The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has ordered Myanmar to take urgent measures to protect its Rohingya population from atrocities, a ruling hailed as a "triumph of international justice" by the tiny African country, Gambia, that brought the case.

Gambia filed a lawsuit in November with the ICJ, the United Nations' highest body for disputes between states, accusing Myanmar of genocide against Rohingya in violation of a 1948 convention.

The court's final decision could take years, and Thursday's ruling dealt only with Gambia's request for preliminary measures. But the 17-judge panel in The Hague, Netherlands, unanimously ruled that the Rohingya face an ongoing threat and Myanmar must act to protect them.

Reading out a summary of the judgment, presiding judge Abdulqawi Yusuf said Myanmar must "take all measures within its power to prevent all acts" prohibited under the 1948 Genocide Convention, and report back within four months.

Myanmar must use its influence over its military and other armed groups to prevent violence against the Rohingya "intended to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part," said Yusuf.

Gambia's justice minister Abubacarr Tambadou said: "The fact that judges have unanimously decided that genocide cannot be tolerated and that Rohingya need to be protected is a triumph for international justice."

Universal legal duty

A nation of around 10,000 square kilometers on the coast of West Africa, Gambia has a population of slightly more than two million, of which around 95 percent are Muslim. Despite being geographically remote from Myanmar, Gambia argued that all nations have a universal legal duty to prevent genocide. 

The case was argued last month by some of the world's top human rights lawyers, with Myanmar's civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi personally attending hearings at The Hague to ask judges to dismiss it.

More than 730,000 Rohingya fled Myanmar after a military-led crackdown in 2017, and were forced into squalid camps across the border in Bangladesh. United Nations investigators concluded that the military campaign had been executed with "genocidal intent."

Moments before the court began reading its ruling, the Financial Times published an article by Suu Kyi, in which she said war crimes may have been committed against Rohingya Muslims but refugees had exaggerated abuses.

Insufficient measures

Although ICJ rulings are final and binding, countries have occasionally flouted them, and the court has no formal mechanism to enforce them.

Yusuf, the presiding judge, said the court was not satisfied with Myanmar's own efforts "to facilitate the return of Rohingya refugees present in Bangladesh, to promote ethnic reconciliation, peace and stability in Rakhine State, and to make its military accountable for violations of international humanitarian and human rights law."

More than 100 Myanmar civil society groups published a statement saying they hoped international justice efforts would "bring forth the truth" and end impunity.