Art. 50; Third Geneva Convention, Art. 129; Fourth
Geneva Convention, Art. 146.
386 See, Situation in the People’s Republic of Bangladesh/Republic of the Union of Myanmar, ICC Doc. No. ICC-01/19,
November 14, 2019, para. 72 (authorizing the investigation requested by the Prosecutor, which noted “[T]here is
information about acts of violence allegedly committed by ARSA and of armed confrontations between ARSA and the
Tatmadaw [Myanmar military],” and the Prosecutor “will keep these allegations under review, to determine whether
crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court were committed in the territory of a State Party”) and para. 126 (stating,
“The Chamber authorises the commencement of the investigation in relation to any crime within the jurisdiction
of the Court committed at least in part on the territory of Bangladesh, or on the territory of any other State Party or
State making a declaration under article 12(3) of the Statute, if the alleged crime is sufficiently linked to the situation
as described in this decision. … Similarly, the Prosecutor is also not restricted to the persons or groups of persons
identified in the Request.”