The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has ordered Myanmar to “take all measures within its power” to protect its Rohingya minority from genocide.

For the first time, a global court has pronounced judgement against Myanmar for the 2017 military purge of almost 800,000 Rohingya.

The ICJ order is an emergency injunction in a larger case, launched by The Gambia last year, which accuses Myanmar of violating the Genocide Convention.

That case could take years, but rights groups say Thursday’s interim ruling – meant to prevent further violence and preserve evidence – as a significant step in pressuring Myanmar.

This month, Myanmar released a summary of its own inquiry on the Rohingya crisis: it acknowledged that soldiers may have committed “war crimes” but denied any “genocidal intent” against the Rohingya.

In an opinion piece published in the Financial Times before the ICJ ruling, Myanmar’s de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, suggested international investigations have relied on ”inaccurate or exaggerated information”, and called ”for domestic justice to run its course” instead.

The ICJ’s judgement ruled that “the Republic of the Union of Myanmar shall, in accordance with its obligations under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, in relation to the members of the Rohingya group in its territory, take all measures within its power to prevent the commission of all acts within the scope of Article II of this Convention, in particular: (a) killing members of the group; (b) causing serious bodily or mental harm to the members of the group; (c) deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; and

(d) imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group.

The ruling added: “The Republic of the Union of Myanmar shall, in relation to the members of the Rohingya group in its territory, ensure that its military, as well as any irregular armed units which may be directed or supported by it and any organizations and persons which may be subject to its control, direction or influence, do not commit any acts described in point (1) above, or of conspiracy to commit genocide, of direct and public incitement to commit genocide, of attempt to commit genocide, or of complicity in genocide.

“The Republic of the Union of Myanmar shall take effective measures to prevent the destruction and ensure the preservation of evidence related to allegations of acts within the scope of Article II of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

“The Republic of the Union of Myanmar shall submit a report to the Court on all measures taken to give effect to this Order within four months, as from the date of this Order, and thereafter every six months, until a final decision on the case is rendered by the Court,” the ruling said.

Nearly a million Rohingya have fled Myanmar for Bangladesh after a military crackdown in the Rakhine state.

In August, 2018, a UN rights probe said top Myanmar military commanders should be investigated and prosecuted for genocide but the country has denied all allegations of systematic violence against the Rohingya.

Aid groups say funding shortages are hampering humanitarian efforts in Bangladesh’s crowded refugee camps. In 2019, aid groups are asking for more than $920 million in donor funding.

Bangladesh and Myanmar have pledged to begin the repatriation of Rohingya refugees, but no official returns have begun.