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Rohingya artist Enayet Khan established the Rohingya Art Club in Bangladesh after fleeing Myanmar in 2017, using art to process and record violence. Legal Action Worldwide executive director Antonia Mulvey says drawings collected in a case before the International Court of Justice helped convey testimony, particularly where literacy made written statements difficult. Art can support accountability efforts, but the source does not establish that artwork alone proves crimes or determines legal outcomes.
Rohingya artist Enayet Khan, who fled Myanmar in 2017, has used painting and drawing to record violence he witnessed and to help other refugees tell their stories through the Rohingya Art Club in Bangladesh. Legal Action Worldwide executive director Antonia Mulvey says artwork was also collected for a case before the International Court of Justice, where drawings helped convey testimony from Rohingya people facing barriers to written statements.
Khan told Hyperallergic that he fled Myanmar with nine family members, moving through forests and fields as villages burned. Three relatives were injured during the journey, and the family eventually crossed into Bangladesh. “I lost everything,” he said, describing the loss of his home, documents, property and sense of security. His account and his paintings provide personal testimony; they should not be confused with a court’s findings about responsibility for crimes.
After settling in Cox’s Bazar, where the report says nearly one million Rohingya refugees live, Khan began painting scenes connected to the violence he had witnessed, including burning homes, fleeing families and executions. He later established the Rohingya Art Club and trained other refugees in visual storytelling. The report describes art as a means of expression and a possible record of experiences, as well as a way to process trauma.
Mulvey said she collected artwork as part of evidence in a case before the International Court of Justice that charged Myanmar’s military with genocide against Rohingya communities. She pointed to high illiteracy among Rohingya people, particularly women and children, as a barrier to recording conventional written statements. In those circumstances, she said, drawings offered another way to communicate testimony. The report does not say that artwork independently establishes the legal claims.
How Drawings Can Support Testimony
Refugee-created art can make experiences visible when conventional testimony is difficult to record, including for people with limited literacy or those who have lost documents and homes. In legal and investigative settings, drawings may help communicate a survivor’s account and provide material that can be considered alongside other evidence. That potential matters as courts and investigators face more requests to pursue alleged international crimes.
The distinction between expression and proof remains important. A painting can convey a person’s memories or perspective, but its meaning, origin and relationship to specific events require careful assessment. The report presents art as one contribution to accountability work, not a substitute for corroboration, investigation or legal judgment. It also shows that the work has value beyond a courtroom: Khan’s club gives refugees a means to record experiences in their own visual language.
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Rohingya Displacement and the 2017 Flight
The report situates Khan’s work within decades of discrimination and repression against the Rohingya. It says a 1982 citizenship law stripped Rohingya people of citizenship, leaving them among the world’s largest stateless populations. Most of the refugees described in the article fled in 2017 amid military violence that the report characterizes as crimes against humanity and genocide. The legal case cited by Mulvey concerns charges against Myanmar’s military; charges are allegations, not a verdict.
The article also cites a global displacement figure of 117.8 million people, describing it as a record and saying the total had risen for 12 consecutive years. It reports that new investigations and prosecutions of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in the European Union increased 44% from 2016 to 2021. These figures provide the article’s broader backdrop, but they do not measure the impact of art in legal proceedings.
“Drawings became a vital way to convey their testimonies.”
— Antonia Mulvey, executive director of Legal Action Worldwide
What the Artwork Can Establish
The report does not identify which specific drawings were submitted, explain how investigators authenticated or interpreted them, or describe how much weight a court assigned them. It also does not report a final ruling in the case or establish that artwork alone can prove genocide or identify an individual perpetrator. The legal status and outcome of the proceedings are not detailed in the supplied material.
Nor does the article quantify how many refugees have used art in legal processes or assess whether the Rohingya Art Club’s work has changed case outcomes. The paintings are attributed to their creators and described as records of their experiences; claims about events and responsibility remain subject to legal investigation and adjudication.
Further Investigation and Legal Review
The next steps described by the source are part of ongoing accountability work: investigators and legal advocates may examine survivor accounts, including drawings, alongside other evidence. The article gives no timetable for a court decision or further filings in the case Mulvey discussed, so no specific legal milestone can be confirmed from the available material.
For the Rohingya Art Club, Khan’s work with other refugees continues to offer a way to document and communicate experiences. Whether particular artworks will be used in future proceedings, and what conclusions courts may draw from them, remains unknown. Any legal findings will depend on the evidence and the court’s assessment, rather than on the artwork’s presence alone.
Key Questions
Who is Enayet Khan?
Enayet Khan is a Rohingya artist who fled Myanmar in 2017 and later founded the Rohingya Art Club in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.
How can refugee art contribute to legal cases?
According to legal advocate Antonia Mulvey, drawings can help communicate testimony, particularly when literacy barriers make written statements difficult. Artwork may contribute to an evidence record, but it does not automatically prove a legal claim.
Was the artwork used in an International Court of Justice case?
Mulvey told Hyperallergic that she collected artwork as part of evidence in a case before the International Court of Justice concerning charges of genocide against Myanmar’s military. The report does not detail the specific works or their legal weight.
Does the report say a court has ruled on the case?
No final ruling or case outcome is provided in the source material. The charges described are allegations, and the proceedings’ current status is not specified.
Source: rss
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